General Joseph Édouard Jean Boyle, CMM, CD (born November 23, 1947) is a former Canadian Chief of Defence Staff. He resigned in disgrace less than a year after his appointment, when it was revealed that he was involved in "almost every facet" of the attempt to manage the aftermath of the Somalia Affair, including the alteration of documents released to the media. Military career Boyle joined the military in 1967, entering the Royal Military College of Canada as student #8790 and training under Brigadier General William Kirby Lye, whom he characterised as a "crusty old codger". He spent his first year at school in Fort Champlain, sharing a room with Brian D. Pashley, before moving on to spend his next three years living in the Stone Frigate; he participated in varsity football, handball and judo. He graduated with his Honours degree in Economics in 1971. He became Commanding Officer of 4 Fighter Wing and Base Commander of CFB Baden-Soellingen in 1988. He returned to the RMC as Commandant in 1991 and served for two years. As a jet fighter pilot, he commanded 1 Canadian Air Division in Germany. In 1995, he was made a Commander of the Order of Military Merit. As a General, Boyle fought against Canada's participation in the Ottawa Treaty to ban landmines. Boyle was appointed the Chief of Defence Staff in January 1996, at the relatively young age of 48, being chosen ahead of more senior officers who were expected to be picked for the job. General Lewis MacKenzie later described Boyle's ascension, noting that he was "obviously out of his depth as [Chief of Defence Staff]". As the Somalian scandal was just beginning to make headlines, some suggested he was appointed specifically in the hopes that he would draw away the majority of public wrath onto himself. Somalia affair Boyle was accused of overseeing the release of altered documents to an Access to Information request from CBC reporter Michael McAuliffe. It was later remarked that his error had been "almost ridiculously insignificant", as he had simply tried to evade persistent media questioning by providing altered documents. The military magazine Esprit de Corps labelled him "the spin doctor of the Somalia affair". With nine days of testimony, he was the most vocal witness called before the subsequent inquiry, where he "fought determinedly to defend his reputation and save his job". While serving at National Defence Headquarters,