John McKee

50th Alumni Profiles
B.A. '85 - John McKee
Legal Advisor to the Strategic Joint Staff
Canadian National Defence Headquarters
Career History Since Graduation After graduation in 1985 I ran a small business and then worked in the financial services industry for a few years. The lingering effects of the "Crash of '87" led me to consider whether a career change might be in order, so I visited the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) recruiting centre and soon found myself at the Basic Officer Training Centre in Chilliwack, BC. That was in 1989 and I have been with the CAF ever since. I was a naval officer for the first 14 years: navigating and directing the employment of sensors, weapons and tactics in a number of frigates. Then, in 2003, I decided to try something new. I was selected for one of a limited number of CAF academic sponsorships to attend law school. Upon graduation in 2006 (JD, University of Ottawa), and the subsequent Law Society of Upper Canada articling process and professional standards training, I was called to the Bar in 2007 and transferred to the Office of the Judge Advocate General (JAG), where I have been employed ever since.
In my 28 years of service I have been posted from coast to coast, and points in between. I now reside in Ottawa and work at National Defence Headquarters.
Most Memorable York University Experience Summer employment in Dr. Gledhill's exercise physiology lab in 1983 and 1984.
Current Position Legal Advisor to the Strategic Joint Staff at National Defence Headquarters
Current Employer The Office of the Judge Advocate General (JAG), Department of National Defence
Highlight(s) of Professional Career Memorable experiences include the following deployments:
- Six months with the NATO Fleet in 1992, which included patrolling off the coast of Croatia as the Former Yugoslavia began to fracture, with the resultant regional peace and security concerns;
- The United Nations Security Council mandated embargo of Haiti in 1994 during a period of political unrest there;
- Legal advisor to NATO's Regional Command Headquarters in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2009;
- Legal advisor at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010 in support of the CAF and whole-of-government security operation;
- Legal advisor on board HMCS Charlottetown as part of a NATO Task Force off the coast of Libya in 2011. Charlottetown was the first Canadian ship since the Korean conflict to exchange gunfire with an enemy force; and
- At the Coalition Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in 2015, where I proved legal advice for Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) strikes against ISIS personnel and facilities in Iraq.
Honours and Awards Special Service Medal - NATO (1992)
Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal - Former Yugoslavia (1992) and Haiti (1994)
General Campaign Star - Southwest Asia (Afghanistan) (2009)
NATO Service Medal - Libya (2011)
Canadian Forces Decoration for 22+ years of service (2011)
General Campaign Star - Expedition (Operation IMPACT - campaign to defeat ISIS in Iraq) (2015)