Unit Appointments - Commanding Officer
1 Field Regiment
Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander S. MacDonald, CD

Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander MacDonald was born in Calgary, Alberta and was raised in Ontario and Nova Scotia. In 1981 after four years as an Air Cadet where he qualified cadet pilot (power and glider) he joined 1st (Halifax-Dartmouth) Field Artillery Regiment RCA as an Officer Cadet in the Reserve Entry Officer training plan (RESO).

After attending the first summer of RESO training, Lieutenant-Colonel MacDonald was commissioned as a Field Artillery Second Lieutenant. Serving in 1 Fd Regt for over 20 years, he performed all key unit officer duties including Adjutant, Gun Position Officer and Forward Observation Officer. During his early developmental period, Lieutenant-Colonel MacDonald also served an attachment with the Divisional Artillery Headquarters on Exercise RENDEZ-VOUS 85 as a G3 Artillery Operations Duty Officer. He was promoted to Captain in 1986 and to Major in 1990. Lieutenant-Colonel MacDonald commanded 51 Battery 1 Fd Regt commencing in 1988 for four years. After completing the Militia Command and Staff Course in 1992 he began a period of six years of full-time service at Land Force Atlantic Area Headquarters as EA to the Commander, as well as G3 Collective Training. In 1993 he deployed overseas for six months as BC ‘Rural’ Battery, 2 RCHA on UN peacekeeping duties in Cyprus. He was appointed Second-In-command of his unit for the first time in 1995. In 2002 Lieutenant-Colonel MacDonald transferred to the Supplementary Reserve due to civilian work commitments, returning to active Class A service in September 2005, again as unit Second-In-Command. He was promoted to his current rank and appointed Commanding Officer in April 2008, and graduated from the Joint Reserve Command and Staff Program at Canadian Forces College in Toronto in July 2009.

In his civilian life, after graduating from the Dalhousie University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and advanced studies in business at St Mary’s University in Halifax, Lieutenant-Colonel MacDonald has been employed primarily in the financial services and wireless telephone industries. He is currently Vice President (Halifax) Admiral Insurance, one of the United Kingdom’s leading car insurers. He lives and works in Halifax, and in his spare time is active in community affairs including municipal politics, urban planning and design, heritage issues, and coastal conservation. He served as Honourary Aide-de-Camp to The Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia from 1990-2000, and also has served on the boards of The Army Museum-Halifax Citadel, The Glen Abbey Housing Cooperative, The Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia, Contact Centre Nova Scotia Association, and the municipal affairs committee of the Greater Halifax Chamber of Commerce.