Lieutenant General Ian Rimbault Gleeson SSA SD SM (15 August 1934 – 7 June 2021)[1] was a South African Army officer who served as Chief of the Defence Staff.

He graduated from the Military Academy after attending Christian Brothers College in Pretoria and joined the Army in 1954.

[2][3] He became Officer Commanding 2 South African Infantry Battalion in 1971 and in 1972 OC Walvis Bay military base,[1] and in July 1976 became GOC 101 Task Force.

[4] The post-Apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission found that when Generals Jannie Geldenhuys and Gleeson were informed that the SADF and Security Branch had assassinated Dr Fabian Ribeiro and his wife Florence on 1 December 1986 they failed to pass this information onto the Attorney-General or the police.

This biographical article related to the South African military is a stub.