General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Angus John Campbell, is a retired senior officer in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

, who served as the Chief of the Defence Force from 6 July 2018 until 10 July 2024. He was previously posted as Commander Operation Sovereign Borders from September 2013 until he was appointed Chief of Army in May 2015.

Military career

Campbell attended

St Gregory's College, Campbelltown St Gregory's College Campbelltown (abbreviated as SGC or Greg's or St Greg's) is an Independent school, independent Catholic Single-sex school, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational comprehensive and specialist Primary school, prim ...

before entering the

Royal Military College, Duntroon The Royal Military College, Duntroon, also known simply as Duntroon, is the Australian Army's Officer (armed forces), officer training establishment. It was founded at Duntroon, Australian Capital Territory, Duntroon in Canberra, Australian Capi ...

in 1981, receiving a

commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

as an infantry

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in 1984. Initially assigned to the

3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR) is the armoured infantry battalion of the Australian Army, based in Kapyong Lines, Townsville as part of the 3rd Brigade (Armoured Amphibious). 3 RAR traces its lineage to 1945 and has seen ...

as a platoon commander, he later passed selection for the

Special Air Service Regiment The Special Air Service Regiment, officially abbreviated SASR though commonly known as the SAS, is a special forces unit of the Australian Army. Formed in 1957 as a company, it was modelled on the British SAS with which it shares the motto, ...

, with which he served as troop and squadron commander. Campbell commanded the

2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment The 2nd Battalion (Amphibious), The Royal Australian Regiment (2 RAR (Amphib)) is an amphibious reconnaissance battalion of the Australian Army part of the 1st Division Amphibious Task Group based at Lavarack Barracks in Townsville. 2 RAR was ...

in East Timor as part of the

United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET, ), was a United Nations mission in East Timor that aimed to solve the decades-long East Timorese crisis in the area occupied by Indonesian military. UNTAET provided an int ...

(UNTAET), for which was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AM) in 2003.
Citation: ''For exceptional service to the Australian Defence Force as the Commanding Officer of the 2nd Battalion Group during operational service in East Timor.'' Campbell served as Chief of Staff to General

Peter Cosgrove General (Australia), General Sir Peter John Cosgrove, (born 28 July 1947) is an Australian retired senior Australian Army, Army officer who served as the 26th governor-general of Australia, in office from 2014 to 2019. A graduate of the Royal ...

and later Air Chief Marshal

Angus Houston Air chief marshal (Australia), Air Chief Marshal Sir Allan Grant "Angus" Houston, (born 9 June 1947) is a retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Air Force. He served as Chief of Air Force (Australia), Chief of Air Force from 20 June 2 ...

during their respective tenures as Chief of the Defence Force. In 2005, he left the full-time army and assumed a senior civilian appointment as First Assistant Secretary in the Office of National Security within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Campbell was later promoted to Deputy Secretary, and served as Deputy National Security Adviser for a period before returning to the army in 2010. Campbell was promoted to the rank of major general and appointed as Commander Joint Task Force 633 in 2011, responsible for all Australian forces deployed in the Middle East, including

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. For his command in Afghanistan he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
Citation: ''For distinguished command and leadership in action as Commander Joint Task Force 633 on Operation SLIPPER from January 2011 to December 2011.'' He was appointed the Deputy Chief of Army in February 2012. Campbell was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

on 19 September 2013 and appointed to oversee

Operation Sovereign Borders Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB) is a border protection operation led by the Australian Border Force, aimed at stopping maritime arrivals of asylum seekers to Australia. The operation is the outcome of a 2013 Australian federal election, 2013 f ...

, part of the

Abbott government The Abbott government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 28th Prime Minister Tony Abbott. The government was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition. The Leader of The Nationals, Warren Truss, served ...

's immigration policy aimed at stopping maritime arrivals of asylum seekers to Australia. In March 2015, Prime Minister

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...

announced Campbell would be appointed Chief of Army from May of that year, taking over from the retiring Lieutenant General David Morrison. On 16 April 2018, Prime Minister

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...

announced that Campbell would be promoted to

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

and succeed Air Chief Marshal

Mark Binskin Air Chief Marshal Mark Donald Binskin, (born 20 March 1960) is a senior officer in the Royal Australian Air Force Reserve. He served as Chief of Air Force (2008–11), Vice Chief of the Defence Force (2011–14), and Chief of the Defence Fo ...

as Chief of the Defence Force. The change of command occurred on 6 July. In the meantime, one of Campbell's last acts as the Chief of Army was to order the removal of "death imagery" from patches and badges. On 19 November 2020 the Brereton Report was publicly released following a four-year investigation into alleged Australian war crimes by special forces units whom were taking part in the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

between 2006 and 2016. On that same day Campbell announced at a press conference that the 2 Squadron,

would be disbanded and struck from the army's order of battle. He also apologised for "any wrong doing by Australian soldiers" and said a "distorted culture" existed in the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the Armed forces, military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia and its national interests. It consists of three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Aus ...

. In June 2022, Campbell's tenure as Chief of the Defence Force was extended for a further two years. In late November 2022, Campbell gave officers of Captain to Brigadier rank "28 days to prove their service in the Afghanistan war was distinguished". Up to 3,000 Australian Defence Force members are potentially facing having their medals revoked. At the time of the most serious allegations in 2012, Campbell was serving as the Commander Joint Task Force 633, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. This has led to calls for Campbell to be stripped of his decoration due to findings of the Brereton Report and due to a perceived error in the original citation. "In the citation on his Distinguished Service Cross, he said he was given that award for 'distinguished command and leadership in action' – the key phrase is 'in action' and what that means is he was serving in action against the enemy in combat in Afghanistan." In July 2024, Campbell was succeeded by Vice Admiral David Johnston as the Chief of the Defence Force upon retirement. On 3 July 2024, a

senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

inquiry was launched to look into the awarding criteria of defence honours and awards, and more specifically the Distinguished Service Cross awarded to Campbell in 2012.

Post military career

On 17 January 2025, Senator

Penny Wong Penelope Ying-Yen Wong (born 5 November 1968) is an Australian politician who is serving as the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Government in the Senate in the Albanese government since 2022. A member of the Australian Labor Pa ...

, Minister for Foreign Affairs announced Campbell's appointment as the Australian Ambassador to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

Childhood and personal life

Campbell lived in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

as a child. He is married to Stephanie Copus-Campbell, a former

AusAID Australian Aid is the brand name used to identify projects in developing countries supported by the Australian Government. As of 2014 the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has been responsible for Australia's official development ...

official and the current Australian Ambassador for Gender Equality. She is the lead advocate for Australia's work on gender equality across all aspects of foreign policy. They have two adult children.

Honours and awards

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Angus Alumni of the University of Cambridge Australian generals Australian military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Australian public servants Chiefs of Army (Australia) Chiefs of the Defence Force (Australia) Deputy chiefs of Army (Australia) Living people Officers of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) Royal Military College, Duntroon graduates University of New South Wales alumni Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit Year of birth missing (living people) People educated at St Gregory's College, Campbelltown 20th-century Australian military personnel Recipients of the Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Tentera) Recipients of the Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang (Tentera)