Vice Chief of the Defence Force (Australia)

Vice Chief of the Australian Defence Force
Incumbent Mark Binskin since July 2011
Style	Air Marshal
Term length	Three years (renewable)
Inaugural holder	Air Marshal Ray Funnell

The Vice Chief of the Defence Force (VCDF) is the military deputy to the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) of Australia, and acts as the CDF in his absence under standing acting arrangements.

The VCDF is a three-star officer in the Australian Defence Force (Lieutenant General, Vice Admiral, or Air Marshal). The position's standing responsibilities include: Joint Doctrine, Education, Training and Evaluation; Joint Logistics; Reserve Policy; and Joint Capabilities, Commitments and Concepts. When acting as Chief of the Defence Force, the VCDF attends the National Security Committee of Cabinet (NSCC) and Secretary’s Committee on National Security (SCNS).^[1]

The appointment is made by the Governor General on the advice of his ministers under Section 9AA of the Defence Act (1903) and is for a fixed term of three years, nominally rotated between the three services (Navy, Army and Air Force); however in practice this has not been the case and the appointment has been held for longer or shorter periods of time. The role is politically neutral, as are all military positions, and is not affected by a change of government.

The position of VCDF was created in 1986.

Appointees

Rank	Name	Post- Nominals	Service	Term began	Term ended
Air Marshal	Funnell, RayRay Funnell	AO	RAAF	01986-06 June 1986[2]	01987-01 January 1987
Vice Admiral	Knox, IanIan Knox	AC	RAN	01987-01 January 1987	01989-09 September 1989 [3]
Vice Admiral	Beaumont, AlanAlan Beaumont	AC	RAN	01989-09 September 1989[3]	01992-10 October 1992
Lieutenant General	Baker, JohnJohn Baker	AC	Army	01992-10 October 1992	01995-04 April 1995[4]
Vice Admiral	Walls, RobertRobert Walls	AO	RAN	01995-04 April 1995[4]	01997-03 March 1997
Vice Admiral	Barrie, ChrisChris Barrie	AC	RAN	01997-03 March 1997	01998-07-03 3 July 1998[4]
Air Marshal	Riding, DouglasDouglas Riding	AO, DFC	RAAF	01998-07-03 3 July 1998 [4]	02000-07 July 2000
Lieutenant General	Mueller, DesmondDesmond Mueller	AO	Army	02000-07 July 2000	02002-07 July 2002
Vice Admiral	Shalders, RussRuss Shalders	AO, CSC	RAN	02002-07 July 2002	02005-07 July 2005
Lieutenant General	Gillespie, KenKen Gillespie	AO, DSC, CSM	Army	02005-07 July 2005	02008-07 July 2008
Lieutenant General	Hurley, DavidDavid Hurley	AC, DSC	Army	02008-07 July 2008	02011-07 July 2011
Air Marshal	Binskin, MarkMark Binskin	AO	RAAF	02011-07 July 2011	02014-07 July 2014 (est)

Chief of Joint Operations (CJOPS)

Main article: Chief of Joint Operations (Australia)

Until September 2007, the VCDF was "double hatted" as the Chief of Joint Operations (CJOPS). In this role he commanded Australian Defence Force operations on behalf of the Chief of the Defence Force. In September 2007, The (Liberal) Minister of Defence, Brendan Nelson announced the formation of a separate three-star CJOPS position based at the Headquarters Joint Operations Command (HQJOC) facility at Bungendore, New South Wales.^[2][5]

References

1. ^ ADF Website (accessed 25 May 2010)
2. ^ ^{a b} VADM Shalders (2 April 2003). "Transcript of Speech to RUSI 'The Evolving role of the Vice Chief of the Defence Force'". http://rusi.org.au/transcripts/2003/shalders_02Apr03.htm. Retrieved 25 May 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b} http://www.defence.gov.au/news/navynews/editions/5114/5114.pdf 'Seeing Stars' Navy News, p 11 (accessed 25 May 2010
4. ^ ^{a b c d} http://www.defence.gov.au/cdf/past_chiefs.htm (accessed 26 May 2010)
5. ^ Minister of Defence Press Release MIN99/07 19 September 2007