Gilbert Toropo

Last updated April 04, 2019

Brigadier General Gilbert Toropo CBE is a Papua New Guinean Army officer who is the current Commander of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF).

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V and comprises five classes across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order.

Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an Oceanian country that occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean north of Australia. Its capital, located along its southeastern coast, is Port Moresby. The western half of New Guinea forms the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua.

Commander is a common naval and air force officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organisations, including several police forces.

Toropo was born in the Southern Highlands Province.^[1] During his career in the PNGDF's Land Element, he commanded the 1st Battalion of the Royal Pacific Islands Regiment as well as the PNGDF's joint task force, and was promoted to the rank of colonel in 2012.^[1] During 2007 he undertook a year-long training course at the Australian Defence Force's Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies in Canberra.^[2]

Southern Highlands is a province in Papua New Guinea. Its provincial capital is the town of Mendi. According to Papua New Guinea's national 2011 census, the total population of Southern Highlands is 515,511 spread across 15,089 square kilometers (5,826 sq mi). Before the split there were two major ethnic groups, the Huli Speakers and the Angal Speakers or Angal Heneng. Today the Majority of the Population in Southern Highlands is made up of Angal Speakers or Angal Heneng Speaks. They occupy three provinces Southern Highlands, Hela (Magarima) and Enga

The Royal Pacific Islands Regiment (RPIR) is an infantry regiment of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF). The regiment is descended from the Australian Army infantry battalions formed from native soldiers and Australian officers and non-commissioned officers in the territories of Papua and New Guinea during World War II to help fight against the Japanese. Disbanded after the war, the regiment was re-raised in 1951 as part of the Australian Army and continued to serve until Papua New Guinea gained its independence in 1975, when it became part of the PNGDF. Today, the RPIR consists of two battalions and has seen active service in Vanuatu, Bougainville and the Solomon Islands.

Toropo was announced as the commander of the PNGDF on 9 January 2014, replacing Brigadier General Francis Agwi who had reached the end of his period in the office. At the time he was 51 years of age.^[1] Toropo was sworn into his new role on 31 January 2014.^[3]

Brigadier General Francis Wanji Agwi, CSM, CBE, DSM is a Papua New Guinean Army officer who served as the 9th Commander of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force.

Already a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), Toropo was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours.^[4]

The 2014 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's Official Birthday celebrations during the month of June. The Queen's Birthday Honours were announced on 14 June 2014 in the United Kingdom, on 9 June 2014 in Australia, on 2 June 2014 in New Zealand, on 14 June 2014 in Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia and Belize.

Related Research Articles

The Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Papua New Guinea. It originated from the Australian Army land forces of the territory of Papua New Guinea before independence, coming into being in January 1973 and having its antecedents in the Pacific Islands Regiment. The PNGDF is a small force numbering around 2,500 personnel and consists of a Land Element, an Air Element and a Maritime Element. It is a joint force tasked with defending Papua New Guinea and its territories against external attack, as well as having secondary functions including national-building and internal security tasks.

Jerry Singirok was the commander of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force throughout the Sandline affair of 1997.

Brigadier General Thomas Griffiths, was a Welsh-born officer in the Australian Army who served in mainly administrative positions during the First World War. He later served as Administrator of Nauru and of Papua New Guinea.

Lieutenant-General Jacobus Nicolaas "Nick" Bierman (1910–1977) was a South African military commander. He played one Rugby Test Match for the Springbok team in 1931

General Sir Arthur Leslie MacDonald, was a senior officer in the Australian Army, who served in the positions of Chief of the General Staff from 1975 to 1977, then Chief of the Defence Force Staff from 1977 to 1979; the professional head of the Australian Army and Australian Defence Force respectively.

Lieutenant General Sir Henry Wells, was a senior officer in the Australian Army. Serving as Chief of the General Staff from 1954 to 1958, Wells' career culminated with his appointment as the first Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee, a position marking him as the professional head of the Australian Military. He served in this capacity from March 1958 until March 1959, when he retired from the army.

Lieutenant General Sir William Raoul 'Bill' Rollo is a former senior British Army officer.

