Andrew Godefroy

Andrew Barrett Godefroy
Born May 2, 1972
Montreal, Quebec
Occupation Soldier, Historian, Author, TV and New Media
Genre Military history, technology and society
Website
www.andrewgodefroy.com

Andrew Godefroy CD, M.A., Ph.D. is a Canadian soldier, innovator, scholar, and author noted for his work in strategic studies, innovation studies, organizational design, biography, and military history.

Scholarship

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Andrew Godefroy read history at Loyola College Campus, Concordia University. His early academic work was in the field of Canadian military history with a particular focus on Canada and the First World War. His first book published in 1998 - For Freedom and Honour? - a study of the death penalty in Canada's Canadian Expeditionary Force based on his undergraduate thesis, received critical praise in both media and academia circles and drew much attention to this long forgotten and politically sensitive subject.

His graduate studies focused on innovation and conflict, earning him both an MA and Ph.D. in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada. His master's thesis examined U.S.-Canada cooperation and public policy in missile defence and space programs, while his post-graduate dissertation examined the nature of defence innovation, using the evolution of Canada's post war rocket and space program, and the relationships created between government, defence, and science and technology in Canada as his case study. He was the first person in Canada to declassify and examine several of the earliest records on Canadian post-war rocketry, upper atmospheric, and space research during the completion of his doctorate. His subsequent publication of this research initiated a fundamental reassessment of Canada's political and security roles in missile defence and outer space during the early Cold War period.

During 2009-2010 he held the Canadian Visiting Research Fellowship in the Changing Character of Warfare Program at the University of Oxford. His research focused on why and how western armies change, with specific attention given to the evolution of British, American, and Canadian armies during the Cold War period and beyond.

He has served as a subject matter expert for print, media, and television on numerous occasions. He regularly lectures on innovation, organizational design, the future security environment, stability operations, capability development, and military history at Canadian Forces College Toronto as well as the Royal Military College of Canada, where he is a member of the adjunct faculty. His current research focuses on technological and cultural innovation and its impact on conflict, and he is exploring this phenomenon through a number of fields including history, politics, development, economics, and society. He has over forty publications to his credit, including books, book chapters, refereed, and professional articles.

Godefroy's academic work earned him several Security and Defence Forum scholarships as well as the Canadian Battlefields Foundation award.

Military career

He joined the Canadian Forces primary reserve in 1990 and received his commission as a field engineer officer in 1993. After completing regimental duties, he served on the staff of the 1st Canadian Division Headquarters, and later as the officer commanding the Joint Space Support Team at the Canadian Forces Joint Operations Group. Since 2004 he has worked for the Canadian Army's primary think tank, the Canadian Army Land Warfare Centre, where he oversees a number of projects associated with innovation, organizational design, capability development, academic research, outreach, and publication. In addition to this, he has served as the editor in chief of the Canadian Army Journal since 2005, editor of the JADEX Occasional Papers Series, and senior editor of the Canadian Army Reading List. From 2006-2010 he also served as the military director of the Fort Frontenac Library.

Godefroy was both a student and instructor at the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering during the 1990s. He is also a graduate of the Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College, Kingston, the Joint Staff Operations Course, United Kingdom, and the Joint Command and Staff Program, Toronto. Recognized for his professional service, Godefroy is a recipient of the Canadian Forces Decoration, and the Chief of Land Staff Commendation. In 2012 he was awarded the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal.

In addition to his work in innovation, capability development, and strategic forecasting, he has maintained a strong interest in and association with Canadian military history throughout his career. He has served as an historian with the Royal Canadian Engineers, and was a past volunteer with the Directorate of History and Heritage as well as the Canadian Military Engineers Museum.

Affiliations

Books

2010

For Freedom and Honour? The Story of 25 Canadians Executed During the Great War (Ottawa: CEF Books) 1998. ISBN 1-896979-22-X

Maple Leaf in Orbit: An Official History of the Canadian Space Program, 1945-1995 (St. Hubert: Canadian Space Agency) 2007.

Bush Warfare: The Early Writings of General Sir William C.G. Heneker KCB KCMG DSO (Kingston: The Army Publishing Office) 2009. ISBN 978-1-100-10301-3 Link to Book

Great War Commands: Perspectives on Canadian Army Leadership, 1914-1918 (Kingston: Canadian Defence Academy Press), 2010. ISBN 978-1-100-15601-9. Link to Book

Defence & Discovery: Canada's Military Space Program, 1945-1974 (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press) 2011. ISBN 978-0-7748-1959-6.

In Peace Prepared: Innovation and Adaptation in Canada's Cold War Army (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press) 2014. ISBN 978-0-7748-2702-7.

