John de Chastelain
John de Chastelain | |
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Chairman of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning | |
In office 1997–2011 | |
More... | |
Personal details | |
Born | Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania | 30 July 1937
Spouse | Mary Ann (née Laverty) |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | |
Awards |
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Military service | |
Allegiance | Canada |
Branch/service | The Calgary Highlanders |
Commands | |
Battles/wars | |
Alfred John Gardyne Drummond de Chastelain CC CMM CH CD (born 30 July 1937) is a British-Canadian retired army officer and diplomat.
De Chastelain was born in Romania to Scottish and American parents and was educated in England and Scotland before his family emigrated to Canada in 1954. There, de Chastelain became a Militia private and enrolled in the
Early life and education
De Chastelain was born in 1937 in
Military
De Chastelain started his military career as a Militia private in the Calgary Highlanders in which he served from January to September 1956.[3] He was enrolled in the Royal Military College of Canada in September 1956 and graduated in 1960 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and a commission in Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI), two years before he became a naturalized Canadian. Performing regimental duty in Canada, Germany, and Cyprus, de Chastelain subsequently attended the British Army staff college in Camberley in 1966 and was commanding officer of the Second Battalion PPCLI from 1970 to 1972.[4]
As a colonel, he commanded
As a major-general, de Chastelain was Deputy Commander of the Canadian Army (then called Mobile Command) and Commander of the Mobile Command Division, which was exercised as such in 1985 on Exercise RV '85. As a lieutenant-general, he became Assistant Deputy Minister for Personnel in 1986[3] and then Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff in 1988.[3] In 1989, he was promoted to the rank of general and appointed Chief of the Defence Staff.[3]
In 1993, he transferred to the Reserves and was appointed
Civilian
Since November 1995, de Chastelain has been involved in the Northern Ireland peace process and from 1997 to 2011 he was Chairman of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, which was responsible for ensuring the decommissioning of arms by paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland. He has made an impact on the way that Britain has viewed the IRA since the decommissioning has begun. 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.[3]
Honours
In 1985, de Chastelain was appointed Commander of the
He has an honorary Doctor of Military Science degree from the
References
- ^ "Retired General John de Chastelain becomes namesake of Mount Royal's Peace Studies Initiative". Archived from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
- ^ "Imported anecdotes". The Washington Post. 5 July 1993. Archived from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "John de Chastelain". Royal Roads University. Archived from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
- ^ a b "General A.J.G.D. de Chastelain, CC, CMM, CD, CH". Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. Archived from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
- ^ "A.J.G.D. de Chastelain, O.C., C.M.M., C.D., C.H." Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
- ^ "Order of Canada Appointments". 30 June 2014. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
- ^ Archie Cairns – Bk1 Pipe Music 'General John de Chastelain (1992)' Jig 1995
- ^ e-Veritas » Blog Archive » Misc Archived 7 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine