Johan Retief

Johan Frans Retief
SD & Bar PG SM MMM SAN (Rtd)
Born (1946-03-20) 20 March 1946
Cape Town, South Africa
Allegiance  South Africa
Service/branch  South African Navy
Years of service 1967  2005
Rank Vice Admiral
Commands held
  • Chief of the South African Navy
  • Inspector General SANDF
  • Chief of Naval Operations
  • SAS Jim Fouche
Awards

Vice Admiral Johan Retief SD & Bar PG SM MMM was the Chief of the South African Navy from 2000 to 2005.

Retief was born on 20 March 1946 in Cape Town, matriculating at Hoërskool Jan van Riebeeck in Cape Town.[1]

Career

He attended the South African Military Academy after completing his Citizen Force training and graduated with a Bachelor of Military Science degree in 1967 and was judged the Best Student in that year.[2]

He was appointed an Anti-Submarine Warfare Officer and was selected to attend the Torpedo and Anti-Submarine course at HMS Vernon in Portsmouth, United Kingdom.

He joined the Strike Craft Flotilla, initially as training officer[3] at the inception of the project in 1975. He was the Commissioning Captain of SAS Jim Fouche and attended the Naval Command and Staff Course in 1981. After Completing a year as Staff Officer Surface Warfare, he was appointed Director Naval Operations in 1985. After attending the Joint Staff Course in 1988 he served as Senior Staff Officer Research at the Intelligence Division and then as Military Secretary to the Minister of Defence General Magnus Malan and Ministers Roelf Meyer and Gene Louw.

He was promoted to Rear Admiral and appointed as Chief of Naval Operations with effect from 1 January 1993[4][5] until 30 April 1996, after which he served as Inspector-General of the South African National Defence Force.

He was promoted to Vice Admiral and appointed Chief of the South African Navy on 1 November 2000.[6]

His official portrait on display at the Naval Museum

Awards and decorations

Adm Retief was awarded the following:[7]

See also

References

  1. "Oudleerders erken vir besondere bydraes" [Ex Learners recognised for exceptional contributions]. Die Burger (in Afrikaans). November 11, 2005. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  2. Military Academy Roll of Best Students
  3. "Johan Retief | Who's Who SA". Whoswhosa.co.za. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  4. "Vlootoperasies kry nuwe hoof" [New Head for Navy Operations]. Die Burger (in Afrikaans). December 31, 1992. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  5. "Suid-Afrikaanse Vloot neem afskeid van Hoof van Operasies" [SA Navy bids farewell to Chief of Naval Operations]. Die Burger (in Afrikaans). November 19, 1992. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  6. "Fact file: Chiefs of the South African Navy". DefenceWeb. 2010-01-21. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  7. Netshirembe, Lutuno (2011). "CAF Medal parade" (PDF). Ad Astra (1): 25.
Military offices
Preceded by
Robert Simpson-Anderson
Chief of the South African Navy
2000  2005
Succeeded by
Refiloe Johannes Mudimu
New title
Established at the Secretariat
Inspector General DoD
1997  2000
Succeeded by
Vejaynand Ramlakan
Preceded by
Bertus Burger
Inspector General SANDF
1996  1997
Renamed IG DoD with migration of Inspectorate to Defence Secretariat
Preceded by
Paul Viljoen
Chief of Naval Operations
1993  1996
Succeeded by
Evert Groenewald


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 30, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.