Peter Devlin (general)

Lieutenant General Peter John Devlin CMM MSC CD was a senior officer in the Canadian Army and is currently President of Fanshawe College. He served as Commander of the Canadian Army from 2010 to 2013.

Peter Devlin
Devlin in 2019
Allegiance	Canada
Branch	Canadian Army
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands	1st Bn The Royal Canadian Regiment 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Kabul Multinational Brigade in Afghanistan Canadian Army
Battles / wars	Bosnian War War in Afghanistan Iraq War
Awards	Commander of the Order of Military Merit Meritorious Service Cross Canadian Forces' Decoration

Military career

Educated at the University of Western Ontario, Devlin was commissioned into The Royal Canadian Regiment, having joined the Canadian Forces in 1978.^[1] Devlin served in an operational role in Cyprus between 1984 and 1985 and in the Former Yugoslavia in 1992, 1996 and 1998.^[2] In 1994, following his experiences in the Former Yugoslavia, Devlin published a report which was critical of the fact that the international community "had no International Peacekeeping Training Centre".^[3]

He was appointed Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion of The Royal Canadian Regiment in 1997.^[1] Then, in 1998, he was the Canadian Battle Group Commanding Officer in Bosnia.^[1]

He became Commander of 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group in 2002.^[1]

He served with the International Security Assistance Force as Commander of the Kabul Multinational Brigade in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2004.^[1]

He was appointed Deputy Commanding General of III (US) Corps and Fort Hood, Texas in 2005 and deployed with the Corps to Iraq.^[1] He was Deputy Commanding General of the Multi-National Corps – Iraq from 2006 to 2008^[4][1] – in that capacity he told the Washington Post that the Multi-National Force was giving "greater legitimacy to the effort here in Iraq.".^[5] In 2008 he was made Deputy Commander of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Command.^[1]

In March 2010, it was announced that Devlin would be appointed Chief of the Land Staff within the year.^[6] The change of command took place on 21 June 2010.^[7][8]

On 6 February 2013, Devlin announced he would be retiring from the service with Lieutenant-General Marquis Hainse to be his replacement.^[9]

On 18 October 2024, Devlin was appointed Colonel of The Royal Canadian Regiment during a formal ceremony at Garrison Petawawa, Ontario.^[10]

Later career

On 8 June 2013, it was announced that Devlin would be the 5th President of Fanshawe College in London, Canada. His appointment was effective as of 9 February 2013.^[11]

Honours

Ribbon	Description	Notes
	Order of Military Merit (CMM)	Commander 18 February 2011 Officer 29 May 1998 [12]
	Meritorious Service Cross (MSC)	Military Division 26 November 2004 [13]
	General Campaign Star	South West Asia
	General Campaign Star	EXPEDITION 2 Additional Tour Bars (For Iraq)
	Special Service Medal	With "NATO-OTAN" Clasp
	Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal	30 Days Service on a Peacekeeping Mission outside of Canada
	UN Medal	UNFICYP 90 Days Service on United Nations Mission in Cyprus
	United Nations Medal	UNPROFOR 90 Days Service on United Nations Mission During the Yugoslav Wars
	NATO Medal	With "FORMER YUGOSLAVIA" Clasp 30 Days Service on NATO Mission With Rotation Numeral "2"
	Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal	2012 Canadian Version of this Medal [14]
	Canadian Forces' Decoration (CD)	With 2 Clasps for 32 years service in the Canadian Army
	Legion of Merit	Degree of Officer 25 October 2008 2nd Award 04 December 2010
	Legion of Honour	Degree of Officer [15] 19 February 2015[16]
	Order of Military Merit	Grand Officer 25 October 2012
	Order of Military Merit José María Córdova	Grand Officer [17] 19 August 2013 Also Awarded the Faith in the Cause Military Medal 25 October 2012

• He also wore the Canadian Forces Jump Wings With Red Maple Leaf.