The troubled military unit charged with supporting ill and injured service members and their families got a new commander on Thursday – its 5th leader in less than a year-and-a-half.

Brig-Gen. Mark Misener, who was newly promoted from the rank of colonel, was installed as Commander of the Joint Personnel Support Unit at a small ceremony in Ottawa on Thursday.

Misener will oversee 24 support centres and eight satellite sites that are currently serving 1,400 members posted to them for six-month terms or more, plus about 4,400 walk-in clients per year.

Misener’s predecessor, Brig-Gen. Shane Brennan, retired Thursday after less than three months on the job. Brennan cited the desire to spend more time with his wife, Maj.-Gen. Tammy Harris, who is also retiring. Harris made history earlier this year when she was installed as the first female deputy commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Brennan had taken over the JPSU in April from Brig.-Gen. Dave Corbould, who held the position for only six months. Corbould was preceded on an interim basis by Capt. Marie-France Langlois, who had taken over from Col. Gerry Blais after he resigned in February 2016.

In an interview with CTV’s Mercedes Stephenson Thursday, Lt.-Gen. Charles Lamarre called the situation “not ideal” but stressed that Brennan’s retirement was a “family decision” on his part.

“Eventually, this organization will grow to be 1,200 strong,” Lamarre said. “So there’s a higher commitment there to make sure we can look after men and women who require this.”

“It’s not only going to be for the ill and injured, it’s going to be for all members who transition out,” Lamarre added.

Whatever the reason for Brennan’s departure, former JPSU employee Barry Westholm says the frequent changes at the top are a “huge problem” for the organization that he resigned from in 2013.

“When you have a Brigadier-General taking over a unit for the ill and injured -- the one that healthy people going into combat situations look to rely on to help them out when they get wounded – and he bails in two months?” says Westholm. “Everybody now is looking at the JPSU going, what on Earth is going on in that unit?”

Westholm says he resigned from his position as Regional Sergeant Major of the JPSU in 2013 because the number of people seeking services “just totally overwhelmed staff” and the leadership was not willing to rectify the situation.

“There was just no way that you could give the service these injured and ill people needed,” he says. “It was impossible."

Westholm says leadership has known about the problem for years. He pointed to a February 2014 email from JPSU deputy commanding officer Lt. Col. Michel Cecyre, in which Cecyre noted “exponentially” increasing demand for JPSU services and said staff were “severely” overworked, with some “on duty 24/7.”

Westholm says he was working practically 24 hours a day before he left. He said at least three people died by suicide.

“Anybody put in charge of the JPSU … they’ve got to be able to buy into it and stay the course and get the unit sorted out,” Westholm said.

Brig-Gen. Misener, whose 30-year career includes tours to Somalia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan, said Thursday that he will “continue to take care of our ill and injured and their families” while also building a “transition group” for all soldiers.

“I fully intend to stay here, hopefully for two or three years, to see this transition through,” Misener added.

With files from The Canadian Press and CTV’s Mercedes Stephenson