Haywood has recently retired from the board of Armscor after and
illustrious six year term.
His
earlier choice of a career path was almost tailor-made for him to
become head of the Ministry of Defence's acquisition arm, Armscor.
From his teenage years at high school and during his early adult
life, Haywood - through the erstwhile conscription process - had
interchangeably served in the school and naval cadets (his first
love), and also the Citizen Force as a pilot. As fate would have
it, this is where he served most of his part time force activity,
flying in various capacities until 1981. By this time he had
accumulated an impressive number of flying hours on Tiger-Moths,
Havards, Spitfires, Vampires, Dakotas and Skymasters, rising to the
rank of Lt Colonel. In recognition of his achievements and his
contributions, Haywood was appointed Honorary Colonel of 44
Squadron in 1993.
Haywood has received several decorations and medals for his
services to the South African Airforce, as well as for his efforts
in building bridges internationally.
He
was later to look back and marvel at how his destiny had been
shaped to fit-in well with his ultimate calling at the highest post
at Armscor. Not that he was aware at that early stage in life that
this was where he was headed to.
Having acquired as much as he could in the military field, he took
up varlous positions in the business arena, becoming a leading
"captain" of Industry, serving various business organisations in
the country in a variety of senior positions.
The
solid knowledge of the army and navy, the good understanding of the
airforce and military in general, and also the experience gained as
an industrialist, was to stand him in good stead in later years
when destiny brought him into contact with the then former
leadership of the ANC military wing, uMkhonto weSizwe (MK). That
uncertain contact - with both parties initially feeling each other
as it were - was to culminate with the richly travelled Haywood as
the Chairman of Armscor.
"Armscor
has a vital role to play in supporting the government of the day.
Be it the arms for the SANDF, or the instigation of research and
development projects, be it in milltary or civilian, Armscor is
known as the quality organisation in Africa. The quality of its
people, its products and its services, make the Corporation a
worthy member of the defence team," says Haywood.
With acknowledgement to SALVO, Armscor's Corporate Journal.
