John Simmonds

John I. Simmonds (born May 10, 1946 in Kingston ) is a retired Jamaican officer.

Life

John Simmonds was born the son of the painter Arthur Simmonds and his wife Edith Simmonds. He attended Excelsior High School in his hometown from January 1961 to July 1965. Already in school he showed great interest in sports and successfully represented the school in several sports.

On October 6, 1966, he joined the Jamaica Defense Force (JDF). He completed his officer training at the Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot and attended courses at Staff College Camberley and the Royal College of Defense Studies . In June 1976 he was promoted to Second Lieutenant in the position of platoon leader in the 1st Battalion / Jamaica Regiment (1JR) . In 1969 he was transferred to the position of a transport officer ( Motor Transport Officer ), from 1971 to 1973 he was deputy company commander (company officer). In the meantime, he married Ovril J. Coulton on December 30, 1972. The sons Marcus John and John Oneil emerged from the marriage. Subsequently, he was an administrative officer in the 3rd Battalion / Jamaica Regiment , the reservist battalion ( Jamaica National Reserve ) of the regiment, until 1975 . He was then company commander in the 1st Battalion until 1979 and then in the 2nd Battalion / Jamaica Regiment until 1981 . As a staff officer for operations and exercises, he served at the JDF headquarters from 1982 to 1990 at Up Park Camp . In this service he was promoted to colonel .

As Major General he was from November 1998 to military his retirement in May 2002 Commander ( Chief of Staff ) of the Jamaican armed forces. Simmonds is Chairman of the Sports Committee of the Jamaica Defense Force. As Chief of Staff, one of his priorities was improving sports education. So he introduced a basic fitness test and worked to ensure that JDF soldiers could take part in international sports competitions.

Awards

• 2002: Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO)
• Medal of Merit, Jamaica

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Personalities - S names , Discover Jamaica.
2. ^ Excelsior Alumni to Honor Four In New York , Excelsior Alumni Association, United States, 2005.
3. ↑ All Arms ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Edition 7/1, March 2008, p. 10.
4. ↑ Queen names 3 J'cans to Victorian Order ( Memento of the original from September 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , The Jamaica Gleaner , March 9, 2002.