Raymond Henault

Raymond Henault

Raymond "Ray" Roland Joseph Henault , CMM , CD (* 26. April 1948 in Winnipeg ) is a General of the Canadian Forces Air Command of the Canadian Forces . From June 2001 to February 2005 he was Chief of the Defense Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces and from June 16, 2005 to June 27, 2008, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee in Brussels .

Military career

Henault joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1968 and, after completing his training, served as a pilot and flight instructor, spending more than 4,500 hours on the T-33 "Silver Star", CF-101 "Voodoo" and the UH-1 "Huey" helicopter types " And OH-58" Kiowa " . He also served as an air traffic controller , flight officer in a brigade headquarters and as a project director for the acquisition of light helicopters.

From June 1987 to 1989 he commanded the 444th Tactical Helicopter Squadron at the Canadian Air Base in Lahr , Germany. In June 1989, he was transferred to the headquarters of the Canadian Forces Air Command in Winnipeg , where he served as a senior procurement officer. In July 1990 he was promoted to colonel and took over command as base commander in Portage la Prairie , Manitoba, and headed Canada's first flight training center, which is responsible for basic flight training as well as helicopter and instructor courses. In July 1992, he was named deputy commander of the 10th Tactical Squadron at Canadian Forces Base Montreal . In August 1993 Henault was transferred to the National Defense College in Kingston , where he completed the 47th course. In May of the following year he was promoted to Brigadier General and took command of the 10th Tactical Squadron in Montreal. In July 1995, he was finally deployed again to the Air Command headquarters , where he served as chief of staff for operations. From June to December 1996 he was transferred to Ottawa at the National Defense Headquarters , where he served as Chief of Staff J3 Planning and Operations. In October of the next year Henault was appointed Deputy Chief of the Defense Staff and promoted to Major-General on April 1, 1997 . Henault served as assistant chief of the air staff from September 1997 to September 1998 . On August 15, 1998, Henault was promoted to lieutenant-general and was appointed to the post of deputy chief of staff for operations until June 2001. During this use, Canada participated with air components in the Kosovo war and other NATO missions, such as the Stabilization Force (SFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina .

On June 28, 2001 Henault was promoted to general and took over until February 2005 the post of Chief of the Defense Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces. During his tenure, the Canadian Armed Forces saw their highest operational contingent since World War II . Since September 11, 2001 , more than 17,000 Canadian soldiers have been deployed overseas. In addition to contributing to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan , Canadian troops were deployed as part of coalition and UN missions in Haiti , Ethiopia and Eritrea , the Golan Heights , the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone . Extensive efforts were also made under Henault to transform the Canadian Armed Forces to make them more flexible.

In November 2004 Henault was then nominated for the post of Chairman of the NATO Military Committee and then took over this post in June 2005 from the German General Harald Kujat .

Henault is fluent in English and French and is a graduate of the École supérieure de guerre aérienne (ESGA) in Paris and the Canadian National Defense College . He holds a Bachelor of Arts and an Honorary Doctorate in Law from the University of Manitoba. In 2005 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy in military science from the Royal Military College of Canada and in 2006 an honorary professorship from the University of Pécs in Hungary .

Henault's awards include: a .: the Commander of the Canadian Order of Military Merit (CMM), as well as Commander in The Most Venerable Order of St. John of Jerusalem , Commander of the French Legion of Honor , the Legion of Merit in the Commander level and the Czech Cross of Merit, First Class.

Web links

• Official Biography (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Maurice Baril	Chief of Defense Staff of the Armed Forces of Canada 2001–2005	Rick Hillier
Harald Kujat	Chairman of the NATO Military Committee 2005–2008	Giampaolo Di Paola