| Chief of the Air Staff Chef d’état-major de la Force aérienne |
|
|---|---|
| Type | Commissioned Officer |
| Command | Royal Canadian Air Force |
| Status | Currently constituted |
| Abbreviation | CAS |
| Precedence | |
| Next (higher) | Chief of Defence Staff |
The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) (French: Chef d’état-major de la Force aérienne or CEMFA) is the commander and institutional head of the Royal Canadian Air Force. The Chief of the Air Staff is based at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario from where he commands and provides strategic direction to the Air Force under the overall direction of the Chief of the Defence Staff. The post also existed in the 20th century Royal Canadian Air Force.
Contents |
| Dates | Title | Air service |
|---|---|---|
| 1914–1915 | Provisional Commander | Canadian Aviation Corps |
| 1918–1920 | Officer Commanding | Canadian Air Force (first creation) |
| 1920-1922 | Air Officer Commanding Officer Commanding |
Canadian Air Force (second creation) |
| 1922-1924 | Director | Canadian Air Force (second creation) |
| 1924-1932 | Director | Royal Canadian Air Force (first creation) |
| 1932-1938 | Senior Air Officer | Royal Canadian Air Force (first creation) |
| 1938-1964 | Chief of the Air Staff | Royal Canadian Air Force (first creation) |
| 1964-1975 | no single air commander | no single air power organization |
| 1975-1997 | Commander of Air Command | Canadian Forces Air Command |
| 1997-2011 | Chief of the Air Staff | Canadian Forces Air Command |
| 2011- | Chief of the Air Staff | Royal Canadian Air Force (second creation) |
Prior to 1938 when the Royal Canadian Air Force became independent of the Canadian Army, the Air Force and its predecessor organizations were still commanded by a single officer although serveral different titles were used. With the creation of the Canadian Aviation Corps in 1914, a Provisional Commander was appointed. This small and short-lived organization was dissolved in 1915 and it was not until 1918 that the Canadian Air Force came into being under the authority of its Officer Commanding. The Canadian Air Force was reconstituted in 1920 and the officer in command (Air Commodore Tylee) held the title of Air Officer Commanding. It was also from 1920 to 1922 that Air Vice-Marshal Sir Willoughby Gwatkin served as Inspector-General of the Canadian Air Force although formally command was vested in Tylee. Tylee's successors, not being air officers, only held the title of Officer Commanding. In 1922, the senior Air Force post was redesignated as the Director and in 1924, when the Canadian Air Force was granted its Royal prefix, the officer appointed to command the Air Force continued to hold the title of Director. From 1932 to 1938 the title of Senior Air Officer was used.
In late 1938, the Air Force became an independent service and its professional head was retitled Chief of the Air Staff, bringing the Canadian higher command arrangements and nomenclature into line with that of the British and Australian air forces. The title of Chief of the Air Staff was used throughout World War II and well into the Cold War years. However, in 1964, the post was abolished as part of a plan to integrate the Canadian Forces and authority over aviation units was no longer vested in a single post. This arrangement was eventually judged to be impractical and in 1975 the air units of the Canadian Forces were placed within Air Command under the authority of a lieutenant-general with the title Commander of Air Command. In 1997 the Commander of Air Command was re-designated the Chief of the Air Staff, a title which continues in use to the present day. In 2011 Air Command was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force, resulting in the both the Service and its head once again being designated as they were during World War II and the first half of the Cold War years.[1]
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