Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Richard Rhys Jones, (born 2 May 1960) is a retired senior

New Zealand Army , image = New Zealand Army Logo.png , image_size = 175px , caption = , start_date = , country = , branch = ...

officer, who was the Chief of the New Zealand Defence Force from 2011 to 2014. He was succeeded by Lieutenant General Tim Keating.

Early life

Jones was born in

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

and is the son of Methodist minister Alan Jones. Jones is the youngest in a family of nine, six in his immediate family plus three half-brothers including writer Owen Marshall Jones. He is a former pupil of Wanganui Boys' College.

Military career

Jones enlisted in the New Zealand Army in December 1978, and attended the

Royal Military College, Duntroon lit: Learning promotes strength , established = , type = Military college , chancellor = , head_label = Commandant , head = Brigadier Ana Duncan , principal = , city = Campbell , state = ...

in Canberra from 1979 to 1982, graduating as a Bachelor of Arts, having majored in politics. In December 1982, he entered the

Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps The Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps (RNZAC) is the overall umbrella grouping of Regular Force and Territorial Force units equipped with armoured vehicles in the New Zealand Army. The corps was formed in 1942 as the New Zealand Armoured Corps ...

as a lieutenant. He then spent nine years at

Waiouru Army Camp Waiouru Military Camp is a camp of the New Zealand Army in the central North Island of New Zealand near Waiouru. All New Zealand Army soldiers complete their initial basic training, the All Arms Recruit Course (AARC), at Waiouru Military Camp. ...

followed by ten years intermittently in Australia. He was posted to the Middle East as an observer with the

United Nations Truce Supervision Organization The United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) is an organization founded on 29 May 1948 for peacekeeping in the Middle East. Established amidst the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, its primary task was initially to provide the military c ...

, and with the Observer Group Lebanon as an operations officer. Jones is a 1992 graduate of the

United States Army Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...

, and was inducted into the USACGSC International Hall of Fame in October 2010. He attended the higher defence college at the

Australian Defence College The Australian Defence College (ADC) comprises three joint education and training organisations operated by the Australian Defence Force in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: * the War College, * the Australian Defence Force Training Ce ...

, completed a Master of Arts in Strategic Studies at

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria an ...

, and has a Diploma in Qualitative Futures. In 2000, he had "some disagreements with the chief of army at that time" over armoured vehicles, was sent away to Australia and told he would receive no further promotions, but was later brought back. By 2005 he was a colonel at

Burnham Military Camp Burnham, also known as Burnham Camp, is the largest army base in New Zealand's South Island. It is located 28 kilometres south of Christchurch on the Canterbury Plains in the Selwyn District, close to the town of Dunsandel. Burnham was named aft ...

. Jones was promoted from brigadier to major general in October 2007 and appointed

Commander Joint Forces New Zealand The Commander Joint Forces New Zealand (COMJFNZ) is a senior appointment in the New Zealand Defence Force, responsible for the command of Headquarters Joint Forces New Zealand. The COMJFNZ is, in effect, the operational commander of all joint opera ...

after serving as the Land Component Commander. On 1 May 2009, he succeeded Major General

Lou Gardiner Major General Louis Joseph Gardiner, (4 August 1952 – 18 July 2015) was a New Zealand military officer. He served as Chief of Army from 2006 to 2009, and later was the chief executive of Crimestoppers New Zealand. Early life and family Born ...

as the Chief of Army. Prime Minister

John Key Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to 2016. After resigning from bo ...

announced on 6 December 2010 that Jones would be the next Chief of the New Zealand Defence Force, appointing him for a three-year term rather than the usual five to monitor progress in a major review of defence force spending. The appointment commenced on 24 January 2011. In September 2013, the government announced that Jones' term would not be extended by two years to a five-year term, as was done with previous heads of defence, and he would be stood down in January 2014. He was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

for services to the State in the

2014 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2014 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

, just prior to his retirement. As of May 2017, he was appointed Chief executive of

Fire and Emergency New Zealand Fire and Emergency New Zealand is New Zealand's main firefighting and emergency services body. Fire and Emergency was formally established on 1 July 2017, after the New Zealand Fire Service, the National Rural Fire Authority, and 38 rural fire d ...

,Key appointments made for new Fire & Emergency organisation – Fire and Emergency New Zealand
/ref> and commenced in this role with the organisation's establishment on 1 July 2017.

References

External links

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Rhys 1960 births Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit La Trobe University alumni Living people New Zealand generals People from Timaru Non-U.S. alumni of the Command and General Staff College Royal Military College, Duntroon graduates