John Baker (general)

General John Stuart Baker AC, DSM
Born	(1936-02-24)24 February 1936 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died	9 July 2007(2007-07-09) (aged 71) Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Allegiance	Commonwealth of Australia
Service/branch	Australian Army
Years of service	1954–1998
Rank	General
Commands held	Australian Defence Force Director Defence Intelligence Organisation
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Awards	Companion of the Order of Australia Distinguished Service Medal Mention in Despatches Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States) Commander of the Legion of Honor (Philippines) Distinguished Service Order (Singapore)

General John Stuart Baker, AC DSM (24 February 1936 – 9 July 2007) was an Australian army general. Entering the Australian Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1954, he rose to the most senior position in the Australian Defence Force before retiring 44 years later on 7 August 1998.^[1] Some of his many significant achievements and appointments included Chief of the (Australian) Defence Force from July 1995 to July 1998, inaugural Director of the Defence Intelligence Organisation from 1990 to 1992,^[2] and author of the highly influential 1988 "Baker Report".^[3]

Career

Baker joined the Australian Army in 1954, where he graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1957, enlisting with the Royal Australian Engineers corps^[4] later graduating from the University of Melbourne with a degree in civil engineering.^[5]

His first regimental posting was a one-year appointment in Papua New Guinea, and not long after he spent a year in Hawaii as an exchange officer. In 1970–1971 he was attached to the 1st Australian Civil Affairs Unit during the Vietnam War, where he was Mentioned in Despatches.^[5][6] He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1971, Colonel in 1979, Brigadier in 1982, Major General in 1987 and General in 1995.^[7]

The Baker Report

In 1987, the then Chief of the Defence Force, General P. C. Gration, tasked the then Brigadier Baker to:^[8]

conduct a study of the existing ADF command arrangements in order to recommend further development to meet likely requirements into the 21st century for both low and high levels of operations.

One of the principal aims of this study was to determine the optimal command arrangements for ADF air power. The final report, commonly referred to as the Baker Report, was published in March 1988.^[3] Despite extensive reference being made to the command and control challenges posed by air power, Baker did not provide definitive guidance on how the ADF should structure its command arrangements to optimise the development and employment of air power. However, Chapter 7 of the report strongly advocated the creation of NORCOM,^[9] a recommendation that was soon adopted by the ADF.^[3]

"The Baker Report" remains the seminal work on command and control in the ADF.^{[citation needed]}

Honours and awards

	Companion of the Order of Australia (AC)	(1995)[10]
	Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)	(1990)[11]
	Member of the Order of Australia (AM)	(1980)[12]
	Distinguished Service Medal (DSM)	(1998)[13]
	Australian Active Service Medal 1945-1975 with clasp	Vietnam[14]
	Vietnam Medal with oak leaf for Mention in Despatches (Note 1)	[14]
	Australian Service Medal 1945-1975 with clasp	Papua New Guinea[14]
	Centenary Medal	(2001)[15]
	Defence Force Service Medal with Federation Star (5 clasps)	(40–44 years service)[14]
	National Medal with clasp	(1977)[16][17]
	Australian Defence Medal
	Army Commendation Medal (United States)	[14]
	Vietnam Campaign Medal (South Vietnam)	[14]
	Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States)	[14]
	Commander of the Legion of Honor (Philippines)	[14]
	Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang (Tentera) Distinguished Service Order (Military) (Singapore)	[14]

Notes:

1. The oak leaf for Mention in Despatches is not worn on the ribbon bar after the award of a superior medal, in this case the Distinguished Service Medal. (However, the oak leaf is worn on the ribbon of the medal when the full set of medals are worn.^[14])
2. All images of him show a significant delay between an award and his wearing a ribbon, and some were not worn at all. The medals displayed at his funeral do not show a medal for the Order of Australia, the Australian Defence Medal or the Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang. However, the badges for Companion of the Order of Australia (Military Division), and for the Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang, are shown. Note also that both the medal of the US Legion of Merit, and the badge of the Commander of the Legion of Merit are shown.^[14]

Portrait

During General Baker's tenure as Chief of Defence Force, the Royal Australian Engineers arranged for his portrait to be painted by leading Australian 20th century artist, Sir William Dargie.^[18] The portrait (1997) hangs at the RAE's School of Military Engineering in Sydney, but was also used at General Baker's funeral in Canberra at the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 2007.^[19]

General John Baker Complex - HQJOC

On 7 March 2009 the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, officially opened the "General John Baker Complex",^[20][21] housing the Headquarters Joint Operations Command (HQJOC) from which joint command of the Australian Defence Force is exercised by the Chief of Joint Operations (CJOPS). The complex is some 25 km from the national capital, Canberra, on the Kings Highway about half-way between the towns of Queanbeyan and Bungendore. After Mr Rudd named the complex, Mrs Margaret Baker unveilled a bronze bust of General Baker.^[20] The bust was sculpted by Hal Holman.^[22]

References

Military offices
Preceded by Admiral Alan Beaumont	Chief of the Defence Force 1995–1998	Succeeded by Admiral Chris Barrie
Preceded by Vice Admiral Alan Beaumont	Vice Chief of the Defence Force 1992–1995	Succeeded by Vice Admiral Robert Walls

v t e Chiefs of the Defence Force Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee Sir Henry Wells Sir Roy Dowling Sir Frederick Scherger Sir John Wilton Sir Victor Smith Francis Hassett Chief of Defence Force Staff Sir Francis Hassett Sir Arthur MacDonald Sir Anthony Synnot Sir Neville McNamara Sir Phillip Bennett Chief of the Defence Force Sir Phillip Bennett Peter Gration Alan Beaumont John Baker Chris Barrie Peter Cosgrove Angus Houston David Hurley

v t e Vice Chiefs of the Defence Force Vice Chief of the Defence Force Ray Funnell Ian Knox Alan Beaumont John Baker Robert Walls Chris Barrie Douglas Riding Desmond Mueller Russ Shalders Ken Gillespie David Hurley Mark Binskin

Persondata
Name	Baker, John
Alternative names	Baker, John Stuart (full name)
Short description	Australian army general
Date of birth	24 February 1936
Place of birth	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Date of death	9 July 2007
Place of death	Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia