Then 1RCHA A Bty BC Maj Joe O’Donnell led the way, first to jump into a frigid RTA lake as part of winter training during Ex FROSTY GUNNER. As new 1RCHA CO, he’s transitioning from teacher to leader. Plus he likes to have fun, whether it’s working out with his soldiers or playing Bubble Soccer as part of 1RCHA’s 151st birthday for A and B Batteries. He’s active in the Regiment, promoting a Gunner while immersed in a frigid lake, or participating in Ex HEAVY LOADER. And he’s been receiving a haircut from now retired Dean the Barber since he was a kid growing up on the Base. Photos Jules Xavier/Shilo Stag

Jules Xavier
Shilo Stag

Did you know the new 1RCHA CO used to deliver the Shilo Stag, as well as Pizza Hut pizzas in his youth growing up on this Base?
This is a homecoming of sorts for LCol Joe O’Donnell, who was first posted to 1RCHA in 2008 as a Forward Observation Officer (FOO) after arriving from CFB Gagetown, NB.
He enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in 2005 and was first posted to W Bty, at the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery School (RCAS) in CFB Gagetown.
Returning to CFB Shilo for his new command position at a building he knows well, his Change of Command (CoC) is July 15 in the RTA, where now Col David Brassard will pass the torch during an outdoor ceremony.
Reflecting on this moment, LCol O’Donnell thought back to his childhood when he arrived on Base in 1984 when his father CWO (Ret’d) Sonny O’Donnell was posted to 3RCHA.
“I remember doing 3RCHA’s Kiddy Commando course,” he recalled during a break from organizing his return to Canada from his second posting to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This time he was an instructor, while the first he was the student.
Prior to his CoC, the award-winning Shilo Stag had a chance to Q&A LCol O’Donnell as an opportunity to introduce 1RCHA’s newest CO to the Base, plus re-introduce him to former colleagues he once worked alongside in his last post as A Bty BC.
Shilo Stag (SS): Why did you pursue a career with the CAF?
LCol Joe O’Donnell (JOD): “While I’m tempted to answer this question with a quote from Sylvester Stallone in the original Rocky movie: “because I can’t sing or dance,” I’ll show some restraint. For me it was the only choice I really considered.
“At the time before enrolment, the majority of my friends were in the military. My brother Rob had joined a few years prior and was the first of the fourth generation of O’Donnells to serve as a Canadian Gunner. He was enjoying his decision so that certainly narrowed things down for me.”
SS: What was your influence in choosing the Army, and specifically artillery, as your chosen vocation as a military career?
JOD: “I was certainly influenced by my family’s Artillery experience, but also I grew up on Army Bases and witnessed the life experience that could be gained through service in the Army. Additionally, I spent my summers as a student working with the military. I had great jobs with the field engineers, Base Maintenance as a MAT TECH’s assistant, at the German Army kitchens scrubbing pots and then for a number of years at Base CE as a labourer. During these years, I developed an appreciation and enjoyment of physical labor. Meanwhile, in university, I was developing my critical thinking skills, so with the juxtaposition of those physically and cognitively challenging experiences as a catalyst, the Artillery was my first, and in fact my only selection when I applied.”
SS: What were your thoughts when you were informed you’d be taking command of 1RCHA, and received your posting message to make it official you were coming back home?
JOD: “I’ve served in 1RCHA two times, deployed twice to Afghanistan and once domestically with 1RCHA. I’ve served in all batteries less Z Bty. So, what I’m getting at is this is my home unit and there is no other place I’d rather work, so when I received the news late last year I was thrilled to be coming back as well as humbled and honoured to be selected as CO.”
SS: What were you doing prior to being informed you would be posted back to CFB Shilo?
JOD: “I was an instructor at the US Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. I worked in the Department of Joint, Interagency and Multinational Operations, where I was responsible for delivering US Army curriculum [during a pandemic] for about 10 months out of the year for 16 students. Last year, it had 12 US Army, one National Guard, one USAF and two international [Thailand and Kenya] students.”
SS: What did you learn from this OUTCAN experience?
JOD: “I learned the older I get, the younger my teachers are. Even though officially I was charged with delivering instruction to them, I took far more away from them than they did from me. I truly have a great deal of respect for the next generation of leaders and It was a great experience working with the US and international students again.”
SS: What is your approach when it comes to leading soldiers under your command? What will the contrast be to being A Bty BC to CO?
JOD: “There will be differences from being a BC to CO. From commanding 100 to near 500 soldiers creates a situation where one can no longer always directly interact with individuals which they are responsible for. This is where mission command, trust in subordinate commanders, clear communication and doing my best to enable them will be the likely early playbook until I get a bit more oriented to the position and adjust as things go.”
