Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Christopher Alexander Barrie, (born 29 May 1945) is a retired senior officer of the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

, who served as Chief of the Defence Force from 4 July 1998 to 3 July 2002.

Early life

Barrie was born in the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

suburb of

Marrickville, New South Wales Marrickville is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Marrickville is located south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the largest suburb in the Inner West Council Local government ...

, on 29 May 1945 to Alexander William Barrie and Dorothy Clare Chrystal. He was educated at

North Sydney Boys High School North Sydney Boys High School (abbreviated as NSBHS) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded, Single-sex school, single-sex, Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective secondary day school for boys, loc ...

, and entered the

Royal Australian Naval College HMAS Creswell is a training facility of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) that includes the Royal Australian Naval College (RANC) as well as the School of Survivability and Ship's Safety, Beecroft Weapons Range, and an administrative support depa ...

as a

cadet midshipman Officer cadet is a military rank, rank held by military personnel during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by personnel of University Service Units such as the University Officers' Train ...

in 1961.

Naval career

During his early naval training, Barrie completed service on HMA Ships , and , which included service in the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation, and a 23-day tour of duty in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. Postings to the

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth, also known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, En ...

at Dartmouth and followed. Barrie served at sea as part of the commissioning crew of , which included a seven-month tour of duty in

, during 1969. He also served as Commanding Officer of from 1969 to 1970, Operations and Navigating Officer on , and , Executive Officer on , and later as Commanding Officer of from 1983 to 1984. In 1990 to 1991, Barrie held an appointment as Defence Adviser,

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

, India. Following this post, he was promoted to

commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

and served as Director RAN Surface Warfare School and Commanding Officer of from 1991 to 1992. He was appointed Deputy Maritime Commander and Chief of Staff at Maritime Headquarters in

from 1992 to 1995, for which he 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 ...

in 1994.It's an Honour
– Member of the Order of Australia – 26 January 1994
Citation: ''In recognition of service to the Royal Australian Navy, particularly as Deputy Maritime Commander and Chief of Staff, Maritime HQ.'' On promotion to

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

, Barrie served as Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, before being appointed Vice Chief of the Defence Force with the rank of

vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

in March 1997. The following year, Barrie was advanced to

Officer 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 ...

in recognition of his "distinguished service" in the latter two postings.It's an Honour
– Officer of the Order of Australia – 8 June 1998
Citation: ''For distinguished service to the Australian Defence Force as Deputy Chief of Naval Staff and Vice Chief of the Defence Force.'' Barrie was promoted to

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

, and assumed the post of Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) on 4 July 1998. He held this position until his retirement, and for his "eminent service to the Australian Defence Force" was further advanced to

Companion 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 ...

in 2001 and awarded the Distinguished Service Order (Military) by the government of Singapore.It's an Honour
– Companion of the Order of Australia – 26 January 2001
Citation: ''For eminent service to the Australian Defence Force as Chief of the Defence Force.'' As CDF, Barrie became involved in the " Children Overboard Affair" of 2001, a high-level political controversy which occurred during the Australian federal election campaign. Barrie was the last Australian Government official to publicly support Prime Minister

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

's assertion that refugees had thrown their children overboard from their sinking vessel.Australian Broadcasting Corporation '7:30 Report' TV program transcript, 27-02-2002.
/ref> Barrie retired on 3 July 2002, and was succeeded as CDF by 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 ...

. A graduate of the

, Barrie completed through part-time study a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

with majors in International Relations and Politics in 1983 and was conferred a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

in 1996 by

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974 with antecedent history since 1887, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia and a founding father of Australian Fede ...

. He was made a

Commander of the Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

by the United States in 2003.

References

External links

Vietnam War Nominal Roll entry
*, accessed 23 August 2005.
Senior Military Appointments
Government press release detailing the military appointments for 2000. {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrie, Chris 1945 births Australian military personnel of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation Australian military personnel of the Vietnam War Chiefs of the Defence Force (Australia) Commanders of the Legion of Merit Companions of the Order of Australia Deakin University alumni Deputy chiefs of Naval Staff (Australia) Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College Living people People educated at North Sydney Boys High School Recipients of the Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang (Tentera) Royal Australian Navy admirals Vice chiefs of the Defence Force (Australia) Military personnel from Sydney