Major General Karol John Drewienkiewicz is a retired

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer, generally known as "DZ".

Early life and education

Drewienkiewicz attended

Stamford School Stamford School is a co-educational independent school (UK), independent school in Stamford, Lincolnshire in the English Public School (United Kingdom), public school tradition. Founded in 1532, it has been a member of the Headmasters' and Hea ...

, an independent boarding school in southern

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, alongside Mike Jackson, with whom he later served in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

and who went on to become the professional head of the British Army.

Army career

Drewienkiewicz was commissioned into the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

in 1966 and was promoted to the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in 1968,

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in 1972,

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in 1978, lieutenant colonel in 1984 and

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in 1988. Promotion to

brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

came on 31 December 1989, with seniority from 30 June that year. Drewienkiewicz attained

general officer A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

rank with promotion to acting major general on 15 December 1994 and was appointed Engineer in Chief (Army). He was granted the substantive rank of major general on 25 April 1995 with seniority from 1 July 1994. He was appointed to the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

role of Director of Support at LANDCENT on 28 July 1995 and to the honorary role of

Colonel Commandant Colonel commandant is a military title used in the armed forces of some English-speaking countries. The title, not a substantive military rank, could denote a senior colonel with authority over fellow colonels. Today, the holder often has an honor ...

, Corps of Royal Engineers in 1997. In 1998, he served as

military assistant A military assistant is sub-specialty of secretarial duties in the British Armed Forces and many of those derived from them, is an officer appointed to the personal office of a general officer. Whilst aides de camp (ADCs) are responsible for ad ...

to the

High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina The High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with the Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was created in 1995 immediately after the signing of the Dayton Agreement which ended the 1992 to 1995 Bos ...

and was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

in 1998. Drewienkiewicz went on to serve as second in command, under

William Walker William Walker may refer to: Arts * William Walker (engraver) (1791–1867), mezzotint engraver of portrait of Robert Burns * William Sidney Walker (1795–1846), English Shakespearean critic * William Walker (composer) (1809–1875), American Bap ...

, of the

Kosovo Verification Mission The OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM) was an OSCE mission to verify that the Serbian and Yugoslav forces were complying with the UNSC Resolution 1203 and the Clark-Naumann agreement, to end atrocities in Kosovo, withdraw armed forces from ...

(KVM), a group of unarmed observers sent into Kosovo in 1999 to oversee the United Nations-mandated reduction in arms under

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...

's regime. Drewienkiewicz was appointed a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

for his role in the KVM in the

2000 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2000 for the United Kingdom and New Zealand were announced on 31 December 1999, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2000. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various or ...

. Drewienkiewicz retired from active service on 31 March 2001 and was appointed to the Reserve of Officers. He was succeeded as Colonel Commandant, Corps of Royal Engineers by then-Major General

Mark Mans Lieutenant General Sir Mark Francis Noel Mans, (born 1955) is a senior British Army officer, who served as Adjutant-General to the Forces of the United Kingdom from 2009 to 2012. Military career Educated at Berkhamsted School, Mans was commi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drewienkiewicz, John Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge British Army major generals Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath Living people People educated at Stamford School Royal Engineers officers Year of birth missing (living people)