Brent Beardsley

Major Brent Palmer Beardsley, MSC, CD is an Infantry Officer in The Royal Canadian Regiment of the Canadian Army currently with 26 years of continuing service. After joining the Canadian Forces in 1978, he served internationally with his Army regiment in London, England, Norway, Cyprus, and Germany.
Most significantly, he served at United Nations Headquarters in New York and as a part of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) before and during the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 as the Operations Manager for fellow Canadian Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire, the Force Commander.
Major Beardsley would later collaborate with Dallaire on the book Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda (2003). The book won the Shaughnessy Cohen Award for Political Writing in 2003, and the Governor General's Award for non-fiction in 2004. Major Beardsley has also contributed to numerous documentaries, including the American PBS series Frontline's "Ghosts of Rwanda" (2004), as well as articles and events regarding the Rwandan Genocide. On July 18, 1995, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Cross (M.S.C.), presented by the Governor General of Canada, for his heroic personal actions in Rwanda. Major Beardsley is also a recipient of the Canadian Forces Decoration (C.D.), with one bar, for his many years of military service.
In February 2004, Major Beardsley testified at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania in the trial against a suspected mastermind of the Rwandan Genocide, former army colonel Théoneste Bagosora, for genocide and crimes against humanity.
Major Beardsley was born in Ottawa and raised in Montreal. He holds degrees from Sir George Williams University (CEGEP diploma in Pre-Arts, 1977), Concordia University in Montreal (BA History, 1977), McGill University (diploma in Education, 1978) and the Royal Military College of Canada (MASc Management, 1999). He has served as an instructor on the Basic Officer Training Course, as a doctrine author responsible for the first draft of the first Canadian Forces Peacekeeping Manual, and as the Chief Instructor of the Canadian Forces Peacekeeping Training Centre.
He is currently employed as a research officer at the Canadian Forces Leadership Institute of the Canadian Defence Academy at the RMC, where he is also completing a second masters degree in the War Studies Programme with a focus on genocide studies and humanitarian intervention, in anticipation of his intended retirement from the Canadian Forces.

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