Allegiance South Africa Years of service 1963 – 1999 Service number 01506948PE | Service/branch South African Army Rank Major General Name Roland Vries | |
Commands held Deputy Chief of the SA Army
OC 61 Mechanised Battalion Group
OC South African Army College
GOC 7 South African Division
Chief of Joint Training Division | ||
Tribute to maj genl roland de vries 61 mech
Major General Roland de Vries SD SM MMM was a South African Army officer. He served as Deputy Chief of the South African Army before his retirement in 1999.
Contents
Roland de vries interview excerpts at african aerospace and defence 2014
Military Career
Roland de Vries joined the South African Army in January 1963. He was commissioned in January 1964. He served in various training and operational positions. He commanded amongst others, 61 Mechanised Battalion Group, the South African Army College, 7 South African Division and the Joint Training Division of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
His operational experience included various military operations in the former Rhodesia, South West Africa (Namibia) and Southern Angola. Some of these were Operations PROTEA (1981), MODULAR (1987) and PRONE (1988) in Southern Angola.
He was a major contributor to the development of the Ratel infantry combat vehicle (ICV) and its subsequent combat system and doctrine during the seventies. His book on mobile warfare, Mobile Warfare – a perspective for Southern Africa, was published during August 1987 in South Africa, while he was a colonel. This book outlined his thinking on the development of operational concepts and military doctrine for mobile conventional warfare within the Southern African context. He is credited with being the main driver behind these concepts within the South African Army.
Gen de Vries led the Transformation Team of the newly created South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in 1997 in developing a new integrated Leadership, Command and Management Concept for the Department of Defence.
In 1997 he was appointed Chief of Joint Training and in 1998 as Deputy Chief of the SA Army. This role entailed developing a new military strategy for the SA Army as well as planning and managing the army’s transformation process.
He retired as the Deputy Chief of the South African Army in April 1999.
Gen de Vries is married to Henriette and they have four children Roland (Jnr), Elmarie, Melanie and Pieter. He currently manages his own business, but remains engaged in advisory support for corporate security services and the transformation initiatives of armies in Africa. His memoirs, entitled Eye of the Firestorm, were published in May 2013.
Awards and Decorations
General de Vries was awarded the following: