Douglas Delaney , CD, BA, MA, PhDAssociate professor, LCol (ret'd) Chair of War Studies

War Studies Post Graduate Degree Programme

A retired infantry officer with more than twenty-seven years of service in the Canadian Forces, Dr. Doug Delaney also holds a doctorate in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC). 

His military career began when he entered Royal Roads Military College at Victoria, British Columbia in 1983.  Four years later, he graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) at Kingston Ontario in 1987 with BA (Honours) in History.  Commissioned into Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) as a Second-Lieutenant, he served for four years with the Third Battalion of his regiment at Victoria, B.C, where he held appointments as rifle platoon commander, Intelligence Officer and Company Second-in-Command.  In 1991, Captain Delaney was posted to the Canadian Airborne Regiment at Petawawa, Ontario, where served as a rifle platoon commander in 2 Airborne Commando and as a reconnaissance platoon commander.  From 1993 to 1996, he was a staff officer (plans) at First Canadian Division Headquarters.  In 1996, he returned to regimental duty with 1 PPCLI, where he held the posts of Adjutant and Company Commander.  In 2000, after finally completing his MA in War Studies through part-time study at RMC, then-Major Delaney returned to his alma mater to pursue a doctorate in War Studies, which he completed in 2003. 

Lieutenant-Colonel (retired) Delaney’s military qualifications include Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff Course, Combat Team Commander, Combat Intelligence Officer, Basic Parachutist, and Military Freefall Parachutist.  He has completed three operational tours of duty: Cyprus (1988), Somalia (1992-1993) and Kosovo (1999).

Since 2002, he has been a professor of history at RMC, where he lectures on Canadian military history, strategic studies, guerilla warfare, and the Second World War.  From 2004 to 2006, he was also Head of the Military and Strategic Studies undergraduate program, an appointment held until assuming his current responsibilities as Chair of War Studies in January 2007.  His book The Soldiers’ General: Bert Hoffmeister at War(2005) won the 2007 C.P Stacey Prize for the best book on a Canadian military history topic.  Some of his other publications include “A Quiet Man of Influence: General Sir John Crocker.” Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, (2007); "Cutting, Running, or Otherwise?  The U.S. Decision to Withdraw From Somalia." Small Wars and Insurgencies (2004); "Churchill and the Mediterranean Strategy: December 1941 -- January 1943," Defence Studies (2002).  His latest book, Corps Commanders: Five British and Canadian Generals at War, 1939-1945 will be published in 2011.