Canadian Army NCOs with Andrew Brown

For centuries, countries have relied on their non-commissioned officer (NCO) corps to form the backbone of their armed forces. The Canadian Army was no different in the Second World War. As it mobilized from fewer than 56,000 regular and part-time soldiers to almost a half-million men and women, it needed to grow an effective NCO corps of corporals, sergeants, and warrant officers. 

Today’s guest, Andrew Brown, joins the podcast to examine how the Canadian Army met this challenge. We begin by defining the position and role of an NCO and look at what the service files from infantry NCOs tell us about this group of soldiers. We discuss how the army trained NCOs, its expectations for these soldiers, and the importance of NCOs to success on the battlefield. We finish our conversation with some concluding thoughts about the importance of maintaining an effective NCO corps in light of the present war in Ukraine.