Appointment of Chief Warrant Officer Bob McCann as the 15th Canadian Armed Forces Chief Warrant Officer
Today, I was pleased to announce the appointment of Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Bob McCann as the 15th Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Chief Warrant Officer, replacing Chief Petty Officer 1st Class (CPO1) Gilles Grégoire, who will retire on May 17, 2023 after 36 years of distinguished service to Canada.
CWO McCann is an experienced logistician with deployments to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Afghanistan, and Iraq. As a CWO, he has served as the Unit CWO with the Canadian Forces Support Unit (Europe) in Germany, Formation CWO for the Canadian Forces Recruiting Group and the Military Personnel Generation Group, Group CWO for Assistant Deputy Minister (Information Management) and most recently as the Command CWO for Chief, Professional Conduct and Culture. He is a graduate of the Joint Warrant Officer Advanced Course from the New Zealand Staff College and is a member of the Partnership for Peace Consortium involved in the Defense Education Enhancement Program, where he served as the Canadian Lead in the development of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Professional Military Education effort. CWO McCann became a Member of the Order of Military Merit in December 2012 and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in November 2019.
CWO McCann was selected from a collection of very strong and impressive candidates, and each stage of the selection process required difficult choices. This year’s process was objective and transparent in line with improvements that have been implemented within the General Officer / Flag Officer selection process. Also new this year, solicitations for nominations extended beyond candidates who filled Command CWO/CPO positions and the process included psychometric tests to evaluate character, leadership, and general cognitive ability; a file review scored against objective criteria; a proactive disclosure and background checks; a panel interview; personal conflict of interest interview; and a multi-rater 360-degree assessment.
I would like to congratulate each of the applicants for their interest in the position and their impressive career accomplishments to date. Their continuing service to the CAF and to Canada is greatly appreciated.
I would also like to thank CPO1 Grégoire for his tremendous service to the CAF and Canada throughout his career and in particular, his commitment and dedication as the current CAF CWO, and wish him all the best in retirement.
I extend my congratulations to CWO McCann on his appointment, thank him for his willingness to serve in this capacity, and look forward to having him as my trusted advisor and fire team partner.
General Wayne Eyre
Chief of the Defence Staff