Assistant Commanding General - Afghan National Army (ANA) Development
Brigadier-General Dave Neasmith joined the Canadian Forces in 1980. He began his education at Collège Militaire Royal de St-Jean and graduated from the Royal Military College, Kingston in 1985 with a Bachelors of Science (Math and Physics).
Upon completion of army signal officer training, Brigadier-General Neasmith served in a variety of junior command appointments at 1st Canadian Division Headquarters and Signal Regiment (1 CDHSR) in Kingston, Ontario and then served as Regimental Signal Officer with the Second Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment in Gagetown, New Brunswick.
After completing the Canadian Land Force Command and Staff course in 1990, Brigadier-General Neasmith served at National Defence Headquarters in a variety of staff positions, including two years as the army desk officer at the National Defence Operations Centre in Ottawa. In 1994, he was fortunate to escape back to the field and served as a Squadron Commander in 1 CDHSR.
Brigadier-General Neasmith completed Canadian Forces College, Toronto in 1997 and then served on the Land Staff at the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. After a couple of years trying to sort out the army's information systems architecture, he was again fortunate to escape and was appointed Commanding Officer 1 CDHSR. In June 2000, he was responsible for the amalgamation of 1 CDHSR and 79 Communication Regiment under the Joint Operations Group and then served on as the first Commanding Officer of the Canadian Forces Joint Signal Regiment, in Kingston.
Following command, Brigadier-General Neasmith was posted to Ottawa and appointed Acting Director, Information Management Security in September 2001. During this period he also deployed to OP PALLADIUM. In June 2003, Brigadier General Neasmith was appointed Commander, Canadian Forces Information Operations Group at Canadian Forces Station Leitrim. After this challenging and rewarding appointment, he was fortunate to attend the United States National Defence University's National War College, in Washington D.C. as part of the International Fellows Programme, completing a Masters Degree in Science (National Security Strategy) in 2006. He then returned to the Land Staff in Ottawa as Director, Land Force Development. Brigadier General Neasmith was promoted to his current rank in June, 2008. He took over as Commander, Land Force Atlantic Area (LFAA) in Halifax, Nova Scotia on 2 July, 2008.
Brigadier-General Neasmith's interests include dinghy sailing, mountain biking, music, architecture and various strange sciences.
