John de Chastelain

Alfred John Gardyne Drummond de Chastelain (born 30 July 1937) is a Canadian former 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 Royal Military College of Canada, going on to pursue a career in the Canadian Army. He was commissioned into Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and rose eventually to be twice Chief of the Defence Staff, with a break of a year during which he served as Canada's ambassador to the United States. In 1995, de Chastelain became active in the Northern Ireland peace process and eventually focused on the disarmament of paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland.

Early life and education De Chastelain was born on 30 July 1937 in Bucharest, Romania, to Alfred Gardyne de Chastelain, a Scottish oil engineer then working in Bucharest for British Petroleum, (later an agent of SOE) and Marion Elizabeth de Chastelain, an American. He was educated in England and later at Fettes College, Edinburgh. The de Chastelain family emigrated to Canada in 1954, and a year later, after finishing his education at Fettes College, De Chastelain joined his family and attended Mount Royal College (now Mount Royal University) in Calgary. He married Mary Ann Laverty.

Military

De Chastelain started his military career as a Militia private in the Calgary Highlanders in which he served from January to September 1956. 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.

As a colonel, he commanded CFB 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 successively became Commandant of the Royal Military College of Canada in 1977, he was appointed Commander of the Legion of Merit (U.S.A.); in 1999, he was made a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour; and in 2014, he was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada. Archie Cairns composed a jig for bagpipes in his honour in 1992. A piobaireached named for him was also written by Pipe Major Robert Henderson of The Calgary Highlanders.

De Chastelain had 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, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Queen's University, Kingston, an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree from Saint Mary's University, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Brock University, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Concordia University, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Mount Allison University and a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the University of Edinburgh, and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Mount Royal University. He is an Honorary Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. De Chastelain was a recipient of the Vimy Award in 1992.