John de Chastelain
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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 Cadet Instructor Cadre, where the retirement age is 65[citation needed].
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
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William W. Turner |
Commandant of the Royal Military College of Canada 1977-1980 |
Succeeded by William Kirby Lye |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by ' |
Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff ???-1989 |
Succeeded by ' |
| 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 |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by Derek Burney |
Canadian Ambassador to the United States 1993-1994 |
Succeeded by Raymond Chrétien |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by new position |
Chairman of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (in Northern Ireland) 1997-2006 |
Succeeded by not active |
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