Brigadier Rocky Meade to be Honoured at King’s House

KINGSTON — Deputy Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier Rocky Meade, will receive the Order of Distinction, Officer Class (OD), for services to the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), at the National Honours and Awards ceremony, to be held on October 17, at King’s House in Kingston.

“It is a fulfilling and humbling experience to be recognised by one’s country,” Brigadier Meade tells JIS News in an interview.

Brigadier Meade, who was born in Kingston in 1963, is a determined, principled and organised individual who has an enduring desire to serve his country in whatever he does.

This soldier has a passion for education and as such he has invested in his tertiary education by completing studies in linguistics and in military strategies at the Universities of the West Indies and Amsterdam, as well as at the US Army Command and Staff College.

Brigadier Meade obtained his Doctorate in Philosophy (PhD) in linguistics, in 2001, after conducting scientific research on the use of the Jamaican creole by children. He previously completed his Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Master of Arts (MA) degrees in 1992 and 1995, respectively.

“I have always been attracted to disciplined, ‘uniformed’ and principled organisations,” he tells JIS News, adding that he developed an interest in the work of armed and ‘uniformed’ groups while he was attending high school and was a cadet.

Although he did not join the military right after leaving high school, the Brigadier’s aspiration of being a member of the army would be realised later.

After leaving Wolmer’s Boys School in 1982, he got a job as a Draftsman at the then Jamaica Telephone Company (JTC), where he learnt that maintaining balance and engaging in negotiation are imperative aspects of business relationships, which can be used in the military.

In 1984, Brigadier Meade joined the JDF where he began his career as a soldier and by 1985, after graduating from the Royal Military Academy in the United Kingdom (UK), he was appointed Platoon Commander, Second Battalion, Jamaica Regiment. He progressed quickly through the ranks of the military to his current post of Deputy Chief of Defence Staff.

The Brigadier is enthusiastic about the JDF’s transformation and, this he notes, will happen through the implementation of strategic and long-term plans. Meanwhile, as part of his mandate, he hopes to devise policies and programmes that will enable the achievement of the planned objectives.

“Nothing is impossible,” he says. “Impossible things just require some thought,” he adds. This is his philosophy, which helps to motivate soldiers under his command, and to find solutions to problems.

As he reflects on his journey and experiences in the Force, the Brigadier sees the JDF as an insurance policy for the country, explaining that it has to equip its members with transferable skills required to handle crises and cases of emergency.

Brigadier Meade is not only serving the country as a member of the JDF, he  is also giving service as a Justice of the Peace (JP) in the parish of Kingston.  He sees this as an opportunity to serve all civilians and his country.

The dedicated army man also has a passion for education. He has been lecturing at the University of the West Indies (UWI), focusing on linguistics and language related courses.

“I love to teach and, I love to find creative ways of conveying my ideas and things I know to other persons,” the Brigadier tells JIS News.

The Brigadier has done extensive research on military strategies and the way forward for the JDF. On graduating from the US Army Command and General Staff College in 2003, he published his thesis, ‘The Relevance and Optimal Structure of the Military in Jamaica in the Current and Emerging Geo-Security Environment’.

In keeping with his interest in community development, Brigadier Meade also serves in many professional organisations that promote the growth of Jamaican communities. “It makes me feel like I’m giving back,” he says.

He is integrally involved in the HEART Trust/NTA as Board Director,the Jamaica Legion, the Royal Air Force Association of Jamaica, the Linguistic Society of America, the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica’s (PSOJ) Standing Committee on National Security, and as a member of the Board of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM).

By Toni-Ann Russell, JIS PRO