Mark Kelly (general)

For other people of the same name, see Mark Kelly (disambiguation).

Mark Kelly
Kelly in 2005
Born	Sydney, New South Wales
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	Australian Army
Years of service	1975 –2010
Rank	Major General
Commands held	Commander Joint Task Force 633 Land Commander Australia Deployable Joint Force HQ 1st Division 3rd Brigade 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment
Battles/wars	Commonwealth Monitoring Force, Rhodesia International Force East Timor, INTERFET - Operation Stabilise Iraq War - Operation Catalyst War in Afghanistan - Operation Slipper
Awards	Officer of the Order of Australia Distinguished Service Cross Legion of Merit (United States)

Major General Mark Andrew Kelly AO, DSC is a former senior officer in the Australian Army. He served as Commander Joint Task Force 633 (CJTF 633) commanding all Australian Forces in the Middle East Area of Operations (MEAO) and Afghanistan from 12 January 2009 until 14 January 2010 and as Land Commander Australia (LCAUST) from July 2005 to December 2008. He was appointed as the Repatriation Commissioner on 1 July 2010.

Early life

Mark Andrew Kelly was born in Sydney, New South Wales, and educated at James Ruse Agricultural High School.^[1]

Service history

Kelly entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon in January 1975, and he graduated in December,1978 and received the Sword of Honour.^[2] In the same year, Kelly received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of New South Wales.

Allocated to the Royal Australian Infantry Corps he was posted to the 5th/7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. Kelly's first operational posting occurred when he served with the Commonwealth Monitoring Force in Rhodesia during the Independence elections in 1979/80. Kelly served as the exchange instructor at the British Army's School of Infantry at Warminster between September 1985 and November 1987. He attended the Australian Army Command and Staff College in 1990 and served as the Brigade Major of 3rd Brigade from January 1991 until December 1992. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in January 1993 and served in staff appointments in Army Headquarters until December 1995. He also completed a Master of Arts in Defence Studies from the University of New South Wales in 1995.

Between December 1995 and December 1997, Kelly was Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. He then moved on promotion to Colonel to Headquarters 1st Division and the Deployable Joint Force Headquarters as the Chief of Staff, a posting that involved deploying the headquarters to East Timor for Operation Stabilise, where he served as the Chief of Staff for INTERFET. Kelly was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honour's List of 2000 for his "exceptional service" as CO 1 RAR and COFS 1st Division.^[3] He attended the Australian Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies at the Australian Defence College in Canberra in 2000.

Kelly was promoted to Brigadier, and appointed to command the 3rd Brigade from December 2000 until December 2002. He was then posted to Headquarters United States Central Command in Tampa, Florida, serving as the first Director of the Combined Planning Group, planning operations in Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and Iraq. He was appointed an Officer of the United States Legion of Merit for his exceptional service in this position.

Kelly was promoted to Major General and assumed command of the 1st Division and Deployable Joint Force Headquarters on 5 July 2004. He then assumed the appointment of Land Commander Australia on 15 July 2005 and served in that role until December 2008. In the Australia Day Honour's List of 2008, Kelly was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia "for distinguished service to the Australian Army in the fields of training, personnel and operations, in particular as the Commander of the 1st Division and as the Land Commander Australia."^[4]

In an official ceremony on 12 January 2009, Kelly succeeded Major General Mike Hindmarsh as Commander Joint Task Force 633, in this position he commanded all Australian forces in the Middle East Area of Operations and Afghanistan for 12 months. He relinquished command of JTF 633 to Major General John Cantwell on 14 January 2010. Kelly was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in the 2011 Australia Day Honours List for his "distinguished leadership, exceptional professionalism and unwavering dedication in an extremely ambiguous and dangerous operational environment" as Commander Joint Task Force 633.^[5] Kelly was transferred to the Army's Standby Reserve on 5 June 2010.

On 1 July 2010, Kelly assumed the appointment of Repatriation Commissioner, the Service's Member on the Repatriation Commission and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission that supports the Department of Veterans’ Affairs in delivering compensation, health care and support to current and former service personnel, widows and dependants.^[6][7]

Kelly was appointed as the Colonel Commandant of the Royal Australian Regiment on 1 July 2011.

Academic qualifications

• 1978 Bachelor of Arts (UNSW)
• 1978 Graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon
• 1990 Graduate Diploma in Defence Studies (Deakin University)
• 1990 Graduate of the Australian Army Command and Staff College, Queenscliff
• 1995 Master of Arts in Defence Studies (UNSW)
• 2000 Fellow of the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies at the Australian Defence College in Canberra

Personal

Kelly is married to Gabrielle and they have a son, Christopher. He enjoys reading, listening to music and he enjoys all sports, especially Rugby and Golf.

Honours and Awards

	Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)	26 January 2008
	Member of the Order of Australia (AM)	26 January 2000
	Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)	26 January 2011
	Australian Active Service Medal	with 3 clasps EAST TIMOR, ICAT and IRAQ 2003
	International Force East Timor Medal	2001
	Afghanistan Medal	2009
	Iraq Medal	2007
	Rhodesia Medal	1981
	Defence Force Service Medal with 4 Clasps	35 Years of Service
	Australian Defence Medal	2006
	Zimbabwean Independence Medal	1980
	NATO ISAF Medal (Afghanistan)	2009
	US Legion of Merit	Officer in the US Legion of Merit 2004

Notes

1. ^ Official ADF Biography
2. ^ Change of Command - Army Newspaper article
3. ^ It's an Honour - Member of the Order of Australia - 26 January 2000
   Citation: For exceptional service to the Australian Army in demanding command and staff appointments, particularly as Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, and as the Chief of Staff at Deployable Joint Force Headquarters.
4. ^ It's an Honour - Officer of the Order of Australia - 26 January 2008
   Citation: For distinguished service to the Australian Army in the fields of training, personnel and operations, in particular as the Commander of the 1st Division and as the Land Commander Australia.
5. ^ 2011 Australia Day Honours List - Distinguished Service Cross
6. ^ "Appointment of New Repatriation Commissioner" (PDF). Media Release (Friday, 26 February 2010). Department of Veterans’ Affairs. http://minister.dva.gov.au/media_releases/2010/feb/va008.pdf. Retrieved 8 July 2010. 
7. ^ "New Commissioner Starts Work" (PDF). Media Release (Thursday, 1 July 2010). Department of Veterans’ Affairs. http://minister.dva.gov.au/media_releases/2010/jul/VA041.pdf. Retrieved 8 July 2010. 

External links

• Official photo (copyright)
• Officer of the Order of Australia Investure Ceremony, 9 May 2008, Government House, Sydney. (Pictured with his brother, wife and son.)
• Officer of the Order of Australia Investure Ceremony, 9 May 2008, Government House, Sydney. (Pictured with the Governor of NSW and his wife and son.)

Military offices
Preceded by Major General Mike Hindmarsh	Commander of Australian Forces in Middle East Area of Operations 2009 – 2010	Succeeded by Major General John Cantwell
Preceded by Major General Ken Gillespie	Land Commander Australia 2005 – 2009	Succeeded by Major General David Morrison
Preceded by Major General Mark Evans	Commander 1st Division May 2004 – 2005	Succeeded by Major General Ash Power

Persondata
Name	Kelly, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth	Sydney, New South Wales
Date of death
Place of death