Browser not supportedGeneral Eyre was appointed Acting Chief of the Defence Staff on February 24, 2021.
General Eyre grew up on a farm near Wadena, Saskatchewan, and spent his high school years in Medicine Hat, Alberta. He joined Army Cadets at age 12 and has been in uniform ever since.
General Eyre attended the Royal Roads Military College in Victoria, British Columbia, and the Royal Military College of Canada, in Kingston, Ontario. Upon commissioning in 1988, he joined 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI), and has spent the majority of his career in command or deputy command positions, including commanding 3rd Battalion PPCLI, 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, 3rd Canadian Division and Joint Task Force West, Deputy Commanding General – Operations for XVIII (U.S.) Airborne Corps, Deputy Commander Military Personnel Command, Deputy Commander United Nations Command in Korea, and for a short time, Commander of Military Personnel Command. He became Commander of the Canadian Army on August 20, 2019, and was promoted to the rank of General on August 13, 2021.
Operationally, General Eyre has commanded a rifle platoon with the United Nations Force in Cyprus; 2PPCLI’s Reconnaissance Platoon with the United Nations Protection Force in Croatia (including the Medak Pocket); a rifle company in Bosnia with NATO’s Stabilization Force; the Canadian Operational Mentor and Liaison Team in Kandahar, Afghanistan advising 1-205 Afghan National Army Brigade in combat; as the Commanding General of NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan, where he oversaw the force generation, institutional training, and professional development of the Afghan National Security Forces; and as the first non-U.S. Deputy Commander of United Nations Command Korea in its 69-year history, becoming the most senior Canadian officer ever permanently stationed in the Asia-Pacific region. Among various domestic operations, he was the military liaison to the Government of Manitoba for the 1997 floods, commanded a company fighting the 1998 wildfires in British Columbia, commanded the Task Force that secured the 2010 G8 Summit, and commanded the military response to both the 2015 Saskatchewan wildfires and the 2016 Fort McMurray evacuation.
As a staff officer, General Eyre has served with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, Land Force Western Area Headquarters, in the Directorate of Defence Analysis at National Defence Headquarters, and as the J3 of Canadian Expeditionary Force Command. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Special Forces Qualification Course, the U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College, the U.S. Marine Corps School of Advanced Warfighting, and the U.S. Army War College. He holds a Bachelor of Science and three Masters’ Degrees – in Military Studies, Operational Studies, and Strategic Studies. His decorations include the Order of Military Merit in the rank of Commander, the Meritorious Service Cross, the Commander-in-Chief Unit Commendation, the Chief of Defence Staff Commendation, and the Order of National Security Merit from Korea. He was three times awarded the U.S. Legion of Merit, including at the rank of Commander.