Lieutenant General Rick Burr, AO, DSC, MVO
Chief of Army
Lieutenant General Rick Burr joined the Army in 1982, graduating from the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1985 to the Infantry Corps. He has seen service in the 8th/9th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment and the Special Air Service Regiment, which he commanded in 2003-04.
His senior leadership roles have been diverse. He was previously the Deputy Chief of Army, and prior to that had unique service as Deputy Commanding General US Army-Pacific – the first foreign officer to hold such a position. In 2011-12 he was commander of the 1st Division and Deployable Joint Force Headquarters.
His operational commands include the theatre-level multinational command of all Special Forces assigned to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan in 2008, and command of the Australian Special Forces Task Group in Afghanistan 2002 and Iraq 2003.
In addition to his command roles, he gained broad experience across Army, Defence and Government in a range of staff, training and representational appointments.
Committed to the development of our future leaders, he has been an instructor at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, and Chief Instructor of the Australian Defence Force Warfare Centre, responsible for the education and training of ADF officers in planning joint operations.
In key staff roles he was the senior operations and plans officer in Special Operations Headquarters in 2001-02, and Military Assistant to the Chief of the Army in 2005. As a Colonel he served as Director of Force Structure and then Director General Preparedness and Plans in Army Headquarters. In 2007 he was seconded as a senior adviser to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and was Director General Military Strategic Commitments in 2009-10. In a key representational appointment, he was the Equerry to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for the Royal Visit to Australia in 2000.
Lieutenant General Burr is a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Marine Corps Command and Staff College and graduate of the USMC School of Advanced Warfighting. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New South Wales, a Master of Military Studies from the Marine Corps University, and has completed the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program. His personal awards include Officer of the Order of Australia, Distinguished Service Cross, Member of the Royal Victorian Order and a number of foreign awards for distinguished service. He is Patron of Defence Australian Rules Football.
He and his wife Bronwyn are originally from the Riverland in South Australia
