Lieutenant General Frances Allen has been named vice chief of the defense staff, the military said in a statement. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saluted the first appointment of a woman to Canada’s second-highest military post.
“I am very pleased to see a strong woman in the vice chief position for the first time in Canada’s history,” Trudeau told a news conference.
Lieutenant General Frances Allen will be replacing Lieutenant General Mike Rouleau. She began her career with the Canadian Armed Forces in 1983. She was also awarded the Commander of the Order of Military merit, the second-highest military honour administered by the Governor in Council, on behalf of the Canadian monarch.
