Rear Admiral Antonette Wemyss Gorman

Chief of Defence Staff Jamaica Defence Force

Rear Admiral (RAdm) Antonette Wemyss Gorman is a pioneer service woman in the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), being the first female officer to attain a Flag rank. She joined the JDF in August 1992 and completed her professional development training overseas at the Britannia Royal Naval College, HMS Dryad UK and at the US Naval War College.

During her fifteen (15) years on-board various classes of ships in the Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard (JDF CG), she has sailed the Caribbean, deploying to Haiti in support of JDF troops serving with the CARICOM Contingent in Operation “UPHOLD DEMOCRACY”, to the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Cayman Island, Curacao and other islands on multiple military and diplomatic missions. Her last sea command was as Commanding Officer of HMJS SURREY, a 42-metre Offshore Patrol Vessel which she sailed on its maiden voyage from Gorinchem, Holland to Jamaica in October 2007. She holds a Masters Degree with distinction in National Security and Strategic Studies from the University of the West Indies.

RAdm Wemyss Gorman established and was appointed Commandant of the Caribbean Military Maritime Training Centre (CMMTC) in 2012. She has modernized the standards of training for the JDF CG and has implemented proficiency checks to improve operational effectiveness and accountability. RAdm Wemyss Gorman was appointed Commanding Officer of the JDF CG, and attained the rank of Commander in 2014, making her the first female to attain that rank and Unit command in the JDF. Her last line command was Brigade Commander of the Maritime Air and Cyber Command, a unique structure which she stood up as part of the transformation of the JDF into a division-sized Force.

Other notable appointments, external to the JDF, include a secondment to the Ministry of Transport and Works as Deputy Director for Maritime Transport, appointments to the Fisheries Advisory Board, the National Council on Ocean and Coastal Zone Management and the National COVID-19 Response Advisory Committee.

Promoted to the rank of Commodore in December 2019, RAdm Wemyss Gorman assumed the post of Force Executive Officer (FXO), providing guidance and oversight of the Force transformation process. RAdm Wemyss Gorman led the update to the Force Strategic Defence Review which charts the course of the Force up to 2037. RAdm Wemyss Gorman has been awarded the Order of Distinction (Officer Class), the Medal of Honour For Meritorious Service, the Military Commendation Medal and the Medal of Honour For General Service. She received an award for distinguished leadership by the United Way Women Leadership Initiative (WLI) in 2015 and was also honoured by the Women in the Caribbean Maritime Association for her contribution to maritime security in the region in May 2019.

RAdm Wemyss Gorman provides charitable service to girls through the WLI in her spare time.