Rhys Jones (soldier)

Lieutenant General Richard Rhys Jones (born 2 May 1960) is the current Chief of the New Zealand Defence Force.

Early life
Jones was born in Timaru, the son of Methodist minister Alan Jones and 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.

Career
Jones enlisted with the New Zealand Army in December 1978, and attended the Royal Military College, Duntroon 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 as a lieutenant. He then spent nine years at Waiouru Army Camp followed by ten years intermittently in Australia. He was posted to the Middle East as an observer with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation, 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 at Fort Leavenworth, and was inducted into the USACGSC International Hall of Fame in October 2010. He attended the higher defence college at the Australian Defence College, completed a Master of Arts in Strategic Studies at La Trobe University, 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. Jones was promoted from brigadier to major general in October 2007 and appointed Commander of Joint Forces New Zealand after serving as the Land Component Commander. On 1 May 2009, he succeeded Major General Lou Gardiner as the Chief of Army.

Prime Minister John Key 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 in order to monitor progress in a major review of defence force spending. The appointment commenced on 24 January 2011.

Medal ribbons
Jones' medal ribbons, as they would appear on the left breast of a uniform, are:




 * New Zealand Operational Service Medal, UNIFIL Medal, UNTSO Medal, New Zealand Armed Forces Award