Manson, Paul D., 1934- : General Paul D. Manson of Trail, B.C. was born on 20 August 1934, the son of Mr. and Mrs. R.E. Manson. He received his secondary education in Pembroke, Ontario. In 1952, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force Regular Officer Training Plan and attended Canadian Services College, Royal Roads at Victoria, B.C., and the Royal Military College (RMC), Kingston, Ontario. Upon graduation from RMC in 1956 he was awarded the Sword of Honour. He entered Queen's University in September 1956 and obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in electrical engineering in May 1957. In that same year, he married Margaret Catherine Nickel, a registered nurse and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. O.H. Nickel of Kemptville. They have four children.
During the summers throughout this academic period he undertook pilot training at various RCAF flying schools in Canada and received his pilot's wings in 1957. Beginning in March 1958, after advanced flying training, he flew CF-100 jet interceptor aircraft for two years with 440 All-Weather Fighter Squadron based at Zweibrücken, Germany. From there he went to Metz, France where he served as a member of the air operations staff of 1 Air Division Headquarters. During this overseas tour of duty he qualified as a fighter weapons instructor on the F-86 Sabre jet aircraft. As a post war fighter pilot, Manson spent many years flying with Canadian squadrons in France and Germany as part of Canada's contribution to NATO.
He returned to Canada in July 1962 to attend the one-year Aerospace Systems Course at Central Navigation School, Winnipeg. He was then assigned to Air Force Headquarters, Ottawa and served as a systems analysis officer in the Operational Research Directorate until September 1966.
After attending Canadian Forces Staff College in Toronto from 1966 to 1967 he underwent training on the CF-104 Starfighter aircraft at CFB Cold Lake, Alberta. He was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel in June 1968 and returned to Germany as Commanding Officer at 441 Reconnaissance Squadron based at Lahr. In June 1969 he was appointed Chief Operations Officer at 1 Fighter Wing, also at Lahr. In 1970, he assumed the position of Senior Staff Officer, Operations, Plans and Intelligence at the Headquarters of the newly formed Canadian Forces Europe in Lahr.
Manson was appointed Colonel in June 1972 and served as Executive Assistant to the Chief of the Defence Staff at National Defence Headquarters, Ottawa until July 1973. He was then selected to attend National Defence College, Kingston, and upon graduation was named Base Commander, CFB Chatham, N.B. Two years later he and his family moved to Quebec City to attend the Federal Bilingual and Bicultural Development Program.
On 7 March 1977 he returned to National Defence Headquarters as Program Manager of the New Fighter Aircraft Program in the rank of Brigadier-General, remaining in that assignment through to the selection of the CF-18 as Canada's new fighter aircraft for the Canadian Air Force three years later. In June 1980 he was appointed to the Order of Military Merit in the grade of Commander in recognition of conspicuous merit and exceptional military service.
In April 1980 he was named Commander of 1 Canadian Air Group with headquarters at Lahr, Germany, a position he held until returning to Canada to take up his duties as Chief of Air Doctrine and Operations at NDHQ, Ottawa, in the summer of 1981 in the rank of Major-General. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General in the summer of 1983 and took up his duties as Commander, Air Command, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba on 19 August 1983. General Manson was named Assistant Deputy Minister for Personnel at National Defence Headquarters, Ottawa in June 1985.
On 11 July 1986, he was promoted to General and Chief of the Defence Staff, a position that he held until his retirement in 1989, culminating a 38-year career in the RCAF and the Canadian Forces. During his tenure as CDS he was a member of the NATO Military Committee and served as its president from 1988 to 1989. He was CDS during the formulation of the 1987 Defence White Paper and toured extensively meeting with foreign and allied senior military and political leaders on a regular basis.
Following his retirement from the Canadian Forces, General Manson held executive positions at Unisys Defence Systems, Paramax, Loral Canada and Lockheed Martin Canada. He retired from the latter in 1997 as chairman of the board. During his tenure at Paramax, he oversaw the awarding of the government contract to produce the EH-101 helicopter as the successor to the Sea King helicopter fleets and Labrador fleets. The contract was cancelled by the Liberals under Jean Chretien in 1993. He served a term as Chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada and received the C.D. Howe Award from the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute in 1992 for leadership in the field of Canadian aeronautics.
During the 1991 Gulf War, General Manson attained national renown for his commentary as a military analyst with Peter Mansbridge on the CBC-TV national news. He was awarded honorary doctorates from Royal Roads Military College and from the Royal Military College of Canada. In 1998, he agreed to serve as volunteer chairman of 'Passing the Torch,' the Canadian War Museum's fundraising arm. Since 2001 he has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation, the War Museum's parent body and he chairs the building committee for the new Canadian War Museum. He was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2002 and received the Vimy Award on 21 November 2003.
General Manson is an accomplished musician and an amateur astronomer. He has studied museology and Egyptian hieroglyphics.
