Ray Henault

Raymond R.J. Henault
General Ray Henault
Born	(1949-04-26) April 26, 1949 Winnipeg, Manitoba
Allegiance	Canada
Service/branch	Canadian Forces
Years of service	1968-2008
Rank	General
Commands held	444(CA) Tactical Helicopter Squadron, Base Commander CFB Portage la Prairie, 10 Tactical Air Group, Chief of the Defence Staff, Chairman of the Military Committee, (NATO)
Battles/wars	Kosovo
Awards	Commander of the Order of Military Merit Canadian Forces Decoration

General Raymond (Ray) Roland Joseph Henault, CMM, MSC, CD (born April 26, 1949 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) is a retired Canadian Air Force officer. He was the Chief of the Defence Staff of Canada from June 28, 2001. On November 7, 2004, Henault was voted to become the next chairman of NATO's military committee, a position he held until 2008, when he finally retired.

Military career

Henault enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1968.^[1] On completion of pilot training at CFB Borden, Ontario, and CFB Gimli, Manitoba, Henault was transferred to CFB Bagotville, Québec, where he served as a CF-101 Voodoo pilot with 425 Squadron. In 1972, he became a flight instructor on the Musketeer at CFB Portage la Prairie. In 1974, he served a second tour at CFB Bagotville, this time as an air traffic controller.

In 1976, Henault was posted to 408 Squadron at CFB Edmonton, Alberta, to fly the CH-135 Twin Huey helicopter. In 1980 he moved to CFB Valcartier, Québec, as Staff Officer (Aviation) in 5 Canadian Brigade Group Headquarters. In 1981, he was promoted to the rank of Major and transferred to 430^e Escadron at CFB Valcartier, where he served as the Twin Huey Flight Commander.

In January 1985, he came to National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa to assume responsibility for Doctrine and International Programs in the Directorate of Land Aviation. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in June 1985, and appointed Project Director for the Canadian Forces Light Helicopter Project at NDHQ.

In June 1987, Henault was appointed the Commanding Officer of 444(CA) Tactical Helicopter Squadron at CFB Lahr, Germany.^[1] In June 1989, he was transferred to Air Command Headquarters in Winnipeg as Senior Staff Officer Requirements. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel in July 1990, and appointed Base Commander of CFB Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.^[1] In July 1992, he was appointed the Deputy Commander of 10 Tactical Air Group at CFB Montreal. In August 1993, he was posted to the National Defence College in Kingston, Ontario to attend Course No. 47.

He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General in May 1994, and assumed command of 10 Tactical Air Group headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. In July 1995, he was posted to Air Command Headquarters and appointed Chief of Staff Operations.

From June to December 1996, General Henault served as Chief of Staff J3/Director-General Military Plans and Operations at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa.^[1] From January to October 1997, Henault was appointed Acting Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff. He was promoted to the rank of Major-General on 1 April 1997.

From September 1997 to September 1998, Henault served as Assistant Chief of the Air Staff. On 15 August 1998 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General and served as Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff from September 1998 to June 2001.^[1] Henault was promoted to his present rank and appointed Chief of the Defence Staff on 28 June 2001.^[1]^[2]

He is a graduate of the École supérieure de guerre in Paris, France and of the National Defence College in Kingston.^[1] He holds a Bachelor of Arts and honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Manitoba.^[1] He is an honorary member of the Royal Military College of Canada (# S146).

He holds the rank of Commander of the Order of Military Merit (CMM), The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (Serving Member), and Commander of the French Legion of Honour.^[1]

Henault was elected to the position of Chairman of the NATO Military Committee in November 2004 and assumed that position at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium in June 2005.^[1] He held that position until 2008, when he finally retired from the military and returned to Canada.

Henault (left)

Post-military Career

In 2013, Ray Henault will join the Board of Directors of the Pearson Centre.^[3]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ray Henault.

"Canada's Henault gets NATO's top military post".

Military offices
Preceded by J.G.M. Baril	Chief of the Defence Staff 2001 – 2005	Succeeded by R.J. Hillier
Preceded by Harald Kujat	Chairman of the NATO Military Committee 2005 – 2008	Succeeded by Giampaolo Di Paola

Canadian Chiefs of the Defence Staff

Frank Miller Jean-Victor Allard Frederick Sharp Jacques Dextraze Robert Falls Ramsey Withers Gérard Thériault Paul Manson John de Chastelain John Anderson John de Chastelain Jean Boyle Larry Murray Maurice Baril Ray Henault Rick Hillier Walter Natynczyk Thomas Lawson Jonathan Vance

Chairmen of the NATO Military Committee

1949–1951 Omar Bradley
1951–1952 Etienne Baele
1952–1953 Charles Foulkes
1953–1954 E. J. C. Quistgaard
1954–1955 Augustin Guillaume
1955–1956 Stylianos Pallis
1956–1957 Giuseppe Mancinelli
1957–1958 B. R. P. F. Hasselman

1958–1959 Bjarne Øen
1959–1960 J. A. Beleza Ferras
1960–1960 Rustu Erdelhun
1960–1961 Louis Mountbatten
1961–1962 Lyman Lemnitzer
1962–1963 C. P. de Cumont
1963–1964 Adolf Heusinger
1964–1968 C. P. de Cumont

1968–1971 Nigel Henderson
1971–1974 Johannes Steinhoff
1974–1977 Peter Hill-Norton
1977–1980 H. F. Zeiner-Gundersen
1980–1983 Robert Hilborn Falls
1983–1986 Cornelis De Jager
1986–1989 Wolfgang Altenburg
1989–1993 Vigleik Eide

1993–1996 Richard Vincent
1996–1999 Klaus Naumann
1999–2002 Guido Venturoni
2002–2005 Harald Kujat
2005–2008 Ray Henault
2008–2011 Giampaolo Di Paola
2011–2015 Knud Bartels
2015–2016 Petr Pavel

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, May 05, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.