James Cox

Brigadier-General James S. Cox (Retired), originally from Toronto, Ontario, was commissioned as an infantry officer in 1967, into the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada and then served in The Royal Canadian Regiment (The RCR) from 1970 until his retirement from the Canadian Forces in 2001.
In 1971, as a junior officer, he held the position of Aide-de-Camp to the Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick. During the period 1972-74, he served as a Canadian exchange officer with the Gloucestershire Regiment, then part of the British Army of the Rhine.
In following years, Brigadier-General Cox served as a tactics instructor at the Infantry School, commanded a rifle company in 1st Battalion, The RCR, completed two tours of duty with the Canadian Airborne Regiment and served in senior staff appointments in Army Headquarters and National Defence Headquarters. He commanded 3rd Battalion, The RCR from 1985-87 and later served as Chief of Staff, Prairie Militia Area from 1989-1991. In 1991 he became Deputy Commander of the Special Service Force, before taking up duty as the Military Chief of Staff of UNOSOM I and II in 1992, in Somalia. In 1993, Brigadier-General Cox was appointed Commander, 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group. In 1995 he was appointed Director General Land Force Development in Ottawa. Between 1996-98, he served as the Land Force Command Inspector. In 1998 Brigadier-General Cox became Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff Intelligence at Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe, where he helped oversee NATO strategic military intelligence activity throughout the Eurasian landmass, until his retirement from the Canadian Forces in 2001.

Brigadier-General Cox has completed six operational tours of duty in United Nations missions in Cyprus, Central Africa and Somalia. He has also served in three NATO missions in Europe. He has trained with the British Army Special Air Service and with the Royal Marines, as well as with the United States Army Special Operations Forces and the United States Marine Corps.

Brigadier-General Cox holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada and a B.A. in Political Studies from the University of Manitoba. He is also a graduate of the Canadian Forces College and studied at the NATO Defence College in Rome. In 1993 he was awarded the Order of Military Merit in the grade of Officer, by the Governor General of Canada.

After retiring from the Canadian Forces, Brigadier-General Cox became the Executive Secretary of the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies in 2004. From 2005-2011 he was an analyst in the Library of Parliament, assigned to advise a number of House of Commons and Senate committees dealing with international security, national defence and veterans affairs issues. He now teaches Canadian foreign policy at the University of Ottawa and civil-military relations at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, at Carleton University.