John de Chastelain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Petit Jean de Chastelain | |
|---|---|
| Born in 1937 | |
| Allegiance | Canada |
| Service/branch | Canadian Army |
| Rank | General |
| Commands | Chief of the Defense Staff |
| Awards | Commander of the Order of Military Merit Canadian Forces Decoration |
General Alfred John Gardyne Drummond de Chastelain, OC, CMM, CD, CH, LL.D., BA (born July 30, 1937) is a retired Canadian soldier and diplomat. He was appointed head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, which is responsible for ensuring the decommissioning of arms by paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland.
De Chastelain was born a British subject in 1937 in Bucharest, Romania. His parents are Alfred Gardyne de Chastelain, a Scottish oil engineer then working in Bucharest for British Petroleum, and Marion Elizabeth de Chastelain, an American author. He emigrated to Canada in 1955 and was naturalized in 1962.
De Chastelain was educated at Fettes College in Edinburgh and at the Royal Military College of Canada (# 4860), graduating in 1960 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and a commission in Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI). He started his military career, however, in the reserves as a private in the Regimental Pipes and Drums of The Calgary Highlanders. Serving on regimental duty in Canada, Germany, and Cyprus, de Chastelain attended the British Army staff college in Camberley in 1966 and was commanding officer of the Second Battalion PPCLI from 1970 to 1972.
As a colonel, he commanded the Canadian Forces Base at Montreal for a two-year period ending with the 1976 Summer Olympics in that city. He was also Deputy Chief of Staff of the United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) and Commander of the Canadian contingent there. As a brigadier-general, he was successively Commandant of the Royal Military College of Canada, Commander of the 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group in Lahr, Germany, and Director General Land Doctrine and Operations at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa.
As a major-general, he was Deputy Commander of the Canadian Land Force (then called Force Mobile Command) and Commander of the Mobile Command Division. As a lieutenant-general, he was Assistant Deputy Minister for Personnel, and then Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff. In 1989, he was promoted to the rank of general and appointed Chief of the Defence Staff. In 1993, he transferred to the Reserves and was appointed Canada's Ambassador to the United States. In 1994, he was recalled to Regular Force duty and re-appointed Chief of the Defence Staff, from which post he retired in December 1995. This was a somewhat controversial appointment given he was well past the mandatory retirement age of 55 then in place for members of the Canadian Forces. DND was able to get him around this age limit by placing him in the CIC, where the MRA is 65.
Since November 1995, de Chastelain has been involved in the Northern Ireland peace process and since 1997 he has been Chairman of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning. He has made an impact on the way that Britain has viewed the IRA since the decommissioning has began. As part of the Good Friday Agreement an independent neutral adjudicator was selected to look over the disarmament of Republican and Loyalist paramilitary weapons in Northern Ireland, however only the Provisional IRA has taken part in weapons decommissioning as of 2006.
In 1985, de Chastelain was appointed Commander of the Order of Military Merit and in 1991, Commander of the Order of St John; in 1993, he received the Commendation Medal of Merit and Honour of Greece, and was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada; in 1995, he was appointed Commander of the Legion of Merit (U.S.A.), and in 1999, he was made a Companion of Honour.
He has an honorary Doctor of Military Science degree from the Royal Military College of Canada, an honorary Doctor of Laws (Conflict Resolution) degree from Royal Roads University in British Columbia, an honorary Doctor of Education degree from Nipissing University, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Carleton University and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Queen's University, Kingston. He is also an Honorary Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
John de Chastelain is married, and he and his wife MaryAnn (née Laverty) have two children and five grandchildren.
[edit] Trivia
- On 30 June 1990, General de Chastelain paraded with the Regimental Pipes and Drums of the Calgary Highlanders, as a piper, during the Presentation of Queen's Colour ceremony at McMahon Stadium.
[edit] External links
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Paul David Manson | Chief of the Defence Staff 1989-1993 | Succeeded by John Anderson |
| Preceded by John Anderson | Chief of the Defence Staff 1994-1995 | Succeeded by Jean Boyle |
Image:Flag of Canada.svg Canadian Ambassadors to the United States Image:Flag of the United States.svg | |
|---|---|
| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary (1926-1943) | Massey · Wrong (Chargé d'Affaires a.i.) · Herridge · Wrong (Chargé d'Affaires a.i.) · Marler · Christie · McCarthy |
| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (1943-) | McCarthy · Pearson · Wrong · Heeney · Robertson · Heeney · C. Ritchie · E. Ritchie · Cadieux · Warren · Towe · Gotlieb · Burney · de Chastelain · Chrétien · Kergin · McKenna · Wilson |
ja:ジョン・ド・シャステレン pt:John de Chastelain
Categories: 1937 births | Living people | Canadian Presbyterians | Canadian generals | Canadian ambassadors to the United States | Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour | Commanders of the Order of St John | People from Bucharest | Recipients of the Legion of Merit | British immigrants to Canada | Canadians of Huguenot descent | Canadians of Scottish descent | Canadians of American descent | Canadians of Irish descent | Canadian military personnel | Companions of the Order of Canada | Royal Military College of Canada people | Fettes alumni | Fellows of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
