Prince Harry Secondment to Australian Defence Force and leaving the Army When did Harry leave the Army? Harry's attachment with the ADF ended on 8 May 2015, and on 19 June 2015 his career with the Army ended.
When was he Seconded to the Australian Defence Force?
When was Prince Harry Seconded to the Australian Defence Force?
On 17 March 2015, Kensington Palace announced that Prince Harry would leave the Armed Forces in June. Before then, he would spend four weeks throughout April and May at army barracks in Darwin, Perth and Sydney whilst seconded to the Australian Defence Force (ADF). After leaving the Army, while considering his future, he would return to work with the Ministry of Defence, supporting Case Officers in the Ministry of Defence's Recovery Capability Programme, working with both those who administer and receive physical and mental care within the London District area in a voluntary capacity.  On 6 April 2015, Prince Harry reported for duty to Australia's Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin at the Royal Military College, Duntroon in Canberra, Australia. Harry flew to Darwin later that day to start his month-long secondment to the ADF's 1st Brigade. His visit included detachments to NORFORCE as well as to an aviation unit. While in Perth, he trained with Special Air Service Regiment (SASR), participating in the SASR selection course, including a fitness test and a physical training session with SASR selection candidates. He also joined SASR members in Perth for live-fire shooting exercises with numerous Special Forces weapons at a variety of ranges and completed an insertion training exercise using a rigid-hull inflatable boat. In Sydney, he undertook urban operations training with the 2nd Commando Regiment. Training activities included remotely detonating an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and rappelling from a building. He also spent time flying over Sydney as co-pilot of an Army Black Hawk and participated in counter-terrorism training in Sydney Harbour with Royal Australian Navy clearance divers.  Harry's attachment with the ADF ended on 8 May 2015, and on 19 June 2015 his career with the Army ended. CANNOTANSWER
On 6 April 2015,
Air Vice Marshal Richard John Bomball,  (born 13 October 1937) is a retired Royal Australian Air Force officer, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff – Development and former Commandant of the Australian Defence Force Academy.

Early life
Born on 13 October 1937, in Richmond, Victoria, Bomball was educated at Mentone Grammar School and joined the RAAF on graduation.

Air Force career

 Entered – Royal Australian Air Force (1956)
 Trained at No. 1 Basic Flying Training School RAAF, Uranquinty, New South Wales and No. 1 Applied Flying Training School RAAF, Point Cook, Victoria.
 Served – No. 25 Squadron, RAAF Pearce, WA (1957–1958), No. 78 Wing, RAAF Butterworth, Malaya (1958–1961), No. 2 Operational Conversion Unit (1964–1969), RAAF Staff College (1969), seconded to Department of Air (1969–1973), Joint Services Staff College (1975), Royal College of Defence Studies, London, (1987). 
 Commanding Officer – No. 3 Squadron, RAAF Butterworth (1973–1974)
 Director of Staff – RAAF Staff College (1975–1978)
 Air Attaché – Australian Embassy, Tokyo (1978–1981)
 Director of Operational Requirements – Air Force – Department of Defence (1982–1983)
 Officer Commanding – RAAF Williamtown, New South Wales (1984–1986)
 Chief of Staff – RAAF HQ Support Command (1987–1988)
 Promoted to Air Vice Marshal (1988)
 Assistant Chief of the Air Staff – Development (1988–1989)
 Commandant – Australian Defence Force Academy (5 March 1990–1993)

Later life
Following his retirement from the Air Force, Bomball was appointed as the first Chairman of the Board of Newcastle Airport Limited in 1993, when control of the airport was transferred from the Commonwealth to joint control by Newcastle City Council and Port Stephens Council. He served until 2004. In 1994 he was appointed to serve on the Veterans' Compensation Review Committee by the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, John Faulkner, subsequently co-authoring a report on compensation for veterans and war widows.

Honours

References

1937 births
Living people
Officers of the Order of Australia
People educated at Mentone Grammar School
Australian recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)
Royal Australian Air Force air marshals
Australian military personnel of the Malayan Emergency
Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air Lieutenant General Hector Geoffrey Edgar,  (31 October 1903 – 1978) was a senior officer in the Australian Army. He graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1923, and occupied a series of staff positions prior to and during the Second World War. Involved in the planning for the Long Range Weapons Establishment in the late 1940s, he served as Deputy Chief of the General Staff (1954–58), General Officer Commanding (GOC) Southern Command (1958–60), and GOC Eastern Command (1960–63).

