John Patrick Cantwell

Infobox Military Person


name= John Cantwell
lived=
placeofbirth=
placeofdeath=
|caption=
nickname=
allegiance= flagicon|Australia Australia
serviceyears= 1974-Present
rank= Major General
branch= Australian Army
commands=Deputy Chief of the Army
Commander of the 1st Brigade
Royal Military College, Duntroon
unit=
battles= Gulf War 1990-91
Iraq War 2006
awards= Member of the Order of Australia (AM, 1988)
U.S. Legion of Merit (Degree of Officer, 2006)
Officer of the Order of Australia (AO, 2007)
laterwork=
Major General John Patrick Cantwell AO, is a senior officer within the Australian Army.

John Cantwell joined the Australian Army as a regular soldier in 1974. He attended officer training in 1981, and was commissioned into the Royal Australian Armoured Corps.

As a Major, Cantwell commanded a British tank squadron as an exchange officer with the British in Germany. As a result of that posting he served in Operation Desert Storm with the Coalition forces in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait between 1990-91.

In August 1996 Cantwell became Commanding Officer and Chief Instructor at the Royal Military College, Duntroon. In January 1999 he took up an appointment as an instructor at the British Joint Services Command and Staff College in the United Kingdom, returning to Australia as the Director of the Force Development Group, Land Warfare Development Centre, on promotion to Colonel in December 2000.

Cantwell was promoted to Brigadier in January 2003 as Director General of Capability and Plans in Australian Defence Headquarters. Following command of the 1st Brigade (2004-2005), in early 2006 he deployed to Iraq as the Director Strategic Operations, Headquarters Multi National Forces Iraq. While on this deployment he was promoted to Major General on 4 December, 2006, and assumed the appointment as Deputy Chief of Army on 29 January, 2007. In February 2008 Cantwell was selected by the Chief of the Defence Force to be the senior military member of the team working on a new [http://www.defence.gov.au/whitepaper2008/index.htm Defence White Paper] , the paramount Australian security and defence policy document, commissioned by the Australian Government.

References

* [http://www.defence.gov.au/leaders/cantwell.htm ADF Biography]
* [http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1134680&search_type=quick&showInd=true It's an Honour entry]
* [http://www.defence.gov.au/whitepaper2008/index.htm Defence White Paper 2008 announcement]
* [http://www.defence.gov.au/media/DepartmentalTpl.cfm?CurrentId=7458 Defence Media Release 27 February 2008]