OTTAWA—A massive shakeup is reshaping the leadership of Canada’s military just as the country’s fighting forces face cost-cutting reforms.

Eleven senior officers will retire from the military this year, setting in motion a domino effect of 47 different appointments and promotions across the top ranks of the Canadian Forces.

“It was extraordinary the number of dominoes,” military historians Jack Granatstein said Wednesday, one of several observers surprised by the scale of the changes, which took a five-page news release to list.

“It’s pretty big. Most of the annual promotion lists are rather slimmer than this one. This looks not quite wholesale but every large indeed,” Granatstein said in an interview.

Topping the shuffle is news that the heads of the navy and army are both leaving. Coupled with last year’s replacement of the head of the air force, it means that the three services all have new leaders in the last 12 months.

While some departures were expected others came as a surprise, suggesting unhappiness over the direction of the armed forces.

Vice-Admiral Bruce Donaldson is retiring as the vice-chief of defence staff, the military’s number two job, a position he held since 2010. He will be replaced Lt.-Gen. Guy Thibault, an army officer now posted to Washington.

Rear-Admiral Mark Norman will replace Vice-Admiral Paul Maddison as Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy.

Lt.-Gen. Peter Devlin is leaving as head of the army, a position he got in 2010, and will be replaced by J.M.M. Hainse. Hainse, an army officer who started with the Royal 22e Regiment in Quebec City — the Van Doos — is currently serving a NATO post in Naples, Italy.

Maj.-Gen. Jon Vance is getting a promotion to Lieutenant-General and will replace Hainse in Naples, seen by some as confirmation that this veteran of Canada’s Afghanistan mission is being groomed for top jobs.

Doug Bland, a defence expert at Queen’s University, said some of those leaving still had time left in their military careers.

“To see the whole headquarters disappear like that . . . is something unusual in my memory,” Bland said in an interview.

“Usually you try to keep part of the team together as you go forward.

“Handing over all these senior positions to a bunch of new people, even if they have been deputies, is a difficult thing to do.”

The staffing changes come after Prime Minister Stephen Harper made clear last fall that he wanted reforms within the military to find administrative savings. A 2011 report on transformation done by Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, now retired, identified measures that could save as much as $1 billion in administration costs.

While Bland said there’s no indication that any of the top officers were forced out, he’s certain that Gen. Tom Lawson and perhaps even Defence Minister Peter MacKay would have discussed their visions for the armed forces in the year ahead, prompting some to decide now is the time to go.

The staff changes come soon after Lawson took over as chief of defence staff last October, suggesting that the changes are his way of putting his own imprint on the organization.

However, Granatstein suggested that Harper and MacKay may have had a hand in the personnel picks.

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“All of whom are players in these kinds of decisions,” Granatstein said.

Military observers suggested several factors for the turnover: unhappiness over ongoing reforms; concerns about further budget cuts; and a realization among senior generals that with Lawson’s appointment, they are no longer in the running for the top job.

“The other guys may have said, ‘I’m out of favour, there’s other things to do and this is a good time to leave,’” Bland said.