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But in an early July announcement, the Canadian military stated that Brennan had decided to retire. No reason was given other than the officer decided it was time to leave the military. Brennan has declined interviews.

JPSU has had three commanding officers in the last year.

The Joint Personnel Support Unit has been plagued with ongoing problems, including a shortage of staff.

Newly released documents obtained under the Access to Information law show the military leadership was well aware as far back as February 2014 that the JPSU was in dire straits with not enough staff and a growing number of injured soldiers to help.

Despite that Canadian military leaders continued to insist that all was well.

A 2014 email from the unit’s deputy commanding officer, Lt. Col. Michel Cecyre, noted that a report for the senior leadership showed the need for JPSU services was significantly increasing and that the bulk of cases were extraordinarily challenging. “This results in the JPSU staff being severely overworked at all levels,” Cecyre wrote in the Feb. 28, 2014 email.

Yet JPSU was at the lowest priority level for the Canadian Forces.

Cecyre recommended that the priority level for the unit be immediately increased and new staff hired. Yet little was done.

Despite the severity of the problems, the Canadian Forces continued to put a positive spin on JPSU. A week after the Cecyre email was sent to senior staff, military officers were telling journalists that there were more than enough staff in the unit and that military personnel were receiving a top level of care.

Barry Westholm, a retired sergeant major who resigned from his position in the JPSU to protest the poor state of affairs in the unit, obtained the various JPSU documents using the Access to Information law.

Westholm said he is concerned about the number of senior leaders the unit has had over its brief history. He noted it is now up to six and such officers rarely stay around long enough to make any improvements. “The turnover in that unit must be a Canadian Forces’ record,” Westholm added.