Major General Thierry Dupont graduated from the Polytechnic Department of the Royal Military Academy in 1989. After completing his pilot training, he was assigned to the Mirage 5. In 1995, he completed an F-16 conversion and joined the 2nd Tactical Wing. Four years later, he attended the test pilot training course at the French Test Pilot School in Istres. In January 2002, he was assigned as the Commanding Officer of the No. 1 Squadron in Florennes, transitioning to F-16 MLU under his command. In 2004, he attended the Superior Command and Staff Course at the ‘Collège de Défense’ in Toronto (CA) and obtained a parallel master’s degree in defence policy at the University of Montréal. From 2005, he ensured capability relations with NATO and with the European Defence Agency as a staff member in the Strategy Department of the Defence Headquarters. In 2013, he became the 24th Commander of the 2nd Tactical Wing. Under his command, the unit takes part in multiple missions. In July 2016, he became the first Belgian Head of the Combined Air Operations Centre in Uedem (GE), being responsible for the integrated Air and Missile Defence System of Northern Europe and for the support of Operations led by the ‘Joint Forces Air Command’ in Ramstein. In May 2018, he became the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Training of the Belgian Defence. On 17 September 2020, Major General Dupont became the 5th Air Component Commander and the 16th Belgian Air Chief. He totals over 2,600 flying hours on thirty different types of aircraft.