Lietenant General Rocky Meade to retire as head of Jamaica Defence Force

Jamaica is to have its first ever female Chief of Defence Staff with the appointment of Commodore Antonette Wemyss-Gorman, following the retirement of Lieutenant General Rocky Meade.

In a release tonight (September 22), the Office of the Prime Minister announced that Meade’s retirement was approved following a meeting of the Defence Board earlier in the day.

The Defence Board said it was announcing its decision to appoint Wemyss Gorman after interviewing three senior JDF officers.

Wemyss-Gorman will be promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral and her promotion and appointment take effect in January 2022.

Meade, who has served the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) for 38 years, was appointed Chief of Defence Staff on December 1, 2016.

Wemyss-Gorman is a career officer whose 29 years of service has been characterised by notable achievement and exceptional service to the JDF. 

She has performed at the strategic level of command within her technical area of expertise and in other domains both internal and external to the JDF.

Represented JDF and Jamaica at various local and international fora

She holds a Master’s Degree with distinction in National Security and Strategic Studies from the University of the West Indies (The UWI). Promoted to her current rank in December 2019, Wemyss-Gorman assumed the post of Force Executive Officer (FXO) in January 2020.  She currently provides strategic guidance to the Force in support of the transformational vision of the Chief of Defence Staff.

Wemyss-Gorman has led the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), which outlines the vision and goals of the Force up to 2037. As the FXO, she formulates and directs Force policies while coordinating all the staff branches and is responsible for the daily running of the Force.

Wemyss-Gorman has held various command appointments across the Force and is responsible for the establishment of the Caribbean Military Maritime Training Centre (CMMTC) and the Maritime Air and Cyber Command, which includes the JDF Coast Guard, the JDF Air wing and Special Forces. Other notable appointments, external to the JDF, include a secondment to the Ministry of Transport and Works as Deputy Director for Marine Transport, appointments to the Fisheries Advisory Board, and to the National COVID-19 Response Advisory Committee.

She has represented the JDF and Jamaica at various local and international fora, on matters of regional security, blue economy, transnational organised crime, women in peace and security among other defence matters. She is 48 years old, married and mother of a 15-year-old son.

In saluting Meade, the Defence Force thanked him for his exceptional service to country and his visionary leadership of the JDF.