Early life
Hector Geoffrey Edgar was born in Wedderburn, Victoria, on 31 October 1903 to Thomas George Edgar and his second wife Bessie ( Trotman). Cedric Edgar was an elder brother. Edgar was educated in Victoria and New South Wales, and was a member of the Cadets from 1917. He was accepted into the Royal Military College, Duntroon as an officer cadet commencing February 1920.

Military career
On graduating from Duntroon, Edgar was commissioned a lieutenant in the Australian Army on 13 December 1923. He was seconded to the Queen's Bays (2nd Dragoon Guards) in India for a period in the 1920s, and was promoted captain on 13 December 1931. In 1936, he graduated from the Royal Military College of Science in Woolwich, United Kingdom, and returned to Australia as Proof and Experimental Officer seconded to the Munitions and Supply Board from 11 January 1937. He remained seconded until 14 January 1941 and was made temporary lieutenant colonel the following day, having been promoted major on 13 December 1939.

Edgar was seconded to the Second Australian Imperial Force from 17 July 1942 for active service during the Second World War and, from 1943 to 1944, served with Allied Land Headquarters, South West Pacific Area. He was then appointed General Staff Officer Grade 1 to the 3rd Australian Division. In this post he was the division's chief of staff, responsible for administration and planning during the formation's service in New Guinea, withdrawal to Australia for a period of leave and reorganisation, and redeployment to the Solomon Islands from November 1944 to take part in the Bougainville Campaign. He relinquished the position to Lieutenant Colonel Frank Hassett in March 1945.

While remaining a substantive lieutenant colonel, Edgar was granted the temporary rank of brigadier from 6 February 1946. That year, he was involved in planning the Long Range Weapons Establishment at Woomera, South Australia, and was appointed the first superintendent of the site. He was promoted substantive colonel on 18 October 1948. This was followed by a posting as Deputy Director of Staff Duties at Army Headquarters. He relinquished the appointment on 2 November 1949 and was sent to London to attend the 1950 course at the Imperial Defence College. On his return to Australia, Edgar was appointed Director of Personal Services on 21 December 1950 and, on 17 September 1951, was reconfirmed as a temporary brigadier and appointed to command the Australian Staff College. He returned to Army Headquarters as Director of Staff Duties from 31 August 1953, and was promoted substantive brigadier on 23 November that year.

Edgar was promoted temporary major general on 30 October 1954 (substantive 2 August 1956) and posted as Deputy Chief of the General Staff. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1955 Birthday Honours. From 30 June 1956 he was accorded status as Fifth Military Member of the Military Board, the governing body of the Australian Army, when membership was extended to include the position of Deputy Chief. Promoted lieutenant general, Edgar was appointed General Officer Commanding (GOC) Southern Command on 23 March 1958. He served in this position for two years, before assuming the post of GOC Eastern Command from 30 May 1960. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath four days later in the 1960 Birthday Honours.

Later life
Edgar left the Australian Army after 43 years of service on 1 November 1963, and was succeeded as GOC Eastern Command by Major General Thomas Daly. He retired to Melbourne, where he died in 1978.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography
 

|- 

|-

1903 births
1978 deaths
Alumni of the Royal College of Defence Studies
Australian generals
Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Australian Companions of the Order of the Bath
Australian Army personnel of World War II
People from Victoria (Australia)
Royal Military College, Duntroon graduates Major General Christopher Antony Field,  is a senior officer in the Australian Army. He joined the army via the Australian Defence Force Academy in 1984 and was commissioned into the Royal Australian Infantry Corps. He has commanded the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (2003–05), Combined Joint Task Force 635 (2004–05) and the 3rd Brigade (2015–17), coordinated reconstruction efforts in Queensland in the wake of the 2010–11 Queensland floods and Cyclone Debbie, and deployed on operations to East Timor, Iraq, the Solomon Islands and Afghanistan. He was Commander Forces Command from June 2019 to February 2020, Deputy Commanding General – Operations for United States Army Central from March 2020 to November 2021, and has been Assistant to the Chief of the Defence Force since 2022.

