|
Travels From:
Canberra
Fee Range: E
|
|
Peter Cosgrove was born into an Army family in Sydney in 1947. After secondary schooling at Waverley College he entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1965, graduating in 1968 to the Royal Australian Infantry Corps. He served initially with the 1st Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) in Malaysia before joining the Australian Reinforcement Unit at Nui Dat in South Vietnam in August 1969. While in Vietnam he served with 9RAR and as a platoon commander at HQ 1st Australian Task Force.
In his subsequent service he has served with 5RAR and later as Adjutant 5/7RAR, and as Commanding Officer 1RAR between 1983 and 1984. He also commanded the 6th Brigade and the 1st Division at Enoggera in Brisbane.
General Cosgrove has commanded the Methods of Instruction Team based at Ingleburn, NSW, instructed in tactics at the Infantry Centre at Singleton, where he was also later Commandant and Director of Infantry. He has been the Commandant of the Australian Defence Warfare Centre at RAAF Williamtown, and also of the Royal Military College Duntroon. He attended the United States Marine Corps Staff College at Quantico, USA in 1978, and was the Australian exchange instructor at the British Army Staff College, Camberly from 1984-1986. He has also attended the Australian Joint Services Staff College and the Indian National Defence College.
He has served as a staff officer at Headquarters Field Force Command in Sydney and at Army Headquarters in Canberra. In 1972 he was Aide de Camp to the Governor General, Sir Paul Hasluck, and in 1987 Military Assistant to the Chief of the General Staff.
In 1999 as Commander of the Deployable Joint Force Headquarters he assumed command of the International Forces in East Timor (INTERFET) until the force was withdrawn in February 2000. On his return to Australia he was appointed Chief of Army and promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General. In July 2002 he was promoted to the rank of General and assumed the position of Chief of the Defence Force.
For his service with INTERFET he was advanced to Companion of Military Division the Order of Australia (AC), having previously been a Member of the Order for his service as Commanding Officer, 1RAR. He was awarded the Military Cross for his service with 9RAR in South Vietnam, and has received several foreign awards including the Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, a Commander of the United States Legion of Merit, the Tong-il medal from the Republic of Korea, and the Grand Chain of Infante Dom Henrique from Portugal. In 2001 he was the Australian of the Year.
|
