Chief of the Defence Staff of Canada

General R.R. Henault, CMM, CD

2001 - 2005

General Ray Henault was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1949. He enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1968.
General Henault served his early tours as an operational pilot, first on CF-101 Voodoo fighters, then in tactical helicopters. He has accumulated 4500 flying hours over a 36-year career.
In early Command positions, General Henault had key responsibilities on CF Squadrons and Bases, including Commanding Officer of 444(CA) Tactical Helicopter Squadron at CFB Lahr, Germany, and Base Commander of CFB Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. As a staff officer and senior commander, he developed broad experience at the
operational and strategic levels, including Commander of 10 Tactical Air Group at CFB Montreal, Chief of Staff Operations at Air Command Headquarters Winnipeg, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff, and Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff at National Defence Headquarters. Appointed Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) in June 2001, General Henault commands all elements of the Canadian Forces (60,000 regular force and 20,000 reserves).

During his tenure as Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff, and later as Chief, General Henault proved his capability as a Strategic Commander, directly responsible for Canada’s operational deployments around the world. Under his leadership, Canada’s Armed Forces have made major contributions to NATO operations, such as the Kosovo Air Campaign, ISAF, KFOR and SFOR. Canada has made major sustained commitments to Operation Enduring Freedom, and has been extremely active in United Nations and other missions including Haiti, East Timor, Ethiopia-Eritrea, and the Golan Heights.

Canada’s global commitments during General Henault’s tenure have been the largest since the Korean War. During the two year period that followed September 11, 2001 more than 16,000 Canadian Forces personnel were deployed abroad, with many involved in combat operations. During this period, over 4,000 personnel were deployed abroad at any one time, in addition to simultaneous support to large domestic operations (security and natural disaster). At present there are approximately 1,600 Canadian personnel serving in 17 international operations. The average deployed over the past decade is 3,400.

During this period of high operational tempo, General Henault has overseen a period of intense change and transition within the Canadian Forces. He has extensive background in practical defence management, and in particular the application of capability based planning, business processes and performance measurement.

Fluent in both of NATO’s official languages, General Henault is a graduate of the École supérieure de guerre in Paris, France and of the National Defence College in Kingston. He has Bachelor of Arts and Honourary Doctorate of Laws degrees from the University of Manitoba, is a Commander of the Order of Military Merit (CMM), Commander of the French Légion d’honneur, and a Serving Member of The Most Venerable Order of St. John of Jerusalem. General Henault is married to the former Loraine Mowat. They have three children and three grandchildren.