| Jim Molan | |
|---|---|
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Service/branch | Australian Army |
| Years of service | 1968 – 2008 |
| Rank | Major General |
| Commands held | Australian Defence College 1st Division 1st Brigade 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Officer of the Order of Australia Distinguished Service Cross |
Major General Andrew James (Jim) Molan AO, DSC is a retired senior officer in the Australian Army.
Contents |
"Jim" Molan joined the Australian Army following completion of his schooling in Victoria. On graduating from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1971 he was allocated to the Royal Australian Infantry Corps. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of New South Wales and a Bachelor of Economics degree from the University of Queensland. He is a graduate of the ADF School of Languages where he studied Indonesian. He maintains an interest in aviation and holds civil commercial licences and instrument ratings for fixed and rotary wing aircraft. He is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD) and is accredited as a Master Project Director (MPD).
Molan has a long and active military career. Regimental postings include:
Molan was the Commander of the Australian Defence College, including
He served as the Army Attache in Jakarta as a Colonel between 1992 and 1994 and for this service he was awarded the Indonesian decoration Bintang Dharma Yudha Nararya in 1995. Between 1998 and 1999, Jim Molan was the Defence Attache in Jakarta as a Brigadier and served in East Timor. On the 25th March 2000 he was upgraded to Officer of the Order of Australia for his service in Indonesia and in East Timor.[2]
In April 2004, he deployed for a year to Iraq as the Chief of Operations, Headquarters Multinational force in Iraq (MNF-I) during continuous and intense combat operations. For distinguished command and leadership in this period, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by the Australian Government[3] and the Legion of Merit by the United States Government.
Major General Molan retired in July 2008.[4]
In August 2008 Molan released his first book, Running the War in Iraq.[5] The book concentrates on his experience as Chief of Operations in Iraq during 2004-2005, but contains some criticism about Australia's current capacity to engage in military conflict.[6] In an August 2008 speech, Molan stated that "Our military competence was far worse than even we thought before East Timor, and people may not realise that the military performance bar has been raised by the nature of current conflict, as illustrated in Iraq and Afghanistan."[7] Writing in a February 2009 article, Molan called for a doubling of the Australian military presence in Afghanistan, from about 1100 troops to 2000.[8]
Molan is frequently asked to express his opinion on matters related to his expertise, and to recount his experiences. The following is an incomplete list of his publications:
| Date published |
Type of contribution |
Title |
Publisher |
Citation and link |
Related Wiki page(s) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10-02 | Editorial opinion | "UN's bias binds Gaza" | The Australian | [9] [1] | United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict | Molan commented on Richard Goldstone's statements in the New York Times.[10] |
| 2009-08-29 | Debate | "Afghanistan worth doing, even badly" | Lowy Institute for International Policy | [2] | ||
| 2009-08 | Article | Australian Army Journal | [3] | |||
| 2009-07-06 | Article | "Thoughts on operations in southern Afghanistan" | Lowy Institute for International Policy | [4] | ||
| 2009-02-17 | Article | "End the pussyfooting in Afghan war" | The Australian | [8] [5] | ||
| 2008-10-16 | Article | "How we must fight in Afghanistan" | Herald Sun | [11] [6] | ||
| 2008-10-3 | Speech Interview |
"Running the war in Iraq: The nature of modern warfare and the new Defence White Paper" | Lowy Institute for International Policy | [7] [8] |
What lessons does the Iraq conflict hold for Australia's new Defence White Paper? | |
| 2008-08-04 | Editorial opinion | "Australia's war unreadiness" | ABC | [4] [9] | ||
| 2008-07-21 | Interview | "Molan speaks about Iraq" | ABC | [6] [10] | ||
| 2008 | Book | "Running the War in Iraq" | Harper Collins | [5] [11] | The book concentrates on his experience as Chief of Operations in Iraq during 2004-2005. | |
| 2006 | Article | "Iraq Truisms: Five Truisms for the ADF out of Iraq" | ADF Journal | [12] [12] |
Molan is married with three daughters and a son. His wife's name is Anne. His preferred name is Jim.[13]
| Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) | (2000)[2] | |
| Member of the Order of Australia (AM) | (1992)[1] | |
| Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) | (awarded 2006)[3] | |
| Australian Active Service Medal | with "EAST TIMOR" and "IRAQ 2003" clasps | |
| Iraq Medal | ||
| Australian Service Medal 1945-1975 | with "PNG" clasp | |
| Defence Force Service Medal | with Federation Star (5th clasp) | |
| Australian Defence Medal | ||
| Papua New Guinea Independence Medal (PNG) | ||
| Order of the Star of Yudha Dharma 3rd Class (Indonesia) | (Bintang Yudha Dharma Nararya) (1995) | |
| Legion of Merit (United States) | Officer (2004) |
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by |
Commander 1st Division | Succeeded by Major General Mark Evans |
| Preceded by Rear Admiral Raydon Gates |
Commander Australian Defence College 2002–2004 |
Succeeded by Rear Admiral Mark Bonser |
