CTV News has confirmed that Lt.-Gen. Rick Hillier will be Canada's next chief of defence staff.

The Army general will replace Gen. Ray Henault, who will be leaving the post in April to take on the job of commander of NATO forces.

Hillier, a Newfoundlander, led the NATO mission in Afghanistan last year. He is currently the chief of the army, having been appointed to the post on May 30, 2003.

"He's no cardboard cut-out soldier," CTV's Ottawa bureau chief Craig Oliver told Newsnet.

"One of the criticisms in the past of our chiefs of defence staff is they are bureaucrats in uniform rather than warriors," he said.

"Hillier's reputation in the defence department is that he's a soldier's general. He's commanded troops right from the platoon level up to the brigade level."

The 49-year-old was chosen over two other serious contenders: Vice-Adm. Greg Maddison, the deputy chief of defence staff, and Vice-Adm. Ron Buck, the vice-chief of defence staff.

An official announcement from the Prime Minister's Office is expected by week's end.

Hillier graduated from Memorial University in Newfoundland in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science degree.

He went through armour officer classification training before being posted to the 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's) in Pettawawa, Ont.

Besides having a wealth of operational experience, Hillier has also worked as a staff officer in both army headquarters in Montreal and at National Defence headquarters in Ottawa.

In 1998, he served as Canadian Deputy Commanding General of III Armoured Corps, U.S. Army, in Fort Hood, Texas.

He was commander of the Multinational Division (southwest) in Bosnia.

An ability to make fun of himself is evident in Hillier's Web-based biography, where he said he "runs slowly, plays hockey poorly and golfs not well at all."

Oliver said: "People who know him say he's commanded more American troops than any Canadian general since the Second World War. He is a very, very experienced soldier."

This is a good time to have an army general as chief of defence staff, he said.

"They have been hard-pressed. They have been tasked far beyond the resources they have had in the past."

Hillier is a man with strong views on the military and the army, Oliver said.

"When he decides to speak, and it won't be today, it's going to be very interesting to hear him on all of these issues."

Such a high-level appointment is made by the prime minister and the defence minister, although cabinet must also vote on it, Oliver said.

Defence and foreign policy reviews are almost completed, he said.

With the army getting 5,000 new troops and the navy having immense needs too, "Hillier will have to balance all of that. He really has his work cut out for him," Oliver said.

With files from The Canadian Press