Media Release
26 December 2013

Major Honour for NZ Defence Chief Lieutenant General Rhys Jones

The Chief of Defence Force, Lieutenant General Rhys Jones in Afghanistan in 2013.

The Chief of Defence Force (CDF), Lieutenant General (LT GEN) Rhys Jones has been awarded a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) in this year’s New Years Honours.

LT GEN Jones enlisted into the New Zealand Army in 1978 and attended the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Australia from 1979 to 1982.

During his time with the Army he has commanded at every senior level. He was the Commanding Officer of New Zealand’s armoured regiment, Queen Alexandra’s Mounted Rifles (QAMR), and the Commander 3rdLand Force Group, based in the South Island. He was Land Component Commander within Headquarters Joint Forces New Zealand, and in 2007 became the Commander Joint Forces New Zealand. He was appointed Chief of Army in 2009 before being promoted to the prestigious role of Chief of Defence Force in January 2011

With his three year term now completed he will stand down in January 2014.

LT GEN Jones says, he is honoured and humbled to be awarded the CNZM.

“Despite the challenges of the job, my three years as Chief of Defence Force have been an absolute pleasure and I have been honoured to command the men and women of the NZ Defence Force. We have achieved a lot in this time including withdrawing out of three operational theatres – Timor, Solomon Islands and Afghanistan, all major undertakings.

“And we have been able to respond to every contingency that the Government’s required us to including the Christchurch earthquake, grounding of the MV Rena and recently Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

"We have also advanced our aims of a Joint Amphibious Taskforce and successfully carried out Southern Katipo 13, a major exercise that tested the capability of the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) to mount a medium-scale amphibious operation involving maritime, land and air assets.

“Our achievements during this time just show the quality of the men and women of the Defence Force and I have been proud to have been their leader.”

Citation

Awarded the Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM)

"Lieutenant General Rhys Jones is completing his term as Chief of Defence Force, a role he assumed in January 2011.

Lieutenant General Jones enlisted into the New Zealand Army in 1978 and attended the Royal Military College, Duntroon Australia from 1979 to 1982. He graduated into the Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps at the rank of Lieutenant. His staff appointments have been mainly within the Capability Development area, culminating in his appointment as the head of the NZ Defence Force Development Branch. He has had operational duty in the Middle East with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation, as an observer, then Operations Officer with the Observer Group Lebanon. He has commanded at every senior level. He was the Commanding Officer of New Zealand’s armoured regiment, Queen Alexandra’s Mounted Rifles (QAMR), and the Commander 3rd Land Force Group based in the South Island. He was Land Component Commander within Headquarters Joint Forces New Zealand, and in 2007 he became the Commander Joint Forces New Zealand. He was appointed the Chief of Army in 2009. Lieutenant General Jones was appointed for a three year term as Chief of Defence Force in 2011."

ENDS

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