Maj Gen Chris le Roux is a retired General Officer from the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Servi ...

. He was born in Dundee and matriculated from Pinetown Boys' High School in 1963.

Military career

He joined the South African Defence Force in 1964 and completed infantry training. He was a student at the

South African Military Academy The South African Military Academy is based on similar principles to that of the military academy system of the United States ( United States Military Academy United States Naval Academy United States Air Force Academy). The academy is a militar ...

from 1965 and graduated with a degree awarded by the

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

in 1967. He was commissioned as a lieutenant on 21 November 1967 and qualified as a static line paratrooper on 9 October 1970. Officer Commanding

1 Parachute Battalion 1 Parachute Battalion (''Ex Alto Vincimus'') is the only full-time paratroop unit of the South African Army. It was founded on 1 April 1961, along with the Parachute Battalion. The name of this unit was changed to Parachute Training Centre aft ...

during 1984 to 1988. Brigadier le Roux served as Officer Commanding Natal Command from 18 February 1995. He was promoted to rank of major general on 1 January 1996 and remained GOC Natal Command until 31 March 2000, the last person to hold that post. GOC Regional Joint Task Force on 1 April to 31 December 2000. He went on early retirement on 31 December 2000. He has remained actively involved in speaking about the military. Maj Gen Chris le Roux completed more than 300 parachute jumps and was a qualified Freefall Instructor.

Honours and awards

Medals

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Notes

References

1946 births Living people People from Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal Afrikaner people South African people of French descent South African Army generals Stellenbosch University alumni South African military personnel of the Border War {{SouthAfrica-mil-bio-stub