Lieutenant Colonel (ret’d) Susan Beharriell, O.M.M., CD. joined the Canadian Forces in 1973 and was one of the first women to complete the same Basic Officer’s Training as the men. She was also the first woman accepted into the Security Branch and later the Intelligence Branch.
She has extensive experience in Canada at the tactical, operational and strategic levels, in Colorado with NORAD, in Germany with NATO, in Ottawa seconded to the Privy Council writing intelligence analyses for the PM, Cabinet and our Allies, has supported numerous peacekeeping missions and run intelligence for the entire Air Force. For her efforts improving Canadian/American Intelligence cooperation post 9/11, she was awarded the US Meritorious Service Medal. She finished her career on the National Security and Strategic Studies staff at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto in the fall of 2008 after more than 35 years of service. The Governor General inducted her as an Officer of the Order of Military Merit, the military version of the Order of Canada.
LCol Beharriell has an Honours Degree from Queen’s University and is a graduate of Command and Staff Course 16, The National Security Studies Course and numerous intelligence courses. She has written for the Canadian Military Journal, the Air Force Association Magazine, equestrian and travel magazines and has been a columnist for various Wing, Base and local newspapers for many years.
Active with “The Memory Project” as a member of the Speakers’ Bureau, LCol Beharriell is featured in a booklet that is used by Grade 10 students across the country in their studies of 20th century world events. LCol Beharriell is an accomplished horsewoman and a widely-travelled adventurer.