Brigadier General (Ret)
J. I. (Jim) Hanson, CD Eng cert, MA
Brigadier General Hanson is a native of Ottawa. He joined the Princess of Wales Own Regiment (PWOR) of the Canadian Militia in Kingston in 1961 as an infantryman, then switched to the Regular Army in 1962 as an officer in the Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. He commanded at every rank level from Lieutenant to Brigadier General. He graduated from (1970), and later served as a member of the Directing Staff (1976-1979) of, the Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College in Kingston.
His appointments included workshop Control Officer in Camp Shilo (1963-5), Platoon Commander in Germany (1965-8), Maintenance Company Commander in Calgary as a Major (1973-4), and Commanding Officer of 4 service Battalion in Germany as a Lieutenant Colonel, the school of Aerospace and Ordinance Engineering in CFB Borden as a Colonel (1982-5) and then as Base Commander of CFB Borden, the largest CF Training Base, as a Brigadier General (1985-7). He also had three tours in National Defender Headquarters in the technical, personnel, and operations staffs. He retired from Regular Army in 1991.
He holds a certificate in Engineering (1958) and a BE in History (1972) from Carlton University, and an MA in War Studies (1993) from the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC). He teaches Canadian Military History, Foreign Policy, and Defense Policy for RMC on a part-time basis in Toronto and CFB Borden.
Since joining the staff of the CISS in 1994, he has organized six annual Autumn seminars (The Canadian Strategic Forecasts), five Spring Seminars, and co-edited the Proceedings. He also set up the Canadian end of six annual CISS Study Visits to NATO, SHAPE, and other organizations in Europe from 1994 to 1999 and a visit to Canadian Defense Policy, UN and NATO Operations in the Balkans and Iraq, Somalia, NATO Enlargement, Mine Warfare, CF Quality of Life problems, military equipment procurement, Military History, justice issues, and other topics.
General Hanson lives in Toronto. As well as his work as Associate Executive Director of the CISS, he is the Honourary Lieutenant Colonel of 25 (Toronto) Service Battalion. He is also a Director of the Army Cadet League of Canada (Ontario), a Co-Chair of Reserves 2000, and a member of the RCEME, EME, PWOR and Air Force Associations, The Royal Canadian Military Institute, the RMC Club, the Carlton University Alumni Association, the Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists (OACETT), the Canadian Institute of International Affairs, and the Lancaster Support Club. His wife, Alice Ducharme, is Director of Education of the French Language Public School Board of South Central Ontario. His daughter and grandchildren live in Brantford.
