29th March 2000

Her Majesty The Queen has appointed General Wesley K Clark, United States Army, as an Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

The award was made on behalf of Her Majesty by the Right Honourable Geoff Hoon MP, Secretary of State for defence, on Wednesday 29 March 2000. The award is in recognition of General Clark's key role as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), particularly with respect to his direction of the multinational peacekeeping forces in the Balkans consisting of the Stabilisation Force in Bosnia (SFOR) and the Peacekeeping Force in Kosovo (KFOR). The latter was particularly testing, being the first time that NATO had conducted an offensive operation.

General Clark brought his boundless energy and imagination to bear in devising new ways of applying his forces and during the Kosovo operation the Alliance achieved success without loss. General Clark was ever mindful of those in the front line and was as careful as he was with his own nation's forces not to risk British forces unnecessarily.

General Clark, an armoured corps officer, has commanded at every level, from Company to Division and including major training centres in the United States. He led the military negotiations for the Bosnian Peace Accord at Dayton and before his appointment as SACEUR, commanded the US Southern Command in Panama.

The most recent United States Service recipient of a similar award was Admiral Leighton W Smith Jnr, in 1997.

Notes

1. The bestowal of an honorary award is a relatively rare honour. Since 1990, seven honorary knighthoods have been awarded to foreign military personnel.

2. Previous recipients include Admiral Leighton W Smith, US Navy, 1997; General Colin Powell, US Army, 1993; General Carlos de Azeredo Leme, Portugese Army, 1993; General Klaus Naumann, German Army, 1992; General Daniel Velery, French Army, 1992; General Norman Schwarzkopf, US Army, 1991; and Lieutenant General Carlo Jean, Italian Army, 1990. In addition, former US Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger was given an honorary GBE in 1988.

3. The Queen occasionally gives her permission for Crown Servants to accept foreign awards. These occasions are covered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Rules 1969. The most recent occasion when this occurred at a very senior level was when the French made Lieutenant General Sir Michael Rose a Commander of the Legion d'Honneur in 1995 for his role as Commander of the UN Protection Force in Bosnia.

4. For further information contact Robin Banerji at the Defence Press Office .

5. The MoD web-site can be found at http://www.mod.uk Alternatively you may contact the MoD Press Office by e-mail at press@dgics.mod.uk

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