Henri Bentégeat

Henri Bentégeat (born on 27 May 1946 in Talence, France) is a French Army general who served as the chairman of the European Union Military Committee between 2006 and 2009.

Biography
Bentégeat studied at the military academy École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, where he enrolled in 1965 and graduated in 1967. After graduation, he first served with the Troupes de marine. From 1990 to 1992, he served as Assistant Defence Attaché in Washington, D.C. He served as Assistant to the Chief of the Military Staff of the President of the Republic from 1993.

Bentégeat was promoted to the rank of Brigade General in 1996 and to Divisional General in 1998, when he became assistant to the Director for Strategic Affairs of the French Ministry of Defence. In April 1999, he was made Chief of the Military Staff of the President of the Republic, was promoted to Général de corps d'armée on 1 September 1999 and to Général d'armée on 4 January 2001. He became Chef d'état-major des armées (Chief of the Defence Staff) in October 2002.

On 6 November 2006, Bentégeat took up his present position as Chairman of the European Union Military Committee by appointment of the European Council. His term ended on 6 November 2009, when he was succeeded by Håkan Syrén.