OTTAWA - A military thoroughbred once considered a front-runner for the job of chief of the defence staff is to be replaced as head of the army in a sweeping shuffle of top military posts announced Wednesday.
Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, whose grandfather led the Canadian army in Second World War Europe, has not been given another appointment and his military future appeared to be in limbo.
A source with close military ties told The Canadian Press on Thursday that Leslie is being considered for one of several foreign postings, pending diplomat clearances.
He is being replaced by Maj.-Gen. Peter Devlin, who will be promoted to lieutenant-general when he takes over as chief of the land staff at National Defence Headquarters later this year.
A graduate of the U.S. Army War College, Devlin was deputy commanding general of the multi-national corps in Iraq from January 2007 until May 2008.
He has served as chief of defence intelligence and, most recently, as deputy commander of Canadian Expeditionary Forces Command.
While he has commanded several mechanized brigades, including the Kabul Multi-National Brigade in Afghanistan from July 2003 to January 2004, Devlin was commissioned an infantry officer and remains one.
Leslie, 52, commanded Canadian Forces in Kabul and was deputy commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force at the same time Devlin was there. He's been army chief since 2006.
Well-educated -- his alma maters include Harvard Business School -- and with a broad range of rich military experience, Leslie was considered a shoo-in for the top defence job after his Afghanistan stint.
But the popular "soldier's soldier," Rick Hillier, was given the post in 2005 and he was succeeded by his deputy, Gen. Walt Natyncyzk, three years later, leaving Leslie's career a question mark.
His "next appointment will be announced at a later date," said a release from the minister's office announcing more than 100 senior appointments and a dozen retirements.
Leslie still has time. Soldiers can serve until age 60. He turns 53 in December and Natyncyzk's term could be up as soon as next year.
Gen. Andrew McNaughton, a legendary soldier of both world wars and later defence minister, was Leslie's paternal grandfather. McNaughton commanded the Canadian army in Europe during the Second World War and was briefly minister of national defence.
Leslie's maternal grandfather, Brooke Claxton, was a decorated First World War artillery officer and Canada's longest serving defence minister -- he was in the post from 1946 to 1954.
Both fought at Vimy Ridge.
Leslie's father, Col. Edward (Teddy) McNaughton, commanded the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery in Korea. His regimental biography says he legally changed his surname to Leslie to comply with the terms of an inheritance.
Among other appointments announced Wednesday by Defence Minister Peter MacKay:
- Vice-Admiral A.B. Donaldson will be appointed vice-chief of the defence staff, replacing Vice-Admiral J.A.D. Rouleau, who will be appointed Canadian military representative to NATO in Brussels.
- Maj.-Gen. W. Semianiw will be promoted lieutenant-general and appointed commander of Canada Command in Ottawa, replacing Donaldson.
- Rear Admiral N.S. Greenwood will be appointed commander Joint Task Force Pacific and Maritime Forces Pacific in Esquimalt, B.C., replacing retiring Rear-Admiral T.H.W. Pile.
- Commodore D.C. Gardam will be promoted rear-admiral and appointed commander Joint Task Force Atlantic and Maritime Forces Atlantic in Halifax, replacing Rear-Admiral P.A. Maddison, who becomes assistant chief of the Maritime Staff in Ottawa.
