Senior CAF appointments and promotions announced
General Wayne Eyre, Chief of the Defence Staff, has announced the first Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) General and Flag Officer senior appointments and promotions for 2022. The CAF’s requirement for General and Flag Officers is driven by the need to lead defence priorities at the institutional level, create and sustain a diverse and inclusive culture, and project leadership abroad.
- Lieutenant-General J.J.M.J. Paul will be appointed Commander Canadian Army, in Ottawa.
- Major-General S.R. Kelsey will be promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General and appointed Deputy Commander Allied Joint Force Command Naples, in Naples Italy, replacing LGen Paul.
- Major-General E.J. Kenny will be promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General and appointed Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, in Ottawa, replacing LGen A.D. Meinzinger, who will retire from the Canadian Armed Forces.
- Rear-Admiral A.I. Topshee will be promoted to the rank of Vice-Admiral and appointed Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, in Ottawa, replacing VAdm C.A. Baines, who will retire from the Canadian Armed Forces.
Further promotions, appointments, and retirements will be announced once they’ve been confirmed.
In October 2021, under the Command of General Eyre, the Canadian Armed Forces introduced new rigour to its promotion selection process – beginning with General and Flag Officers. This process represents an ongoing evolution of the CAF’s appointment and promotion process for command positions and is intended to ensure those selected embody the ethics and values expected of Canada's military leadership.
The Canadian Armed Forces has been working to regain the trust of its members and the public at large after a series of allegations against high profile leaders threatened to undermine the respect typically afforded to members of the CAF.
“We are making improvements to the selection process for promotions and appointments, and refining our performance-evaluation process, so that they can be more effective and inclusive. Character traits such as integrity, humility, and empathy will be encouraged and valued, playing an equal part along with performance for our leaders. This will strengthen our ability, through the selection process, to identify the best leaders for the right positions while ensuring that those selected truly embody CAF ethos and values,” said Gen Eyre in a Maple Leaf interview in November 2021.
The CAF’s promotion-selection process is evolving to select from among the best leaders who demonstrate strength of character and professional excellence. Over the next years, the CAF will introduce an evidence-based framework for character-based assessments to provide a broader lens in support of selection and promotion processes.
The first of three psychometric assessments is a non-verbal measure of general cognitive ability/reasoning. The second measures personality traits. Finally, candidates are assessed for leadership skills. The results of these assessments contribute the member’s overall score.
All promotion candidates completed evidence-based character assessments in order to be considered eligible for promotion. A multi-rater (360 degree) assessment was used as a confirmatory tool for candidates under active consideration for promotion. Evaluators for the multi-rater assessments were selected from as diverse a group as possible in order to obtain a holistic perspective of the candidate’s leadership behaviours and effectiveness. In addition to a number of due diligence verifications, each promotion candidate also underwent an interview by a third party, external to Department of National Defence and CAF, which focused on personal experiences, self awareness, past challenges, failures, and successes.
___