Brigadier John Field, was a senior officer in the Australian Army during the Second World War. He commanded the 2/12th Battalion in the Middle East and Milne Force and the 7th Brigade in New Guinea. He later went on to work with the State Electricity Commission of Victoria in large projects at Yallourn and the La Trobe Valley.

Major General John Stewart Whitelaw, was a senior officer in the Australian Army. Whitelaw was a graduate of the first intake of the Royal Military College, Duntroon and served briefly at Gallipoli with an infantry battalion during the First World War. His war service was, however, cut short by a bullet wound suffered during the landing on 25 April 1915 and he returned to Australia where, during the interwar years, he transferred to the artillery and undertook a number of staff and instructional postings. During the Second World War, although he did not serve overseas in an operational role, in his capacity as a senior artillery officer Whitelaw had responsibility for all matters relating to the development of artillery in the Australian Army and in this role he championed the introduction of new technologies and weaponry into the corps and the development of Australian defence industries.

Major General John Whitelaw, was a career officer in the Australian Army who rose to the position of Deputy Chief of the General Staff (1977–78). Joining the army in mid-1939, as a part-time soldier in the Royal Australian Artillery, Whitelaw was later commissioned and served in the Second Australian Imperial Force during the Second World War, seeing action in New Guinea and Bougainville. After the war, he briefly returned to a career as a clerk, before taking up a Regular Army commission in the post war years, which saw him rise to the rank of major general. In retirement he was active on many councils and committees.

Brigadier Murray John Moten, was a senior officer in the Australian Army during the Second World War.

Ed Davis (Royal Marines officer) former Commandant General of the Royal Marines

Lieutenant General Edward Grant Martin Davis, is a senior Royal Marines officer. He was Commandant General Royal Marines from December 2011 to June 2014. He was the Deputy Commander of NATO's Allied Land Command at Izmir, Turkey. He became Governor of Gibraltar in January 2016.

The 2012 Papua New Guinea Defence Force mutiny took place on 26 January 2012 when a group of military personnel headed by retired Colonel Yaura Sasa took the commander of the defence force, Brigadier General Francis Agwi, prisoner. The mutiny was related to a dispute over the prime ministership between Sir Michael Somare and Peter O'Neill which had begun in December 2011 when the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea ordered that Somare be reinstated as the prime minister while the country's parliament supported O'Neill.

Major General Nicholas Henry Eeles is a British Army officer who served as General Officer Commanding Scotland.

Lieutenant General Rudolph Bierwirth, was career officer in the Australian Army who served in many senior positions, and rose to General Officer rank in the 1950s.

Edward Ramu (Ted) Diro GCL CBE is a Papua New Guinean politician and soldier.

HMPNGS Ted Diro (P401) is the first Guardian-class patrol boat to be completed. Australia designed and provided four Pacific Forum-class patrol vessels to Papua New Guinea in 1987 and 1988, and in 2015 confirmed she would be replacing those vessels with four larger, and more capable, Guardian-class vessels.

The Commander of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force is the highest-ranking military officer of in the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, who is responsible for maintaining the operational command of the military. The current commander is Brigadier general Gilbert Toropo.

References

1 2 3 "Toropo heads defence force". The National. 9 January 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
↑ "PNG Defence Force Officer to Study in Australia". Media release. Australian High Commission Papua New Guinea. 28 February 2007. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
↑ "Australian Chief of Army visits Papua New Guinea". Media release. Australian High Commission Papua New Guinea. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
↑ "No. 60898". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 2014. p. b52.

Military offices
Preceded by Francis Agwi	Commander of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force 2014–present	Incumbent

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Toropo_heads_defence_force-1] 1 2 3 "Toropo heads defence force". The National. 9 January 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.

[2] "PNG Defence Force Officer to Study in Australia". Media release. Australian High Commission Papua New Guinea. 28 February 2007. Retrieved 2 March 2014.

[Australian_Chief_of_Army_visits-3] "Australian Chief of Army visits Papua New Guinea". Media release. Australian High Commission Papua New Guinea. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.

[4] "No. 60898". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 2014. p. b52.