John Kiszely

Lieutenant General Sir John Panton Kiszely, KCB, MC (born 2 April 1948) was Director of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. He is a former National President of The Royal British Legion, having resigned over allegations that he had said to undercover journalists that he was able to lobby government defence ministers.

Early life
Kiszely was born on 2 April 1948, the son of Dr John Kiszely. He has a sister, Melinda. He was educated at Marlborough College.

Military career
On 20 December 1968, having attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Kiszely was commissioned into the Scots Guards as a second lieutenant. He was given the service number 486680. He served with the regiment as a platoon commander, company commander and commanding officer in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Germany, Cyprus and the Falkland Islands.

He became commanding officer of 1st Battalion the Scots Guards in 1986 and, following various other military appointments, took command of 7th Armoured Brigade in early 1993. In 1996 he was appointed General Officer Commanding 1st (UK) Armoured Division and served as Commander of the Multi-National Division (South-West) in Bosnia.

In September 1998 Kiszely was appointed Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Resource and Plans) at the Ministry of Defence. In 2002 he was appointed Commander of Regional Forces at Land Command and in 2004 he was deployed as Senior British Military Representative and Deputy Commanding General, Multinational Force, Iraq. In 2005 he took up his post as Director of the Defence Academy. He retired from this post on 30 May 2008.

Later life
In December 2008 Kiszely was appointed as the new National President of The Royal British Legion. He took over the role from Air Marshal Ian Macfadyen CB OBE FRAeS who recommended him for the post. He resigned this post on 15 October 2012 as a result of allegations that he had said to undercover journalists that he was able to lobby government defence ministers.

On 14 December 2009, Kiszely gave evidence to The Iraq Inquiry in which he claimed that American officials had refused to admit that they were dealing with an insurgency in Iraq.

Honours and decorations
Kiszely was awarded the Military Cross for an action during the Battle of Mount Tumbledown during the Falklands War.

Family
Lieutenant General Sir John Kiszely is married with three children.