Colonel W.D. Eyre

Lieutenant Colonel W.D. Eyre was born in Wadena, Saskatchewan, in 1966, and spent most of his youth on a nearby farm before completing high school in Medicine Hat, Alberta. He attended Royal Roads Military College in Victoria followed by Royal Military College in Kingston, graduating in 1988.

After completing infantry officer's training, LCol Eyre was posted to 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, where he served as a rifle platoon commander, including a peacekeeping tour in Cyprus, and as the reconnaissance platoon commander second-in-command.

Following employment as the Adjutant of The Royal Winnipeg Rifles, he returned to 2 PPCLI and spent two and a half years as the unit’s reconnaissance platoon commander. In this position he deployed with 2 PPCLI to Croatia in 1993 as part of the United Nations Protection Force, and was in the Medak Pocket operation with the platoon.

After attending the Canadian Land Force Command and Staff College he was employed as a staff officer in Land Force Western Area Headquarters, in both the G1 branch and as Executive Assistant to the Commander. Following this posting and promotion to Major, he spent the next two years as a rifle company commander with 3rd Battalion PPCLI. This included a tour with NATO’s Stabilization Force in Bosnia in 2000, where LCol Eyre was award the Chief of Defence Staff Commendation for the removal of a Bosnian-Croat Guards Brigade from his contentious area of responsibility. Following this tour, he commanded the Battalion’s Administration Company.

In 2001, LCol Eyre was promoted to his current rank and was posted to Quantico, Virginia, as the Canadian student at the United States Marine Corps Command and Staff College. He was subsequently selected by the Marines to attend the USMC School of Advanced Warfighting for the following year, a course focused on developing operational planners. On return to Canada he was employed as a section head in the Directorate of Defence Analysis at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa, where he led the team that developed the Canadian Forces’ first Strategic Operating Concept. He became Commanding Officer of 3 PPCLI in June of 2004.

Among other military qualifications, Lieutenant-Colonel Eyre is a graduate of the Canadian Advanced Reconnaissance Patrolman course and the US Army Special Forces Qualification Course. Academically, he has a bachelor’s degree in Science from RMC, and a master’s degree in Military Studies and a master’s degree in Operational Studies, both from Marine Corps University. He is married to Jennifer (nee Thompson) from Ormstown, Quebec, and they have two children, Alexander (1998) and Breanna (2001).

Biography and photo courtesy of DND and http://www.army.dnd.ca/3PPCLI/Command.htm