Military career
Field entered the Australian Defence Force Academy as an Australian Army officer cadet in 1984. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree and, following additional training at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, was commissioned into the Royal Australian Infantry Corps. During his early career, Field served as a rifle platoon commander and mortar line officer in the 2nd/4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, deployed for service with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in 1996–97, was adjutant of an Australian Army Reserve unit, served as an instructor at Duntroon, and commanded companies in the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (2RAR). He was operations officer when 2RAR deployed as part of the International Force East Timor in September 1999. For his "distinguished performance of duties" during the operation, Field was awarded a Commendation for Distinguished Service in March 2000.

As a lieutenant colonel, Field was seconded to the United States Army in 2002 and was an operational planner in the Third Army during the early stages of the United States' Operation Iraqi Freedom and Australia's Operation Falconer during the Iraq War. For his "outstanding achievement in strategic analysis and operational planning" in this role, Field was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross in November 2003 and the United States Bronze Star Medal in March 2005. Field was appointed commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) from December 2003. In December 2004, Field led a deployment of his battalion's A Company to the Solomon Islands and assumed command of Combined Joint Task Force 635. The Australian government had recently drawn back its military commitment to the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI). After Australian Federal Police officer Adam Dunning was ambushed and killed while conducting a patrol on 22 December, however, the Australian government committed Field and his soldiers to reinforce RAMSI and enhance security in the region.

On relinquishing command of 1RAR in December 2005, Field was appointed J3 Operations to the 1st Division and Deployable Joint Force Headquarters. He then served as Director Future Land Warfare and Strategy at Australian Army headquarters and, in January 2011, was appointed Chief of Operations and Plans, Queensland Reconstruction Authority to assist in the recovery and reconstruction efforts in the wake of the 2010–11 Queensland floods. Later that year, Field was promoted to brigadier and was again seconded to the United States Army. He served as Deputy Commanding General – Force Development in the 82nd Airborne Division during an operational deployment to Kandahar, Afghanistan, for which he was awarded the NATO Meritorious Service Medal. He returned to Australia in 2012 as chief of staff in Forces Command and was appointed Regimental Colonel of the Royal Australian Regiment and Head of Corps of the Royal Australian Infantry. Field's "exceptional service" in these postings was recognised with his appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours.

In 2015, Field was appointed commander of the 3rd Brigade in Townsville, Queensland. He additionally assumed the role of Queensland State Recovery Coordinator, overseeing the efforts to recover and rebuilt Queensland communities following the severe tropical Cyclone Debbie, in March 2017. Field handed over command of the 3rd Brigade to Brigadier Scott Winter in November that year and, promoted to major general, was posted to the United States as Vice Director of Operations and Plans in United States Central Command. During the eighteen-month posting, Field oversaw United States and coalition operations in the Middle East. He returned to Australia and succeeded Major General Greg Bilton as Commander Forces Command in June 2019. As Commander Forces Command, Field mobilised approximately 6,000 personnel as part of Operation Bushfire Assist, the Australian Army's response to the severe bushfires that burnt throughout southeast Australia over summer 2019–2020.

Field handed over leadership of Forces Command to Major General Matt Pearse in February 2020 and, in March, was posted to the United States as Deputy Commanding General – Operations for United States Army Central. In this role, Field deployed to United States Army Central's forward headquarters in Kuwait in October 2020, where he was involved in supporting Operations Inherent Resolve, Freedom's Sentinel and Spartan Shield, as well as the Multinational Force and Observers. In recognition of his "exceptional leadership, professionalism and uncompromising commitment", showing "distinguished command and leadership in warlike operations" in the Middle East, Field was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in the 2022 Australia Day Honours.

Following his return to Australia, Field was appointed Assistant to the Chief of the Defence Force.

Field is a graduate of the University of Southern Queensland, the Marine Corps University, Deakin University, and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Personal life
Field is married to Sarah Kendall, with whom he has one son. He is a former director of Ronald McDonald House in North Queensland, a previous member of the Townsville District Community Policing Board and the Regional Managers’ Coordination Network, Townsville, and is Patron and past-President of the Australian Services Rugby Referees Association.

Footnotes

Bibliography
 
 

Australian generals
Australian military personnel of the International Force for East Timor
Australian military personnel of the Iraq War
Australian military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
Deakin University alumni
Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit
Graduates of the Australian Defence Force Academy
Living people
Marine Corps University alumni
Members of the Order of Australia
Recipients of the Commendation for Distinguished Service
Recipients of the Conspicuous Service Cross (Australia)
Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (Australia)
Recipients of the NATO Meritorious Service Medal
Royal Military College, Duntroon graduates
University of New South Wales alumni
University of Southern Queensland alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)