Colonel Evelyn Kotzer, CD, ADC
Commander of 38 Canadian Brigade Group

Colonel Evelyn Kotzer enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces in 1994 and graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. She completed her Signal Officer training at the Canadian Forces School of Communications and Electronics (CFSCE) later that year in December and was posted to Edmonton.

In Edmonton, 2Lt Kotzer was promoted to Lieutenant and held positions as Charlie Troop Commander in 1 Headquarters and Signal Squadron in 2001 and as the 1 Service Battalion Signal Officer in 2002. Capt Kotzer returned to Kingston with postings to the Canadian Forces Joint Signal Regiment in 2004 followed by the CFSCE in 2007. She gained a wealth of knowledge as the School Adjutant, where she completed her Regular Force service in 2009.

Capt Kotzer transferred to the Primary Reserves in May 2009 moving to 772 Electronic Warfare Squadron as the unit Adjutant. In 2010, her husband's posting to Winnipeg led her to 38 Signal Regiment, where she has held almost every regimental and squadron officer position, up to and including Regimental Commanding Officer from May 2020 to September 2022. Concurrent to her command, she was appointed as the Deputy Commander of 38 Canadian Brigade Group (38 CBG) in July 2022, while also working for the Royal Canadian Air Force as the A5 in 2 Canadian Air Division.

LCol Kotzer deployed on domestic Operation GRIZZLY in the Kananaskis mountains in 2002 and graduated from the Army Operations Course in July 2017 and Joint Command and Staff Program in June 2021. In 2020, she stood up the 38 CBG Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee on behalf of the 38 CBG Commander to champion culture growth throughout the brigade. LCol Kotzer recently redeployed on Op UNIFIER 24-02 as the Executive Officer to the Assistant Commander Training for NATO Security Assistance and Training Ukraine (NSAT-U), located in Wiesbaden, Germany. She also served as an Honorary Aide de Camp to the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba since 2015 until her promotion to Colonel.

Colonel Kotzer is greatly supported by her husband, LCol (retired) Clayton Kotzer, and four wonderful children, Riley, Brodie, Grace and Fiona, of which three of the four also serve in the CAF. Beyond her military career, she enjoys playing music with her family, fitness, hiking and numerous sports while dedicating her extra time to volunteering in her community.

Colonel Evelyn Kotzer, Cadet CPO1 Connor Desautels and HCol Bob Vandewater	Colonel Evelyn Kotzer, Cadet CPO2 Fiona Huynh and Mrs. Pamela Shaw	Colonel Evelyn Kotzer, Cadet CPO2 Riel Ruiz and Mr. Ron Skelton
Colonel Evelyn Kotzer, Cadet CWO Queenie Jem Realizan and Maj (Retd) John Lawrence	Colonel Evelyn Kotzer, Cadet MWO Ava Pilotte and HCol Kelvin Shepherd	Gen (Retd) Ray Henault, Cadet Sgt Yeongyun (Elena) Shin and Colonel Evelyn Kotzer
Colonel Evelyn Kotzer, Cadet WO2 Isabelle Ladroma and Mr. Michael Poitras	Colonel Evelyn Kotzer, Cadet WO1 Hailey Anne Nagtalon and LCol (Retd) James Popplow	Colonel Evelyn Kotzer, Cadet WO2 Ethan Salemi and Mrs. Arlene VanRuiten
Colonel Evelyn Kotzer, Cadet WO1 Alyona Telyatnikova and LCol Kevin Diduck	Colonel Evelyn Kotzer, Cadet CWO Jorn Skubovius and LCol (ret'd) Barb Gillis	Ms. Cassidy McGowan, Cadet WO1 Anika Vaags and Colonel Evelyn Kotzer
Colonel Evelyn Kotzer	Honoured Guests with members of the Cadet Band	2025 Scholarship Recipients