Chief Warrant Officer J.B.M Colbert

CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER OF THE CANADIAN ARMED FORCES

Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Colbert was born on May 30, 1966 in Sainte-Foy in the province of    Quebec. He joined the Canadian Armed Forces on March 6, 1984 as an Artilleryman. In 1986, he chose to change trades and joined the Infantry and was first assigned to Commando, Canadian Airborne Regiment. He deployed with the regiment to Cyprus from September 1986 to March 1987 as an infantryman. On his return home, CWO Colbert took advantage of every opportunity to specialize as a Parachutist. While assigned, he completed his Jump Master and Parachute Instructor training. He was promoted to Master Corporal in May 1989 and became machine-gun Section Commander. He was deployed with the Battalion to Haiti in 1997 on op Stable. During this deployment, he was part of the team protecting the Haitian President as Commander of the Counter-Ambush Section. His return home was of short duration. In 1999, he deployed under tough conditions on op toucan, in east Timor, as second in charge of an Infantry Platoon. In 2001, he deployed to Bosnia as Operations Warrant Officer with the Canadian contingent. In 2004, he deployed to Kabul. He was promoted to Master Warrant Officer during this deployment and became Sergeant Major of the Parachute Company on his return home. CWO Colbert clocked up over 688 parachute jumps before being transferred to Royal Military College, Kingston, in 2005, as Sergeant Major of Officer Cadets.

Following this last transfer, he was selected to attend the Sergeants Major Course at Fort Bliss, Texas. On completion of his training, he was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer and became instructor to the next class. On his return to his country, in 2010, he held the position of Regimental Sergeant Major of the    Ottawa Ceremonial Guard. In the course of this assignment, he was tasked with training the departure guard for the visit of Queen Elizabeth II. In October 2012, he was again deployed to Kabul as Sergeant Major of the Canadian Contingent Operation. Chief Warrant Officer Colbert was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in recognition of his leadership on this mission. On returning in July 2013, he became the Formation Sergeant Major at the Canadian Maneuver training center in wainwright, Alberta. He held this position until April 2015. On April 24, 2015, he was appointed CWO of the Canadian Forces Health Services Group. In July 2017, he assumed the responsibilities of Military Personnel Command CWO until July 2019.

On July 5th 2019, he became the Vice Chief of Defense Staff Chief Warrant Officer.