Select book chapters

“Orbital Asset or Overhead Menace? Space Power and Special Operations”, in LCol. David Last, Ed. Choice of Force: Special Operations for Canada, (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2005), 205-218.

“An Overview of Fictional Writing and the Canadian Army of the Future”, in DND. Crisis in Zefra. (Kingston: Directorate of Land Concepts and Doctrine, 2005), 127-134.

“The Intangible Defence: Canada’s Militarization and Weaponization of Space”, in LCol. Bernd Horn, Ed. The Canadian Way of War. (Toronto: Dundurn Group, 2006), 327-357.

“Canadian Military Effectiveness in the First World War”, in LCol. Bernd Horn, Ed. The Canadian Way of War. (Toronto: Dundurn Group, 2006), 169-194.

“Trenches Should Never Be Saved: The 4th Canadian Division at Vimy Ridge”, in Geoffrey Hayes et al. eds. Vimy Ridge: A Reassessment. (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2007), 211-224.

“The German Army at Vimy Ridge”, in Geoffrey Hayes et al. eds. Vimy Ridge: A Reassessment. (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2007), 225-238.

(With Peter Gizewski) “Force Requirements (Land)”, in Brian MacDonald ed. Vimy Papers 2007 – Canada and Arctic Security. Ottawa: CDAI Press, 2007. (ISBN 978-0-9698881-6-1).

“Portrait of a Battalion Commander: Lieutenant Colonel George Stuart Tuxford at the Second Battle of Ypres, April 1915”, in Colonel Bernd Horn ed. Intrepid Warriors: Perspectives on Canadian Military Leaders. (Kingston and Toronto: CDA Press and Dundurn Group, 2007), 59-74.

“Daring Innovation: The Canadian Corps and Trench Raiding on the Western Front”, in LCol. Bernd Horn, ed. Show No Fear: Daring Actions in Canadian Military History. (Toronto: Dundurn Group, 2008).

“A Clashof Wills: The Canadian Struggle for Mount Sorrell, 2 June 1916”, in Col. BerndHorn, ed. Fortune Favours the Brave:Tales of Courage and Tenacity in Canadian Military History. (Toronto:Dundurn Press, 2009), pp. 175–200.

“WartimeMilitary Innovation and the Creation of Canada’s Defence Research Board”, in Geoff Hayes (ed.). Canada and the SecondWorld War: Essays in Honour of Terry Copp. (Waterloo: Wilfrid LaurierUniversity Press, 2012), pp. 199–218.

“PrometheusBound: Canada’s Defence Space Program in the Year 2025”, in Jack L. Granatstein(ed.). The Canadian Forces in 2025:Prospects and Problems. (Victoria, BC: Friesen Press, 2013), pp. 107–134.

Select articles

"A Lesson in Success: The Calonne Trench Raid, 17 January 1917" Canadian Military History Vol.8 No.2 (Spring 1999), pp. 25–34 Link to Article

"Is the Sky Falling? Canada's Defence Space Program at the Crossroads", "Vol.1 No.2 (Summer 2000), pp.51-58 Link to Article

"Chasing the Silver Bullet: The Evolution of Capability Development in the Canadian Army" Canadian Military Journal Vol.8 No.1 (Spring 2007), pp. 53–66 Link to Article

“From Gentleman Cadet to No Known Grave: The Life and Death of Lieutenant FranklinSharp Rankin, 1894-1916”, The CanadianAir Force Journal, Vol.1:3 (Fall 2008), pp. 11–19.

(With Major Alex Ruff) “Forging Land Forces for the Army of Tomorrow: The Battlegroup2021 Study”, The Canadian Army Journal,Vol.11:3 (Fall 2008), pp. 11–19.

“A Force of Reason:Canada, Central America, and the Grupo de Observadores de la Naciones Unidaspara Centro America (ONUCA), 1983-1992”, Canadian Military History, Vol.17: 2 (Spring 2008),pp. 5–20.

“Canadian Soldiers in West African Conflicts, 1885-1905”, Canadian Military History, Vol.17:1 (Winter2008), pp. 21–36.

“The Royal Military College of Canada and the Education of Officers for the Great War”, Canadian Military History,Vol.18 No.4 (Autumn 2009), pp. 17–31.

“For King, Queen, and Empire: Canadians Recruited into the British Army, 1858-1944”, Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. Vol. 87 No. 350 (Summer 2009), pp. 135–149.

"Letting Clausewitz Go: The Lesson the Canadian Army Must Learn From Afghanistan" Canadian Military Journal Vol.10 No.3 (2010), pp. 53–58 Link to Article

“Allies in Orbit: Files From the RCAF’s Cold War Space Program”, Air Force Magazine. Vol.37 No.1 (2013), pp. 32–37.

References

Wikisource has original works written by or about:
Andrew Godefroy

1. Canadian Army Journal.