Commander Canadian Joint Forces Command - Biography

Lieutenant-General D.E. Molstad, CD

Lieutenant-General Darcy Molstad was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. He joined the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in 1996 after completing a Bachelor of Science at the University of Alberta. As a CF-18 pilot he flew operational tours in Bagotville, Cold Lake, and South Carolina on exchange with the United States (U.S.) Marine Corps. He commanded 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron in Bagotville, Deployed Air Task Forces in Iceland, Romania, and in Hawaii, and 3 Wing / Canadian Forces Base Bagotville. As a General Officer, he deployed as Director of the U.S. Combined Air and Space Operations Center in Al Udeid, Qatar, and served a two-year tour as Deputy Commander of Canadian Joint Operations Command, second in command of all deployed CAF personnel.

His executive staff experience includes serving as an Attaché in the United Kingdom and Iceland, as the Special Advisor to the Minister of National Defence, as Director General of Strategies, Effects, and Readiness at the Strategic Joint Staff, and most recently as the Chief of Force Development designing the Joint Force of the future.

Lieutenant-General Molstad holds master’s degrees from the Royal Military College of Canada and the U.S. Air Force Air University and is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Postgraduate Senior International Defense Management Course and the Institute of Corporate Directors Rotman School of Management Directors Education Program. He is a Fighter Weapons Instructor with over 2,200 hours logged on the CF-18. He was promoted to his current rank and named the inaugural Commander of the Canadian Joint Forces Command in December 2025.

Before joining the CAF, he competed in the pole vault winning two junior national titles and rising to multiple national university podiums. He stays connected to sports as the CAF Triathlon Patron and as an Honourary Coach of the Montréal Alouettes Football Club. He is married to an exceptional health professional and is the father to two extraordinary adult children.