The Colonel of The Regiment
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Photo by: Cpl Melissa Gloude, Garrison Imagery Petawawa

MGen (Ret’d) Denis W Thompson, CMM, MSC, CD

Major-General (Ret’d) Denis Thompson entered le Collége Militaire Royal de St. Jean in 1979, graduating from the Royal Military College of Canada at Kingston in 1984. As a junior officer he served with the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment (3 RCR) in Winnipeg, Cyprus and Germany, and with Joint Task Force 2 in Ottawa.
In 1996, he commanded G Company, 2 RCR, leading them on the initial NATO mission in Bosnia.  He was subsequently the G3 of 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (2 CMBG) and DCO of 1 RCR.  In 2000, MGen (Ret’d) Thompson assumed command of 3 RCR redeploying with them to Bosnia in 2001.
On leaving Regimental duty, he took up a post as a policy officer including a secondment to Foreign Affairs.  In 2006, MGen (Ret’d) Thompson was appointed Commander of 2 CMBG in Petawawa until assuming command of NATO’s Task Force Kandahar in 2008/09.  He subsequently served as Chief of Staff Operations on the Army Staff and Deputy Director General International Security Policy in NDHQ.
He was appointed Commander of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command in 2011 until 2014 when he took command of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in the Sinai until retirement in 2017.
Since retirement he has lectured at various Canadian universities as well as being a Senior Mentor and Instructor at the Canadian Forces College, Toronto.  He remains engaged in veterans’ issues through Aman Lara and the Concussion Legacy Foundation Canada.  He returned to service in an honorary capacity in 2021 as the Colonel of the Regiment for The Royal Canadian Regiment.
MGen (Ret’d) Thompson is a licensed Professional Engineer, and his academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Applied Military Science.  He is married to Mme Isabelle Roy, former Ambassador to Mali and Algeria, and has two adult sons, Philip, and Christopher.

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