OTTAWA—It’s not often the defence minister can boast frontline military service.

But Canada’s newest defence minister, Harjit Singh Sajjan, is a decorated officer who served multiple tours of duty overseas during a lengthy military career that saw him rise to the rank of lieutenant-colonel.

Sajjan, the MP for Vancouver South, was sworn in as defence minister Wednesday as the new Liberal government took office.

During his time in uniform, he deployed once to Bosnia and three times to Kandahar. Among his honours is the Meritorious Service Medal for reducing the Taliban’s influence in Kandahar province.

Sajjan later served 11 years as a police officer with the Vancouver Police Department, where his last assignment was with the gang crime unit.

He takes over defence at a time when the military is engaged in an active combat mission with six CF-18 fighter jets targeting Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria.

As well, a small number of special forces troops are in northern Iraq helping to train peshmerga militia to fight Islamic State forces.

The Liberals have vowed to end the combat portion of that mission, a task that falls to Sajjan to make happen.

Like most of his cabinet colleagues, Sajjan declined to talk specifics about his posting Wednesday, saying only that he was “humbled” to take on the defence portfolio.

“I’m very enthusiastic to actual talk to the deputy minister and the chief of defence staff and learning about our file so that we can make an informed decision,” Sajjan told reporters following an afternoon cabinet meeting.

On the home front, Sajjan will oversee the department’s efforts to curb sexual misconduct within the ranks, a problem that was branded as systemic in a report last year.

And he’ll also be looking to rein in the military bureaucracy and divert more resources to frontline needs of the armed forces.

Tweet from Sajjan: “It’s an honour to serve in cabinet as Minister of National Defence. I will work hard to serve Canada.”