General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Frederick Ralph Sharp (December 8, 1915 – June 10, 1992) was a

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

officer and Chief of Defence Staff of the

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

Education

Sharp was born in

Moosomin, Saskatchewan Moosomin () is a town in southern Saskatchewan founded in 1882. It is 20 kilometres west of the provincial boundary between Saskatchewan and Manitoba. History With the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1882, Moosomin was establish ...

in 1915 and graduated from the

Royal Military College of Canada '') , established = 1876 , type = Military academy , chancellor = Anita Anand ('' la, ex officio, label=none'' as Defence Minister) , principal = Harry Kowal , head_label ...

in 1938, student # 2420. He was raised at

Trenton, Ontario Trenton (2001 population 16,770) is a large unincorporated community in Central Ontario in the municipality of Quinte West, Ontario, Canada. Located on the Bay of Quinte, it is the starting point for the Trent-Severn Waterway, which continues no ...

. He attended the War Staff College in 1944. He was a student at the National Defence College, Kingston. After the war, he furthered his education by completing his Masters in Business Administration at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

Military career

Following the outbreak of war, he joined the

in Trenton, Ontario in July 1939. He earned his wings as a pilot in Trenton in 1939. He completed the flying instructor course at Camp Borden in 1939. He spent over four years 1 monthson instructional duties in Alberta, before being posted overseas as C.O. of No. 408 Bomber Squadron, 6 Bomber Group 26 November 1944. He won a Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on 4 May 1945 with No. 408 Goose Squadron. He served as a flying instructor for the

BCATP The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), or Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Z ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was a squadron commander at the close of the war. In 1946, he was a member of the Chelsey committee which was instructed to make recommendations about the provision of officers for the active force, about the educational requirements of candidates, and about the way they should be trained. The committee, headed by Brigadier Leonard McEwan Chelsey (RMC 1917) favored three plans. Plan A proposed to eliminate

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...

as a source of officers and to use the site as a two-year course for military training of university graduates. Plan B proposed to enlarge RMC so it could provide the total annual requirements of the active force, to make it free and to impose an obligation on graduates to serve in the active force. Plan C proposed to enlarge RMC to produce 50–70% of the officers needed and to have a parallel officer training system in universities to prepare the balance. After the war, Sharp served with the Air Force HQ and Central Flying School in Trenton. He served as an exchange officer posted as Directing Staff at the RAF Staff College in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. In 1959, he became the commander of the RCAF Training Command and various posting with

NORAD North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...

. Sharp was promoted to Air Marshal in the RCAF. He served as Vice Chief of Defence Staff from 1966. The following year, in 1968, he was regraded from Air Marshal to

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

and in January 1969 he was appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief of

. In 1969, Sharp was elevated to the rank of

and served as Chief of Defence Staff of the

Canadian Armed Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

from 1969 to 1972. He retired in 1972 and became a partner in a consulting firm until 1979. In 1983 he joined retired Canadian Ambassador Ross Campbell, as a founding partner in the consulting company InterCon Consultants. He wrote a paper for the July–August 1967 Air University Review on the Reorganization of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Family

He was married to Betty Sharp and had two sons, John and Richard, and three daughters, Brenda, Barbara and Elizabeth. Brenda Sharp married Charles Walton Cole and had three sons, Adam, Alex and Michael. Richard had daughter Casey and son Justin with wife Kathryn, John had daughters Sariya and Alexa with wife Madelene.

Legacy

The papers he collected on the reorganization and the

unification of the Canadian Forces The unification of the Canadian Armed Forces took place on 1 February 1968, when the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force were merged to form the Canadian Armed Forces. History A white paper was tabled in the Parliame ...

are included in the Robert Lewis Raymont fonds at

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campuses ...

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, Frederick Ralph 1915 births 1992 deaths Canadian military personnel from Saskatchewan Chiefs of the Defence Staff (Canada) People from Moosomin, Saskatchewan Royal Canadian Air Force air marshals Canadian Forces Air Command generals Royal Military College of Canada alumni University of Western Ontario alumni Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Vice Chiefs of the Defence Staff (Canada) Commanders of the Order of Military Merit (Canada)