RAOC Gazette - page 133
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1980 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | Yes |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1980 |
| Late date | 1980 |
| Transcription |
Jfor ttyt MAJOR GENERAL M. CALLAN, RETIRES CB MAJOR GENERAL J. T. STANYER CBE writes: — Mike Callan retires from the Army and our Corps this month, after thirty seven years service ranging from Private in the Royal Hampshire Regiment in 1943 to Major General- and Director (General) of Ordnance Services in 1976. I have known him well over the past twenty years and worked very closely with him in the Defence logistic area during his three and a half years as Head of the. Corps. It is a great privilege to be invited to record his departure from the Army in Tun GAZETTE. There is no doubt that he leaves the Army Ordnance Services and the Corps in a very high state of effectiveness, readiness and in high morale. No matter where the Corps is at work—on EOD duties in Northern Ireland, in the large Base Depots, in the Ordnance Units in the Field Army, as Staff Clerks in remote Embassies, in the TA at camp—-Mike Callan's impact has been felt through constant visiting, guiding. probing and leading. He brought that very old Latin truism " mens sana in corpore sano " to life with a vengeance as many of the over forties have discovered in attempting the DGOS challenge for running three miles. I have vivid memories of an Autumn evening in 1979 at the Headquarters Officers Mess before a Corps Guest Night, of his slight figure in a blue track suit dis- appearing beyond the cricket field, while others read or rested. A complete list of his appointments will interest future Editors of Corps history, but, for the present, the highlights of a long and successful career must suffice. Mike Callan has attended all three Service Staff Colleges and after each course earned key appointments of great responsibility. After the Staff College Camberley in 1957, he went to Malaysia and finished up as DAA and QMG of 63 Gurkha Infantry Brigade. In 1963 he went to the Joint Services Staff College and thence to the Joint Administrative Planning Staff, later to Washington as AQMG (Logistics) with the British Defence Liaison Staff and then as Colonel AQ in Hong Kong in 1970. In 1974 he attended the Royal College for Defence Studies and was ap- pointed Commander Rhine Area. From there, he was pro- moted Major General and appointed Director of Ordnance Services in October 1976. His three and a half years as Director General have been amongst the busiest and most important of any period since the War. It has included the formation of the Logistic Executive (Army) at Andover with all the personnel, communication and organisation problems of establishing a major new Head- quarters in peacetime with expanded responsibilities. He has led the Corps tactfully through the Fair Value reorganisation, including the much lamented but necessary, closure of COD Chilwell. Finally, to keep him occupied in his last months in office, the new Ministers in 1979 set in train a whole series of Supply Management Studies (supported by a few investigations by Sir Derek Rayner for good measure) into major areas of Corps activities. Only a man with a broad vision of the role which the Corps must play in support of the Army and where necessary the other two Services, and with a knowledge of the technology of modern logistics, could have coped with the insistent pressures and threats implicit in all these activities. Mike Callan is a man of great personal charm, a delight- ful sense of humour, but with a short, sharp manner for back- sliders. Without doubt, his contributions to Defence as a whole, to the Army and to the Corps, have been very significant and the years ahead will demonstrate the wisdom of his work and decisions. Ccncral Callan escorts Her Majesty The Queen, our Coloncl- in-Chief, during her visit to the Corps in May 1978 a highlight which came in the middle of his appointment as DGOS. On behalf of the Corps and many outside friends, a special word of thanks is due to Marie who has graced so many Corps and other social functions over their long years of service and who has given him and the Army such marvellous support in their various postings. Mike Callan moves on to a second career in Industry shortly and we all wish him and Marie all good fortune for the future with our thanks for what they have both done for the Corps. — 334 — <S? RAOC OFFICERS CLUB COCKLTAIL PARTY A COCKTAIL PARTY will be held at the Head- quarters RAOC Officers Mess at Deepcut from 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm on Thursday, 12th June 1980. . This invitation is extended to serving officers of the Regular and Reserve Army and their ladies and to retired officers who are members of the Officers' Club and their ladies. A number of Corps Guests are also to be invited. The cost of tickets will be £2.00 per person. Due to staff and space limitations the numbers will have to be restricted to three hundred and applications to attend will be accepted on a ' first come—first served basis.' Applications to attend the Cocktail Party should be sent to the Treasurer, RAOC Secretariat, Deepcut, Camberley, Surrey, together with a cheque payable to the RAOC Officers' Club. |
| Book number | R0403a |