Chief of the Air Staff (Canada)

Chief of the Air Staff Chef d’état-major de la Force aérienne
Type	Commissioned Officer
Command	Royal Canadian Air Force
Status	Currently constituted
Abbreviation	CAS
Precedence
Next (higher)	Chief of Defence Staff

The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) (French: Chef d’état-major de la Force aérienne or CEMFA) is the commander and institutional head of the Royal Canadian Air Force. The Chief of the Air Staff is based at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario.

History of the post

The appointment was entitled Provisional Commander (of the Canadian Aviation Corps) from 1914-1915, followed by Officer Commanding (of the Canadian Air Force) from 1918-1920. The appointment became Air Officer Commanding followed by Officer Commanding and then Director (of the Canadian Air Force) from 1920-1924. The appointment remained with the name Director following the renaming of the service to Royal Canadian Air Force in 1924 until 1932. It was entitled Senior Air Officer from 1932-1938 and became Chief of the Air Staff from 1938-1964 when it was abolished in the lead-up to the unification of the Canadian Forces in 1968 that saw the RCAF dissolved. The creation of Air Command in 1975 saw the appointment reactivated with the title Commander of Air Command from 1975-1997 and Chief of the Air Staff from 1997-present. In 2011 Air Command was renamed to Royal Canadian Air Force, however, the appointment Chief of the Air Staff has not been renamed.^[1]

Provisional Commander

1. Captain E.L. Janney (1914-1915)

Officer Commanding

1. Lieutenant Colonel W.A. Bishop (1918-1920)

Air Officer Commanding

1. Air Commodore A.K. Tylee (1920-1921)

Officer Commanding

1. Wing Commander R.F. Redpath (1921)
2. Wing Commander J.S. Scott (1921-1922)

Director

1. Wing Commander J.L. Gordon (1922–1924)
2. Wing Commander W.G. Barker (1924)
3. Group Captain J.S. Scott (1924-1928)
4. Wing Commander L.S. Breadner (1928–1932)
5. Squadron Leader A.A.L. Cuffe (1932)

Senior Air Officer

1. Group Captain J.L. Gordon (1932–1933)
2. Wing Commander G.O. Johnson (1933)
3. Air Vice-Marshal G.M. Croil (1934–1938)

Chief of the Air Staff

1. Air Vice-Marshal G.M. Croil (1938–1940)
2. Air Marshal L.S. Breadner (1940–1943)
3. Air Marshal R. Leckie (January 1944 – August 1947)
4. Air Marshal W.A. Curtis (1947–1953)
5. Air Marshal C.R. Slemon (1953–1957)
6. Air Marshal H. Campbell (1957–1962)
7. Air Marshal C.R. Dunlap (1962–1964)

Commander of Air Command

1. Lieutenant-General W.K. Carr (1975-1978)^[2]
2. Lieutenant-General G.A. MacKenzie (1978-1980)^[3]
3. Lieutenant-General K. Lewis (1980-1983)^[4]
4. Lieutenant-General P.D. Manson (1983-1985)^[5]
5. Lieutenant-General D.M. McNaughton (1985-1986)^[6]
6. Lieutenant-General G.S. Clements (1993-1995)^[7]
7. Lieutenant-General A.M. DeQuetteville (1995-1997)^[8]

Chief of the Air Staff

1. Lieutenant-General D. Kinsman (1997-2000)
2. Lieutenant-General L. Campbell (2000-2003)
3. Lieutenant-General K. Pennie (2003-2005)
4. Lieutenant-General S. Lucas (2005-2007)
5. Lieutenant-General A. Watt (2007-2009)
6. Lieutenant-General A. Deschamps (2009-present)

See also

• Chief of the Defence Staff, the second most senior member of the Canadian Forces after the Commander-in-Chief
• Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, the commander and institutional head of the Royal Canadian Navy.
• Chief of the Land Staff, the commander and institutional head of the Canadian Army.

Notes

Canadian Armed Forces portal

1. ^ Johnson 1998, p. 16.
2. ^ "Thirty Years of Air Command: LGen Bill Carr Recalls AF Re-birth". http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/site/newsroom/news_e.asp?id=1454. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
3. ^ "Canadian Who's Who 1997". http://www.utpress.utoronto.ca/cgi-bin/cw2w3.cgi?p=mackay&t=42709&d=2377. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
4. ^ "A Long Forgotten Piece of History". http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/17w-17e/nr-sp/index-eng.asp?id=8653. Retrieved 2010-04-03. 
5. ^ "Advisory Council". http://www.cdfai.org/advisorycouncil.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
6. ^ "Canadian Who's Who 1997". http://www.utpress.utoronto.ca/cgi-bin/cw2w3.cgi?p=mclure&t=57965&d=1101. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
7. ^ "Canadian Who's Who 1997". http://www.utpress.utoronto.ca/cgi-bin/cw2w3.cgi?p=clarke&t=61168&d=1671. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
8. ^ "Canadian Who's Who 1997". http://www.utpress.utoronto.ca/cgi-bin/cw2w3.cgi?p=denman&t=27136&d=1797. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 

References

• Johnson, Vic. "Canada's Air Force Then and Now". Airforce magazine. Vol. 22, No. 3. 1998. ISSN 0704-6804.