SS: Describe your personality when it comes to soldiering — and when you are away from the job?
JOD: “I think my personality is the same no matter what i’m doing. I enjoy challenge, the benefits of hard work [and] team building. “I do draw a clear distinction between work and home life and think that needs to be respected. I enjoy my time with my family and think that’s a key factor, and in many times ‘THE’ key factor in being ready as a soldier.”
SS: What makes a good commanding officer when it comes to dealing with day-to-day 1RCHA’s operations?
JOD: “The former Ops O in me would say that a good CO shouldn’t get too sucked into the details of the day-to-day operations and focus on some longer range objectives while still maintaining the ‘pulse’ of operations. But to answer that question I would say having experience in the Ops process is helpful combined with the ability to communicate effectively, to set a limited number of priorities, to stay even keeled, patient, to have appreciation of existing resource shortfalls and to manage the capacity of the organization. Underscoring all of his I would say would be to deploy empathy as day-today operations involve people.”
SS: What do you believe are your objectives for the unit during your two-year tenure at the helm of 1RCHA, especially with having your warriors deployed to Latvia on Op REASSURANCE since early June?
JOD: “Having not done a handover yet, I’m hesitant to answer that question until I’m fully oriented. I’ve been away from the unit and the country for some time and there have been some pretty big changes over the past six years since I left 1RCHA. But to provide some ‘speculative fire’ so to speak, I’d say a focus on people will always be an objective. Gen Thomas Bland Strange, the first BC of B Battery and considered the father of Canadian Artillery once said ‘a gun without Gunners is a body without a soul’ and that’s a great metaphor for the requirement for retention of our soldiers. The last few years have been difficult on soldiers and families. Current economic conditions, high tempo, stress of the pandemic, along with grappling with significant cultural and misconduct Issues need to be considered by CAF leadership so I’ll likely start there.”
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When it comes to LCol O’Donnell’s synopsis of family military history — his brother, father, grandfather and great-grandfather on both sides are or were all in the Canadian Field Artillery or Royal Canadian Artillery — Gnr Vernon O’Donnell (12th Fd Bty Great War); on his mother’s side his great-grandfather Gnr Stanley Poole served with 74th Bty during First World War; Gnr Allen O’Donnell, CWO Sonny O’Donnell, LCol Rob O’Donnell and LCol Joe O’Donnell.
Their service covers the First and Second World Wars, Korea War, Cold War and more recently, the Afghanistan War. His brother was posted to CFB Kingston before being deployed as NSF advisor on Op PROTEUS.
Other family members on his mother’s side is his grandfather, who was a CWO who retired as RSM of 403 Sqn at CFB Gagetown. His uncle and a cousin were also in the RCAF.
Born in Lahr, Germany where his father Sonny was serving as a FOO Tech with 1RCHA’s A Bty, LCol O’Donnell spent his childhood growing up on this Base as well as CFB Gagetown.
Following his first posting to CFB Shilo, in 2010, he attended the Instructor-in-Gunnery (IG) course at the RCAS and was subsequently employed as an IG. In 2012, he was once again posted to 1RCHA as the RCPO, followed by Ops O in 2013, A Bty BC in 2014 and Regimental 2IC in 2016.
He also served as the Deputy Commandant of the RCAS in 2018. His key staff experience in 2019 was his position as the Chief of Staff (COS) of 36 Canadian Brigade Group.
Operationally, LCol O’Donnell deployed to Kandahar Afghanistan in 2009, on Op ATHENA as a FOO with 1PPCLI. Then it was Kabul, Afghanistan in 2013 on Op ATTENTION as the S-3 of the Ministry of Interior, Ministerial Advisory Group with 2PPCLI.
He also deployed domestically as an OC to fight floods on Op LENTUS in 2014 in Portage la Prairie.
LCol O’Donnell is an Instructor-In-Gunnery, a graduate of Brandon University, of the Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and of Webster University.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in in sociology and history and a Master’s degree in leadership and management.
Away from work in his spare time, he enjoys Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and CrossFit.
Father to sons Jack and Billy, LCol O’Donnell met his future wife Melissa at Pizza Hut in the CANEX Mall, in a space now occupied by the Stag.
She worked in the kitchen making pizza, while he was kept busy delivering her culinary creations to the Q Patch, Sprucewoods or out to the campgrounds to hungry German tankers camped on Base driving his ’88 Sunbird.
LCol O’Donnell is the recipient of the General Campaign Star – South West Asia, US Army Public Service Commendation, a US Army Meritorious Service Medal and the 2018 recipient of the MGen Hans-Schlup award for international relations.

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