Major Michael Stone is an Officer in the Australian Army notably involved with its operations in East Timor.
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) commands the ADF, the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA). The CA is therefore subordinate to the CDF, but is also directly responsible to the Minister for Defence. Although Australian soldiers have been involved in a number of minor and major conflicts throughout its history, only in World War II has Australian territory come under direct attack.
East Timor or Timor-Leste, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Maritime Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island surrounded by Indonesian West Timor. Australia is the country's southern neighbour, separated by the Timor Sea. The country's size is about 15,410 km2.
He graduated at the rank of Lieutenant from the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1999 after gaining a BA majoring in Management and Geography from the Australian Defence Force Academy. [1] It was then that his relationship with East Timor was initiated with a posting to East Timor as a platoon commander. [2]
The Royal Military College, Duntroon, also known simply as Duntroon, is the Australian Army's officer training establishment. It was founded at Duntroon, in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, in 1911 and is located at the foot of Mount Pleasant near Lake Burley Griffin, close to the Department of Defence headquarters at Russell Hill. It is comparable with the United Kingdom's Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and the United States Military Academy at West Point. Duntroon is adjacent to the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA), which is Australian Defence Force's tri-service military academy that provides military and tertiary academic education for junior officers of the Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and the Royal Australian Navy.
The Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) is a tri-service military Academy that provides military and tertiary academic education for junior officers of the Australian Defence Force in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). In 2016 the Academy began accepting civilian students in its undergraduate courses.
He acted as the "fix it" man in East Timor; a negotiator between warring factions; an interpreter; a liaison man for the community; and a facilitator of peace. [2]
In 2007 a documentary titled The Peacemaker as part of the ABC show Australian Story , he was featured and showed his role in East Timor as a negotiator, interpreter, community liaison and the local face of the ADF. [1]
Australian Story is a national weekly documentary television series produced by and broadcast on ABC Television. The program has aired since 29 May 1996, and each episode features the story of Australians from diverse backgrounds and reputations.
He appeared in Balibo released in 2009, set in East Timor as a character interviewing locals about the Indonesian invasion (which commenced on December 6, 1975) and its subsequent occupation of East Timor.[ citation needed ]
Balibo is a 2009 Australian war film that follows the story of the Balibo Five, a group of journalists who were captured and killed while reporting on activities just prior to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor of 1975. While historically accurate, the film is loosely based on the book Cover-Up by Jill Jolliffe, an Australian journalist who met the men before they were killed.
He currently[ when? ] is in charge of the Timor Awakening program, taking Australian Ex military and AFP back to Timor and helping them to rediscover themselves after their service through the history and struggle of Timor Leste and also the Australian element history to present day.[ citation needed ]
