General (retired) Walter Natynczyk CMM MSC CD |
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9th Deputy Minister of Veterans Affairs | |
Assumed office November 3, 2014 |
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Minister | |
Preceded by | Mary Chaput |
President of the Canadian Space Agency | |
In office August 6, 2013 – November 3, 2014 |
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Minister | James Moore |
Preceded by |
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Succeeded by | Luc Brûlé (interim) |
16th Chief of the Defence Staff | |
In office 2008–2012 |
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Minister | Peter MacKay |
Preceded by | Rick Hillier |
Succeeded by | Thomas J. Lawson |
20th Vice Chief of the Defence Staff | |
In office 2006–2008 |
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Commander | Rick Hillier |
Preceded by | Ronald Buck |
Succeeded by | Denis Rouleau |
Personal details | |
Born |
Winnipeg, Manitoba |
October 29, 1957
Alma mater | |
Awards | |
Military service | |
Service/branch | Canadian Army |
Years of service | 1975–2012 |
Rank | General |
Battles/wars |
Walter John "Walt" Natynczyk, CMM MSC CD (pronounced /nəˈtɪn.t͡ʃək/, na-tin-chick) is a retired Canadian Army general who has served as Deputy Minister of Veterans Affairs since 2014. He was the President of the Canadian Space Agency from 2013 to 2014 and Chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces from 2008 to 2012.
Both Polish-Canadian and German-Canadian, he was born to a family of European emigrants from war-ravaged Europe: Polish father (who was a soldier in Polish Army during World War II ) and German mother on October 29, 1957 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he grew up along with his two sisters, he worked as a Winnipeg Free Press paperboy and a hamburger flipper at a fast food establishment. Before joining the regular Canadian Army, Natynczyk spent five years in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets.
Natynczyk joined the Canadian Forces in August 1975. He attended Royal Roads Military College and Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean, graduating in 1979 with a degree in Business Administration. His formative years were spent on NATO duty in West Germany with The Royal Canadian Dragoons in troop command and staff appointments.