David Shackleton (admiral)

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David John Shackleton
Born (1948-03-02) 2 March 1948 (age 75)
Leeds, United Kingdom
AllegianceAustralia
Service/branch Royal Australian Navy
Years of service1966–2002
Rank Vice Admiral
Commands held Chief of Navy (1999–02)
HMAS Brisbane (1992)
HMAS Derwent (1989)
Battles/wars Vietnam War
Awards Officer of the Order of Australia
Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States)

Vice Admiral David John Shackleton AO (born 2 March 1948) is a retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), who served as Chief of Navy from 1999 to 2002.

Contents

Early life

Shackleton was born in Leeds, United Kingdom, on 2 March 1948 to Ernest Shackleton and Elise Wilson. The family immigrated to Australia in 1959 and settled in Adelaide, where Shackleton was educated at Croydon High School. [1]

Shackleton joined the Navy in 1966 under Supplementary List (Executive) Scheme, and saw service in Vietnam while qualifying as a seaman officer. [2] He was given command of the destroyer escort HMAS Derwent in 1988, [3] was the Maritime commander for the opposing forces during Exercise Kangaroo 1989, and reached the rank of captain in 1989. He commanded the destroyer HMAS Brisbane from 1991 to 1992, [3] and was promoted to commodore in 1993.

He is a graduate of the RAN Staff College and the Joint Services Staff College, and has earned a Master of Business Administration (executive) from Monash University. [3] He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

He was promoted to rear admiral in 1998, [2] and then vice admiral and Chief of Navy in 1999. [3] He initiated various organisational changes across the Navy. [3]

He was a senior Navy witness to the Senate Enquiry into the Children overboard affair. [4] He was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2000, [5] and Commander of the United States Legion of Merit in 2001. He retired from the RAN in 2002. [3]

Post-naval career

Shackleton was appointed to the Defence SA Advisory Board in South Australia in 2007, the year of its establishment.

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References

  1. "Vice Admiral David Shackleton". ConnectWeb. Who's Who in Australia Online. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  2. 1 2 Vice Admiral David Shackleton, AO, RAN, Chief of Navy Australian Defence Magazine
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Techport Australia Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  4. 7.30 Report – 25 March 2002: Defence Dept secretary offered to resign
  5. "It's an honour – Order of Australia". Archived from the original on 4 February 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
Military offices
Preceded by
Vice Admiral Donald Chalmers
Chief of Navy
1999–2002
Succeeded by
Vice Admiral Chris Ritchie