Rocky Ricardo Meade

Lieutenant General Rocky Meade CD, ADC, JP
Meade during the Hero's Day celebrations in 2019.
Chief of Defence Staff
In office 1 December 2016 – 21 January 2022
Prime Minister	Andrew Holness
Governor General	Sir Patrick Allen
Preceded by	Major General
Personal details
Born	Jamaica
Alma mater	Wolmer's School UWI USACSC University of Amsterdam
Military service
Allegiance	Jamaica
Branch/service	Jamaica Defence Force
Years of service	1984–present
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands	Chief of Defence Staff

Lieutenant General Rocky Ricardo Meade is a Jamaican military leader who was the third Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), serving from December 2016 to January 2022.

Military service[]

Meade joined the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) in 1984.^[1] Meade was integral in the conceptualization and implementation of the Jamaica National Service Corps ^[1][2][3][4] Meade has served as Chair of CARICOM Military Chiefs, the Governance Committees of the University of Technology and HEART Trust National Training Agency; Chair of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica's Crime Strategy Committee, Vice President of the Royal Air Forces Association Jamaica 580 Branch, Vice President of the Jamaica Legion, Chair of the Jamaica Combined Cadet Force Committee, President Emeritus of the International Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics, Chair of the Editorial Board of the Society for Caribbean Linguistics and Committee Chair of the Linguistic Society of America.^[1]

Education[]

He is a graduate of Wolmer's School, where he was a Deputy Head Boy and Warrant Officer Class 2 in the Jamaica Combined Cadet Force. Meade gained his Private Pilot Licence as a Cadet. He attended the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst where is was adjudged the top International Student and awarded the . Meade holds Bachelor Degree and Masters Degree from the University of the West Indies, a Masters of Military Arts and Science from the US Army Command and General Staff College. He also has a PhD from the University of Amsterdam and is an alumnus of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany. In April 2019, Meade, alongside General from Argentina and General Bipin Rawat from India, was indicted into the Command and General Staff College International Hall of Fame.^[5]

Awards[]

He is a Commander of the Order of Distinction and the Justice of the Peace and a recipient of Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Medal of Honour for Meritorious Service.^[1]

References[]