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Описание: General Rick Hillier is a retired Canadian army officer who served as the Chief of the Defence Staff, the top-ranking officer in the Canadian military, from 2005 to 2008. Throughout his career, General Hillier has had the privilege and pleasure of commanding troops from the platoon to multi-national formation level within Canada, Europe, Asia and the United States. He has worked as a staff officer in several headquarters, first at the Army level in Montreal and later at the strategic level in Ottawa.

Hillier was recently appointed as Chair of the Strategic Advisory Council by the Ukrainian World Congress where he offers support and advocacy for the Ukraine’s defence militia and is an advisor the military side where the council can be of support or assistance. As part of this role, General Hillier is championing the #UniteWithUkraine campaign, which has been helping procure non-lethal protective equipment for Ukrainians since shortly after the war began. Hillier’s skills and experience in international diplomacy, defence, procurement, intelligence, logistics, communications, law and fundraising will support the civilian defenders in Ukraine’s Territorial Defence Force.

Born in Newfoundland and Labrador, General Rick Hillier joined the Canadian Forces as soon as he could. Having enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1973 through the Regular Officer Training Plan program, he graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science Degree. After completing his armour officer classification training, he joined his first regiment, the 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise’s) in Petawawa, Ontario. Subsequently, he served with, and later commanded, the Royal Canadian Dragoons in Canada and Germany.

In 1998 General Hillier was appointed as the first Canadian Deputy Commanding General of III Corps, US Army in Fort Hood, Texas. In 2000 he took command of NATO’s Stabilization Force’s (SFOR) Multinational Division (Southwest) in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In May 2003 General Hillier was appointed as Commander of the Army and subsequently, in October 2003, he was selected as the Commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul, Afghanistan. General Hillier was promoted to his present rank and assumed duties as the Chief of the Defence Staff on 4 February 2005.

He retired from the Canadian Forces in July 2008, and was subsequently appointed as chancellor of Memorial University of Newfoundland. In 2009, Hillier co-founded Project Hero, a scholarship program for the children of Canadian Forces personnel killed while on active military duty.

General Hillier is speaking in St. John's on Tuesday May 9th, 2023 at the Pleasantville Legion Branch 56 at 7pm. This dinner is in honour of St. Bon's Graduates who served in the military and all proceeds are in support of the St. Bon's Bursary Program in which 11 Ukrainian children are enrolled!

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We also launched Gale Force Wins on the Rogers Television Network in St. John's on January 31st 2023 with a select series of 12 episodes.

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