Colonel Commandant Military Police Branch
Biography - G.E. (Joe) Sharpe, OMM, CD, BGen (Retired)
G. E. (Joe) Sharpe joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1965 under the Regular Officer Training Plan. He attended Royal Roads Military College in Victoria B.C. and graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) in 1969 with a degree in Applied Science. He served in the Canadian Forces (CF) for the next 32 years in various operational, instructional air force and joint staff positions, including deputy Commanding Officer of 425 All Weather Fighter Squadron, the inaugural Commandant of the CF School of Aerospace Studies and Wing Commander of 17 Wing Winnipeg. He served on the Joint Staff during the Gulf War as the command and control advisor and as the Air Component Commander in the Joint Headquarters during the Winnipeg Flood in 1997. During his career he graduated from the Aerospace Systems Course and the CF Command and Staff College and was a distinguished graduate from National Defence College. He completed his military career as a Brigadier General, serving on the air staff as the DG responsible for air force development.
BGen (ret’d) Sharpe also spent a year on an academic secondment as a senior fellow with the Canadian Institute for International Peace and Security. BGen Sharpe chaired the Croatia Board of Inquiry that investigated the medical problems being suffered by CF soldiers returning from peacekeeping operations. He chaired the Special Review Group commissioned by the CDS to exam issues surrounding CF leadership during the Croatia deployments. Post retirement he served as the deputy chair of the Afghanistan Detainee Board of Inquiry examining CF members’ treatment of Detainees.
BGen (ret’d) Sharpe has served as a special advisor to the CF/DND Ombudsman on Operational Stress Injuries, specifically Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He currently serves as a Board Member with the Canadian Defence Association Institute. He works with Defence Research and Development Canada (Toronto) on various research projects dealing with the human in command and he is also working with Dr Allan English on research into command and control, leadership, and military culture, and is a frequent lecturer at the Canadian Forces College dealing with command and leadership issues as well as mental health. He currently chairs the CF/VAC/RCMP Mental Health Advisory Committee.
BGen Sharpe served for six years as the Honorary Colonel for the Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Studies in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and remains involved with the CF assisting various organisations with their strategic planning activities. He is currently assisting the Government of Trinidad and Tobago with the implementation of a government wide performance management framework.
