Paul David Manson

Paul David Manson
Manson in 1987
Born	August 20, 1934 (1934-08-20) (age 77) Trail, British Columbia
Allegiance	Canada
Service/branch	Royal Canadian Air Force
Years of service	1952-1989
Rank	General
Unit	440 Sqn., 434 Sqn., 441 Sqn.
Commands held	441 Sqn., 1 Canadian Air Group, Air Command, Canadian Forces Chief of the Defence Staff
Awards	Commander of the Order of Military Merit Canadian Forces Decoration
Other work	chairman of Lockheed Martin Canada

Paul David Manson, OC, CMM, CD (born August 20, 1934 in Trail, British Columbia) is a retired Canadian general, fighter pilot, and businessman.

Education

He graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario in 1956, student # 3528.

Military service

Manson joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1952 and after several years of flying training he received his wings in 1957. As a junior officer he served as a fighter pilot in Germany and Canada.

He was Chief of the Air Command from 1983 to 1985^[1] and from 1986 to 1989, he was the Chief of the Defence Staff. He was the chairman of Lockheed Martin Canada.

Honours

Wall of Honour, Royal Military College of Canada

In 1981, he was made a Commander of the Order of Military Merit. In 2002, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for being "an exemplary and inspirational military leader, business executive and volunteer" and for having "served his country with honour and distinction". ^[1] He was a recipient of the Vimy Award, which recognizes a Canadian who has made a significant and outstanding contribution to the defence and security of our nation and the preservation of our democratic values.^[2] In 2009, Manson was added to the wall of honour at the Royal Military College of Canada. ^[3]

Controversy

In January 2011 Manson, along with retired Lieutenant-General Angus Watt, wrote a vigorous defence of Canada's proposed purchase of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II for the media, entitled The truth about those jets. In the article Manson indicated that he was a former Chief of Defence Staff but neglected to mention his former chairmanship of Lockheed Martin Canada, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, the F-35's manufacturer. Steven Staples, President of the Rideau Institute, in pointing this relationship out said "While this fact in no way disqualifies the generals from sharing their opinion, it is an important truth about the F-35 debate that the stealth fighters' strongest backers are the military and the aerospace companies. In fact, it's getting awfully hard to tell them apart."^[4][5]

In April 2011 the Ottawa Citizen published a letter written by Manson in which he clarifies that he was Chairman of Lockheed Martin in 1996-1997 as the result of the company's acquisition of Loral Canada.^[6]

References

• "Canadian Who's Who 1997 entry". http://www.utpress.utoronto.ca/cgi-bin/cw2w3.cgi?p=maker&t=93978&d=1857. Retrieved March 24, 2006. 

1. ^ "Advisory Council". http://www.cdfai.org/advisorycouncil.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
2. ^ e-Veritas » Blog Archive » Misc
3. ^ RMC Wall of Honour
4. ^ Manson, Paul and Angus Watt (January 2011). "The truth about those jets". Ottawa Citizen. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/truth+about+those+jets/4153489/story.html. Retrieved 27 January 2011. 
5. ^ Staples, Steven (January 2011). "One important fact left out". Ottawa Citizen. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/letters/important+fact+left/4167986/story.html. Retrieved 27 January 2011. 
6. ^ Paul, Manson (April 2011). "Claims about my background are untrue". Ottawa Citizen. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Claims+about+background+untrue/4626271/story.html. Retrieved 18 April 2011. 

Books

• 4237 Dr. Adrian Preston & Peter Dennis (Edited) "Swords and Covenants" Rowman And Littlefield, London. Croom Helm. 1976.
• H16511 Dr. Richard Arthur Preston "Canada's RMC - A History of Royal Military College" Second Edition 1982
• H16511 Dr. Richard Preston "R.M.C. and Kingston: The effect of imperial and military influences on a Canadian community" 1968 Kingston, Ontario.
• H1877 R. Guy C. Smith (editor) "As You Were! Ex-Cadets Remember". In 2 Volumes. Volume I: 1876-1918. Volume II: 1919-1984. RMC. Kingston, Ontario. The R.M.C. Club of Canada. 1984

Military offices
Preceded by Kenneth Lewis	Commander, Canadian Forces Air Command 1983–1985	Succeeded by Donald Malcolm McNaughton
Preceded by Gérard Charles Édouard Thériault	Chief of the Defence Staff 1986-1989	Succeeded by John de Chastelain

Persondata
Name	Manson, Paul
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 20, 1934
Place of birth	Trail, British Columbia
Date of death
Place of death