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Prime Minister Paul Martin today announced that Lieutenant-General Rick Hillier, currently Chief of the Land Staff, has been promoted to the rank of General and appointed Chief of the Defence Staff, effective February 4, 2005.

January 14, 2005
Ottawa, Ontario

NEWS RELEASE

Prime Minister Paul Martin today announced that Lieutenant-General Rick Hillier, currently Chief of the Land Staff, has been promoted to the rank of General and appointed Chief of the Defence Staff, effective February 4, 2005.

“Lieutenant-General Rick Hillier brings strong leadership and unparalleled experience to his new position,” said Prime Minister Martin. “His service record demonstrates a broad breadth of achievement at home and abroad making him the ideal person to lead the Canadian Forces as they transform for the future.”

Lieutenant-General Rick Hillier was born in Newfoundland and graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science Degree. He joined the military in 1972 and has held progressively more senior positions since that time, serving throughout Canada, twice in both Europe and the United States, and with the United Nations and NATO forces in the former Yugoslavia and in Afghanistan as Commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). In Afghanistan, he commanded some 6,000 troops from 35 nations from February to August of 2004. This was the largest multinational mission commanded by a Canadian since the Suez Canal crisis in 1956. It established the security situation within Afghanistan for the October 2004 democratic elections. He assumed his current position as Chief of the Land Staff on May 30, 2003.

The Prime Minister took the opportunity to thank General Raymond Henault for his outstanding and dedicated service as the Chief of the Defence Staff since June 2001 and wished him well in his new position as Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee in Brussels, Belgium.