COL Jean-Francois Simard, CAF

Colonel (Col) Simard joined the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in January 1997 under the Reserve Entry Scheme Officer Program in Quebec City, Quebec Canada. As a logistics officer, he started his career as a member of the 55^th Service Battalion and component transferred to the Regular Force in August 2003. As a member of the 3^rd Canadian Support Group, he served in a variety of line and staff positions including Material and System Control Officer, and Plans Officer. Posted to the 5^th Combat Engineer Regiment in July 2006, Col Simard served as the Regimental Logistics Officer and was then promoted to the rank of Major in June 2009.

Assignments at the rank of Major include J3 Domestic Operations and J3 Material Plans, Canadian Operational Support Command; Officer Commanding Administration Company, 5 Service Battalion; and Canadian Army Logistics Career Manager.

Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in June 2016, Col Simard served as the 7 Canadian Forces Supply Depot Commanding Officer (2017-2019) and the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command J4 (2019-2021). Selected to attend the Eisenhower School of National Security and Resource Strategy year-long program starting in August 2021, Col Simard was promoted to his current rank in December 2021.

In addition, Col Simard has been deployed on several missions including the Operation ATHENA Mission Drawdown Team in Kabul Afghanistan (2004), the Provincial Reconstruction Team Theatre Activation Team in Kandahar (2005), the Strategic Line of Communication Detachment Cyprus Deputy Commanding Officer (2011), and the Operation PROTEUS Logistics Program Manager in Jerusalem (2016-2017).

Col Simard is a graduate of the Canadian Army Command and Staff College, the Canadian Armed Forces Advanced Logistics Course, the Canadian Forces College Joint Command and Staff Program, and the Dwight D. Eisenhower for National Security and Resource Strategy. He holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial relations from the Université Laval (2001), a Master of Defense Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada (2015) and a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from National Defense University (2022).

Col Simard is extremely active, his favorite sports include swimming, cycling, weightlifting, and skating. He also enjoys traveling, cooking, watching his favorite NFL team the New England Patriots, and teasing his partner and her NFL team the Philadelphia Eagles.