ARTICLES

EDITORIAL: A FORMIDABLE LEGACY INDEED!
Source: DND
The sudden passing of retired General Ramsey Muir Withers,
CMM, CStJ, CD, D Eng, D Mil Sc, P Eng, just prior to
Christmas last year, left a gaping hole in the pantheon
of exceptional Canadians. It is not my intent here to
outline his many accomplishments from a long and
distinguished career. 1
Suffice it to say that General Withers, a combat veteran from the
Korean War, achieved the highest pinnacle within the Canadian
Forces (that of Chief of the Defence Staff); made a very successful
transition into the civil service, achieving the position of Deputy
Minister; and then moved into the private sector,
achieving considerable success there as well!
My intent is, rather, to highlight a couple of areas from General Withers’ long and distinguished
career that are often overlooked. Few people are aware, for example, of the enormous amount
of time and energy General Withers devoted to a long list of volunteer activities, including
service as a Trustee of the Canadian Museum of Civilization; one-time Chairmanship of the
Canadian War Museum Committee; and membership in the Canadian War Museum’s
“A Team” of volunteers. Indeed, it was during a recent 2014 interview with “A Team” members
that he spelled out why he remained so active as a volunteer: “To pass the torch. To make sure
people remember why we shouldn’t have wars…” 2
The other area often overlooked is arguably where he made one of his strongest contributions
to changing the Canadian Forces for the better. That came about through his leadership of
what became known as the 1998 Withers Study Group. He was presented with quite a
substantial mandate:
“To ensure for each graduate, a broad-based education, well grounded in the sciences
and the humanities, with special emphasis being placed on the development of values,
ethics and leadership skills needed for responsibilities and service to country.”
From the start, it became clear that the choice of General Withers for the task was nothing less
than brilliant. As an ex-cadet who had started his service at Royal Roads Military College (then
the Canadian Services College Royal Roads) in 1948, General Withers would have been quite
aware of the need for an overhaul to the Colleges’ program then in place. It is worth
highlighting two of the Group’s recommendations.
One recommendation sought to reinforce the development of the values, ethics and leadership
skills required by military cadets for service to Canada, so that future military leaders
emerging from the Military Colleges would be firmly integrated into the profession of arms.
The significance of this recommendation lay in re-orienting the relationship between the
6 THE CANADIAN ARMY JOURNAL VOLUME 16.2 2016