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 ...

Marcus Frederick Bonser, (born 7 August 1952) is a retired

flag rank A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which that officer exercises command. Different countries use the term "flag officer" in different ways: * ...

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 ...

. His final posting was as Head of the Military Justice Implementation Team for 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 ...

Early life

Mark Bonser was born in Sydney on 7 August 1952. He attended high school at Manly Boys High School and Macksville High School.

Naval career

In 1971, Bonser joined the

(RAN) and commenced training at 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 ...

. He graduated from the college in 1973, then undertook six weeks training with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, before joining the ship's company of the aircraft carrier . Bonser completed his bridge

watchkeeping Watchkeeping or watchstanding is the assignment of sailors to specific roles on a ship to operate it continuously. These assignments, also known at sea as ''watches'', are constantly active as they are considered essential to the safe operation ...

certification aboard the carrier. Over the following years, he served aboard HMA Ships , , , and . From 1980 until 1982, Bonser served as the commanding officer of the patrol boat . In 1982, after a short period aboard , Bonser was sent to the United Kingdom for

Principal Warfare Officer A principal warfare officer (PWO), is one of a number of warfare branch specialist officers. Australia In Australia, a PWO is a Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force ...

training. After qualifying as an

Anti-Submarine Warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...

Officer in 1983, Bonser served on exchange to the Royal Navy until 1985 as an officer aboard the destroyers , then . On his return to Australia, Bosner was first posted to the destroyer , then to as the destroyer escort's

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer ...

. While aboard ''Torrens'', he was promoted to the rank of

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

. In 1988, Bonser was assigned to Maritime Headquarters Sydney in the positions of Fleet Programming Officer and Commander Operations. In 1990, Bonser was attached to the ship's company of as the Chief Staff Officer to the RAN Task Group Commander during the ship's deployment to the Gulf War. He was awarded the

Commendation for Distinguished Service Commendation ceremony was a formal ceremony that evolved during the early medieval period to create a bond between a lord and his fighting man. Commendation may also refer to: * the placing of an ecclesiastical benefice ''in commendam'' * ''Ulmus ...

for his actions during the deployment. After returning from the Persian Gulf in 1991, Bonser attended the Joint Services Staff College. From April 1992 until 1993, Bonser was the

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of the frigate . During this period, ''Sydney'' was deployed to the Red Sea in support of United Nations sanctions against Iraq. During 1994, Bonser was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross for this deployment, and in December, he was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. After promotion, Bonser was posted to Maritime Headquarters again; initially as Chief Staff Officer Operations, then serving as the Chief Staff Officer C3I. In January 1996, he transferred to the Australian Defence Force Headquarters as the Director Combat Force Development (Sea). From October 1997 to mid-1999, Bonser was the commanding officer of the frigate . In July 1999, Bonser 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 assigned as Commander Northern Command. At the start of 2001, Bonser became the Director General Command and Support Systems in the

Defence Materiel Organisation The Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) is an organisation within the Department of Defence (Australia), Australian Department of Defence, responsible for Military acquisition, acquisition, Military supply chain management, sup ...

. Bonser was promoted 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 ...

in July 2001, and assigned as Director General of

Coastwatch The Australian Coastal Surveillance Organisation, also known as Coastwatch, was an operational division of the Australian Customs Service and the de facto Australian Coast guard, coast guard service. The former Coastwatch Division is now part o ...

. In June 2002, he was appointed Commander Australian Theatre. In 2003, Bonser was made an

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 ...

for his leadership during the

invasion of Iraq An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression. Generally, invasions have objectives ...

. From May 2004 to January 2006, Bonser was the Commander

Australian Defence College The Australian Defence College (ADC) comprises three joint education and training organisations operated by the Australian Defence Force in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: * the War College, * the Australian Defence Force Training Cent ...

. During this period, he was appointed on 7 October 2005 as head of the Military Justice Response Coordination Team, then later that year as head of the Military Justice Implementation Team.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonser, Mark 1952 births Australian military personnel of the Gulf War Australian military personnel of the Vietnam War Graduates of the Royal Australian Naval College Living people Officers of the Order of Australia Military personnel from Sydney Recipients of the Commendation for Distinguished Service Recipients of the Conspicuous Service Cross (Australia) Recipients of the Meritorious Unit Citation Royal Australian Navy admirals