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General 'Richard J. Hillier,' CMM, MSC, CD, BSc (born 1955), is the Chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Forces.
Born and raised in Campbellton, Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland, he graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science degree. He is an honorary member of the Royal Military College of Canada, student # S148.

Contents

Early military career

Hillier as Chief of Defence Staff

External links

Early military career

He was posted to his first regiment, the 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's) in Petawawa, Ontario, and subsequently to the Royal Canadian Dragoons. He has also served as a staff officer at Force Mobile Command Headquarters at CFB St. Hubert in Montreal, and at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa. He commanded 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (2 CMBG) in 1997-98, and (in 1998) as Deputy Commanding General of III Armoured Corps of the United States Army, at Fort Hood, Texas. In January 1998, as Commander 2 CMBG, he led Operation Recuperation, the Canadian Forces intervention in the paralyzing ice storm in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick.
He was named Chief of the Land Staff, commanding the Canadian army, on May 30, 2003. Previously, he had commanded the Multinational Division (Southwest) in Bosnia-Herzegovina; after his stint as CLS and before being appointed CDS, he commanded the NATO ISAF in Afghanistan from February 9 to August 12, 2004, bringing to this role his support for what is known as Canada's "3-D" approach to security – defence, diplomacy, and development.
Loquacious, personable and sometimes blunt, Hillier is noted for his public calls for increased resources for the Canadian Forces. In 2003, when he was appointed Chief of the Land Staff, he said, "Any commander who would stand up here and say that we didn't need more soldiers should be tarred and feathered and rode out of town on a rail." He was believed to be referring to the cutbacks to the Canadian Forces in the mid-1990s.

Hillier as Chief of Defence Staff

On February 4 2005, he became Chief of the Defence Staff. At the change-of-command ceremony he repeated his call, more broadly, for increased military funding. "In this country, we could probably not give enough resources to the men and women to do all the things that we ask them to do," he said, with Prime Minister Paul Martin and Defence Minister Bill Graham looking on. "But we can give them too little, and that is what we are now doing. Remember them in your budgets." His willingness to speak openly and on the record about the Canadian Forces' financial resources, and about the Defence budget in particular, distinguishes Hillier from previous Chiefs of the Defence Staff.
Since his appointment, Hillier has maintained a very high profile, frequently talking with the media and arguing his case for defence planning. He has been called the most prominent Chief of the Defence Staff in decades.
General Hillier and his wife, Joyce, have two sons, Chris and Steven, a daughter-in-law, Chris' wife, Caroline, and a grandson, Jack.

External links

★ Official biography

★ Interview with Rick Hillier on The Hour.

★ CBC News Indepth background Career timeline (CBC)