Commander CFB Esquimalt

The Commander, Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt is the institutional head of the Pacific Naval Base in Esquimalt, British Columbia.

Biography

Capatain(N) Steve Waddell, MSM, CD

="CFB Esquimalt Base Commaner"Captain(N) Steve Waddell was raised in Temagami, Northern Ontario and joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1990. A mariner at heart, most of his career has been at sea; he conducted several operational deployments to the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Adriatic Sea and the waters off the Horn of Africa and Korean peninsula. Missions included United Nation sanctions enforcement against Iraq and the former Yugoslavia, counter-terrorism operations in the Gulf region and piracy disruption patrols in the Indian Ocean. Highlights included circumnavigating the globe with Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Calgary as the ship’s navigator, serving as a staff officer with a deployed U.S. Carrier Battle Group, and commanding the frigate HMCS Fredericton on a counter-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia.

Captain(N) Waddell has occupied several staff positions, including coastal tours as Navigation Instructor at the Naval Officer Training Centre, and as Operations Officer with Sea Training Pacific. Following his frigate command, he transferred to Ottawa where he served as the Director of Naval Strategy with the Navy Staff. On promotion to his current rank, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations) at Canada Command – now Canadian Joint Operations Command – where he directed national-level joint operations from the Caribbean to the Arctic.

Following his joint tour, Captain(N) Waddell went on to serve as an advisor in the Chief of the Defence Staff Initiative Group before taking up studies at the United States Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.  He assumed his current position as Base Commander Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt on July 30, 2014.

Captain(N) Waddell holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Manitoba, a Master’s Degree from King’s College London, U.K. and a Diploma in National Security Affairs and Strategic Studies from the United States Naval War College. A fan of most forms of music, he wishes he was better at playing his electric bass but is content, along with his wife Shauna, to admire the growing musical talents of their two children.