Admiral (Ret’d) John R. Anderson, CMM, CD
John Anderson served for thirty-five years in the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Armed Forces.
Following graduation from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Science he served in Canada’s Atlantic and Pacific naval fleets, rising in rank and responsibility in command and staff positions. His command appointments included Executive Officer of HMSC IROQOIS, Commanding Officer of HMSC RESTIGOUCHE, Commandant of the Naval Officers Training Centre (VENTURE), Commanding Officer of the First Destroyer Squadron and Commander of Canada’s Maritime Forces.
He served in National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa in a variety challenging appointments including Head of the Canadian Nuclear Submarine Acquisition program, Chief of Maritime Doctrine and Operations and Vice Chief of Defense Staff. Throughout this period of his career he had responsibility for developing the future naval forces for Canada and ultimately, as Vice Chief of Defence, was responsible for the future of all of Canada’s military structure – both people and equipment.
He was appointed to the Order of Military Merit in the grade of Commander in July 1989.
His last military appointment was as Chief of Defense Staff in the rank of Admiral commanding all of Canada’s military forces and serving as principal military advisor to the Government of Canada. On completion of his military service, John was appointed Canada’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Brussels, Belgium.
Since his departure from Government service he has been active in high-level training exercises with various NATO Headquarters most recently working as a Senior Concept Developer in association with Supreme Allied Command Transformation of Norfolk, Virginia, USA. In the fall of 2006 he assumed the role of Lead – Senior Concept Developer working in support of NATO’s Commander Allied Transformation Command to harness the wisdom and energy of a group of international retired military officers and senior civilian experts to assist in solving challenging strategic level problems faced by NATO.
John is member and a Past President of the Maritime Museum of British Columbia Society. He is a member and a Past President of the Victoria Branch of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs. John is a founding member of the Victoria Tall Ships Society and the first President of its Board of Directors. With his Tall Ships colleagues he produced a highly successful Tall Ships Festival event in Victoria, BC in June 2005 and again in June 2008. For his 2005 efforts John was named the 2006 C•FAX 1070 Community Lead of the Year. In 2007 John was appointed a member of the Finance Committee for the Diocese of Victoria. He is a member of the Victoria based Arion Male Voice Choir.
