Lieutenant general | |
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![]() The LTGEN insignia of the Tudor Crown above a crossed sword and baton, with the word 'Australia' at the bottom. | |
Country | Australia |
Service branch | Australian Army |
Abbreviation | LTGEN |
Rank | Three-star |
NATO rank code | OF-8 |
Non-NATO rank | O-9 |
Formation | 1917 |
Next higher rank | General |
Next lower rank | Major general |
Equivalent ranks | Vice admiral (RAN) Air marshal (RAAF) |
Lieutenant general (abbreviated LTGEN and pronounced 'lef-tenant general') is the second-highest active rank of the Australian Army. It was created as a direct equivalent of the British military rank of lieutenant general, and is considered a three-star rank.
The rank of lieutenant general is held by the Chief of Army. The rank is also held when an army officer is the Vice Chief of the Defence Force, the Chief of Joint Operations, or the Chief of Joint Capabilities. The Chief of Capability Development Group, disestablished in 2016, also carried three-star rank.
Lieutenant general is a higher rank than major general, but lower than general. Lieutenant general is the equivalent of vice admiral in the Royal Australian Navy and air marshal in the Royal Australian Air Force. The insignia for a lieutenant general is the Crown of St Edward above a crossed sword and baton. [1] [Note 1]
The first Australian lieutenant general was Sir Harry Chauvel in 1917.
From 1 January 1909 to 18 February 1997, the most senior Australian Army position was named Chief of the General Staff. The first Australian to occupy this position was Colonel William Throsby Bridges. The first Australian lieutenant general to occupy this position was Sir Harry Chauvel, from 11 June 1923. Since August 1940, this position, and its successor (Chief of Army), have been held by Australian lieutenant generals.
In March 1958, the role of Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee was created, but with no command authority. This was initially occupied by Lieutenant General Sir Henry Wells (March 1958 – March 1959), and was rotated through the three services, hence (briefly) providing a three-star position available to army officers. In 1968 this became a four-star position. It was replaced in February 1976 by a new position, Chief of Defence Force Staff, with command authority over the Australian Defence Force, and in October 1984 the position was renamed Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) to more clearly reflect the role and its authority.
In June 1986, the three-star position Vice Chief of the Defence Force (VCDF) was created. As with CDF, this position rotates between the forces. Lieutenant General John Baker was the first army officer to occupy the position (October 1992 – April 1995).
A third three-star position, Chief of Capability Development Group (CCDG), which also rotates between the forces, was created in 2003. Lieutenant General John Caligari was the final officer of three-star rank to hold the position before it was disestablished in 2016
In September 2007, a fourth three-star position, Chief of Joint Operations, was created.
There are two other permanent three-star positions in the Australian Defence Force, Chief of Navy and Chief of Air Force. There are also a number of other three-star-equivalent positions in the Australian Defence Organisation, but these are all held by civilians.
The following people have held the rank of lieutenant general in the Australian Army:
Name | Date of promotion | Senior command(s) or appointment(s) in rank | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Sir Harry Chauvel * | 31 December 1919 [Note 2] | Chief of the General Staff (1923–30), [Note 3] Inspector General of the Australian Army (1919–30), Desert Mounted Corps (1917–19) | [4] |
Sir John Monash * | 1 January 1920 [Note 4] | Director General of Repatriation (1918–19), Australian Corps (1918) | [6] |
George Lee + | 13 May 1920 | [7] | |
John William Parnell + | 1 June 1920 | [8] | |
James Gordon Legge + | 14 January 1924 | [9] | |
Sir James McCay + | 21 December 1926 | [10] | |
Sir Talbot Hobbs + | 24 August 1927 | [11] | |
Ernest Squires | 30 June 1938 | Chief of the General Staff (1939–40), Inspector General of the Australian Army (1938–39) | [12] |
Sir Brudenell White * | 17 August 1939 [Note 5] | Chief of the General Staff (1920–23, 1940) | [15] |
Sir Thomas Blamey * | 13 October 1939 | I Corps (1940–41) | [17] |
Sir Vernon Sturdee | 13 October 1939 | Chief of the General Staff (1940–42, 1946–50), First Army (1944–45) | [18] |
Sir John Lavarack | 13 October 1939 / 18 June 1941 [Note 6] | First Army (1942–44), I Corps (1941–42), Southern Command (1939–40) | [20] [21] |
Edward Smart | 24 October 1940 | Southern Command (1940–42) | [18] |
Sir Iven Mackay | 1 September 1941 | New Guinea Force (1943–44), Second Army (1942–44) | [22] |
Sir John Northcott | 6 April 1942 | British Commonwealth Occupation Force (1946), Chief of the General Staff (1940, 1942–45) | [18] |
