Lieutenant Colonel Dionne N Smalling

Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) Dionne Smalling has served in the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) since 1993.  After completing recruit training in Newcastle, St Andrew, she received her initial officer training at the Royal Air Force College in Lincolnshire, United Kingdom.  She has served in administrative capacities in the Engineer Regiment and the Support and Services Battalion (Sp and Svcs Bn) and was employed as a Staff Officer with responsibility for various aspects of Information Systems for more than a decade of her career.  She spent two years as the junior Staff Officer with responsibility for Logistics in Headquarters JDF, and another two years as the Senior Staff Officer responsible for Finance and Logistics.

She gained her initial command experience as the Officer Commanding the Administrative Company in the Sp and Svcs Bn, and then as the Battalion Second in Command.  She is currently employed as the Commanding Officer of that Battalion and is also the Officer in Charge of Women’s Affairs for the JDF. She has served as Directing Staff and Standards Officer for the Caribbean Junior Command and Staff College, and she is currently an adjunct lecturer for the MSc. National Security and Strategic Studies programme at the Mona School of Business and Management, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus.

A graduate of Knox College, Lt Col Smalling has a Master of Military Arts and Science Degree in History and Strategy from the United States Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. She also holds a Master of Science Degree in National Security and Strategic Studies and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science from the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. Over the course of her career she has completed several professional development courses, including the Intermediate Level Education at the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, and a Diploma in Information Systems Management from US Army Signal Centre in Fort Gordon, Georgia.

Lt Col Smalling is the recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal and the Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal. She is married with two children, and is enthusiastic about parenting, reading, writing, and running.