Henry Wynter | 6 April 1942 | Lieutenant General Administration at Allied Land Headquarters (1942–44), Eastern Command (1941–42) | [23] |
Gordon Bennett | 1 September 1942 | III Corps (1942–44) | [24] |
Sir Edmund Herring | 1 September 1942 | I Corps (1942–44), New Guinea Force (1942–43), II Corps (1942) | [25] |
Sir Carl Jess | 1 September 1942 | Chairman of the Manpower Committee (1939–44) | [26] |
Charles Miles | 1 September 1942 | Eastern Command (1940–41) | [27] [28] |
Sir Leslie Morshead | 1 September 1942 | I Corps (1944–45), Second Army (1944), New Guinea Force (1944), II Corps (1943) | [18] |
Sir Stanley Savige | 10 February 1944 | II Corps (1944–45), New Guinea Force (1944), I Corps (1944) | [18] |
John Whitham + | 4 April 1946 [Note 7] | Southern Command (1940) | [30] |
Sir Frank Berryman | 1 October 1948 | Eastern Command (1946–53), I Corps (1944), II Corps (1943–44) | [31] |
Sir Horace Robertson | 1 October 1948 | Southern Command (1953–54), British Commonwealth Forces Korea (1951), British Commonwealth Occupation Force (1946–51), First Army (1945–46) | [31] |
Sir Sydney Rowell | 1 October 1948 [Note 8] | Chief of the General Staff (1950–54), Vice Chief of the General Staff (1946–50), I Corps (1942) | [32] |
Cyril Clowes + | 1 June 1949 | [33] | |
Allan Boase + | 20 February 1951 | Southern Command (1949–51) | [34] |
Sir William Bridgeford + | 14 March 1953 | British Commonwealth Forces Korea (1951–53), Eastern Command (1951) | [35] |
Victor Secombe + | 4 April 1954 | Northern Command (1952–54), Eastern Command (1951–52) | [36] |
Sir Henry Wells | 12 April 1954 [Note 9] | Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (1958–59), Chief of the General Staff (1954–58), British Commonwealth Forces Korea (1953–54), Southern Command (1951–53) | [38] |
Rudolph Bierwirth | 13 October 1954 | British Commonwealth Forces Korea (1954–56) | [39] |
Sir Eric Woodward | 30 October 1954 | Eastern Command (1953–57) | [40] |
Robert Nimmo + | 15 November 1954 | United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (1952–66) | [41] |
Sir Ragnar Garrett | 16 December 1954 | Chief of the General Staff (1958–60), Southern Command (1954–58) | [42] |
Sir Reginald Pollard | 1 August 1957 | Chief of the General Staff (1960–63), Eastern Command (1957–60) | [43] |
Hector Edgar | 23 March 1958 | Eastern Command (1960–63), Southern Command (1958–60) | [44] |
Sir John Wilton * | 21 January 1963 | Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (1966–70), [Note 10] Chief of the General Staff (1963–66) | [45] |
Sir Thomas Daly | 19 May 1966 | Chief of the General Staff (1966–71) | [46] |
Sir Mervyn Brogan | 19 May 1971 | Chief of the General Staff (1971–73) | [47] |
Sir Francis Hassett * | 20 November 1973 | Chief of the General Staff (1973–75) | [48] |
Sir Arthur MacDonald * | 24 November 1975 | Chief of the General Staff (1975–77) | [49] |
Sir Donald Dunstan | 21 April 1977 | Chief of the General Staff (1977–82) | [50] |
Sir Phillip Bennett * | 15 February 1982 | Chief of the General Staff (1982–84) | [51] |
Peter Gration * | 1984 | Chief of the General Staff (1984–87) | [52] |
Lawrence O'Donnell | 1987 | Chief of the General Staff (1987–90) | [53] |
John Coates | 1990 | Chief of the General Staff (1990–92) | [54] |
John Sanderson | 1992 | Chief of Army (1995–98), [Note 11] Commander Joint Forces Australia (1993–95), Commander United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (1992–93) | [55] |
John Grey | 1992 | Chief of the General Staff (1992–95) | [56] |
John Baker * | 1992 | Vice Chief of the Defence Force (1992–95) | [57] |
Frank Hickling | 1998 | Chief of Army (1998–2000) | [58] |
Desmond Mueller | 2000 | Vice Chief of the Defence Force (2000–02) | [59] |
Peter Cosgrove * | 2000 | Chief of Army (2000–02) | [60] |
Peter Leahy | 2002 | Chief of Army (2002–08) | [61] |
David Hurley * | 2003 | Vice Chief of Defence Force (2008–11), Chief of Joint Operations (2007–08), Chief of Capability Development Group (2003–07) | [62] |
Ken Gillespie | 2005 | Chief of Army (2008–11), Vice Chief of the Defence Force (2005–08) | [63] |
Mark Evans | 2008 | Chief of Joint Operations (2008–11) | [64] |
Ash Power | 18 May 2011 | Chief of Joint Operations (2011–14) | [65] |
David Morrison | 2011 | Chief of Army (2011–15) | [66] |
Angus Campbell * | 2013 | Chief of Army (2015–18), Commander Operation Sovereign Borders (2013–15) | [67] |
John Caligari | 2014 | Chief of Capability Development Group (2014–15) | [68] |
Richard Burr | 2018 | Chief of Army (2018–22) | [69] |
John Frewen | 2018 | Chief of Joint Capabilities (2021–24), National COVID Vaccine Taskforce (2021–22), Principal Deputy Director Australian Signals Directorate (2018–21) | [70] |
Greg Bilton | 2019 | Chief of Joint Operations (2019–) | [71] |
Gavan Reynolds | 2020 | Chief of Defence Intelligence (2020–) | [72] |
Simon Stuart ^ | 2022 | Chief of Army (2022–) | [73] |
Natasha Fox ^ | 5 June 2023 | Chief of Personnel (2023–) | [74] |
Michelle McGuinness ^ | 2024 | National Cyber Security Coordinator (2024–) | [75] |
Susan Coyle ^ | 2024 | Chief of Joint Capabilities (2024–) | [76] |