Mark Kelly (general)

Mark Andrew Kelly
Kelly at Kandahar in 2009
Born	31 October 1956 (1956-10-31) (age 57) Sydney, New South Wales
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	Australian Army
Years of service	1975–2010
Rank	Major General
Commands held	Joint Task Force 633 Land Command - Australia Deployable Joint Force HQ 1st Division 3rd Brigade 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment
Battles/wars	Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) Commonwealth Monitoring Force East Timor Operation Stabilise International Force for East Timor (INTERFET) War in Afghanistan Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Slipper Iraq War Operation Iraqi Freedom Operation Catalyst
Awards	Officer of the Order of Australia Distinguished Service Cross Officer of the US Legion of Merit
Other work	Repatriation Commissioner

Major General Mark Andrew Kelly AO, DSC (31 October 1956)^[1] is a former senior officer in the Australian Army. He served as Commander Joint Task Force 633 (CJTF 633) commanding all Australian Forces in the Middle East Area of Operations (MEAO) and Afghanistan from 12 January 2009 until 14 January 2010 and as Land Commander Australia (LCAUST) from July 2005 to December 2008. He was appointed as the Repatriation Commissioner on 1 July 2010.

Early life

Mark Andrew Kelly was born on 31 October 1956 in Sydney, New South Wales, and educated at James Ruse Agricultural High School, graduating in 1974.^[1][2]

Service history

Kelly entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon in January 1975, and graduated in December 1978, receiving the Sword of Honour.^[3] In the same year, Kelly received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of New South Wales.

Allocated to the Royal Australian Infantry Corps, he was posted to the 5th/7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. Kelly's first operational deployment occurred when he served with the Commonwealth Monitoring Force in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) during the Independence elections in 1979–80. Kelly served as the exchange instructor at the British Army's School of Infantry at Warminster from September 1985 to November 1987. On promotion to Major, he commanded a Rifle Company in the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment from January 1988 until December 1989. He attended the Army Command and Staff College in 1990 and then served as the Brigade Major of 3rd Brigade from January 1991 until December 1992. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in January 1993 and served in staff appointments in Army Headquarters until December 1995. He also completed a Master of Arts in Defence Studies from the University of New South Wales in 1995.

From December 1995 to December 1997, Kelly was Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. He then moved on promotion to Colonel to Headquarters 1st Division and the Deployable Joint Force Headquarters (DJFHQ) as the Chief of Staff, a posting that involved deploying the headquarters to East Timor for Operation Stabilise, where he served as the Chief of Staff of INTERFET. Kelly was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honour's List of 2000 for his "exceptional service to the Australian Army" as CO 1 RAR and COFS 1st Division.^[4] He attended the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies at the Australian Defence College in Canberra in 2000.

Kelly was promoted to Brigadier, and appointed to command the 3rd Brigade, Ready Deployment Force from December 2000 until December 2002. He was then posted to Headquarters United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) in Tampa, Florida, serving as the first Director of the Combined Planning Group (CPG), planning operations for Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa, and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in Iraq. He was appointed an Officer of the United States Legion of Merit for his exceptional service in that appointment.

Promoted to Major General, Kelly assumed command of the 1st Division and the Deployable Joint Force Headquarters (DJFHQ) on 5 July 2004. He then assumed the appointment of Land Commander Australia (LCAUST) on 15 July 2005 and served in that role until December 2008. In the Australia Day Honour's List of 2008, Kelly was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia "for distinguished service to the Australian Army in the fields of training, personnel and operations, in particular as the Commander of the 1st Division and as the Land Commander Australia."^[5]

In an official ceremony on 12 January 2009, Kelly succeeded Major General Mike Hindmarsh as Commander Joint Task Force 633 (JTF 633); in this position he commanded all Australian forces in the Middle East Area of Operations (MEAO) and Afghanistan for a period of 12 months (Operations CATALYST, SLIPPER and KRUGER). He relinquished command of JTF 633 to Major General John Cantwell on 14 January 2010. Kelly was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in the 2011 Australia Day Honours List for his "distinguished leadership, exceptional professionalism and unwavering dedication in an extremely ambiguous and dangerous operational environment" as Commander Joint Task Force 633.^[6][7] Kelly was transferred to the Army's Standby Reserve on 5 June 2010.

Post-Army

On 1 July 2010, Kelly assumed the appointment of Repatriation Commissioner, the Services' Member of the Repatriation Commission and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission. These commissions supervise the Department of Veterans' Affairs in delivering compensation, health care and support to veterans, serving and former serving personnel of the ADF, widows, children and dependants.^[8][9]

Kelly was appointed as the Colonel Commandant of the Royal Australian Regiment on 1 July 2011.^{[citation needed]}

Academic qualifications

• 1978 Bachelor of Arts (UNSW)
• 1978 Graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon - Sword of Honour
• 1990 Graduate Diploma in Defence Studies (Deakin University)
• 1990 Graduate of the Australian Army Command and Staff College, Queenscliff
• 1995 Master of Arts in Defence Studies (UNSW)
• 2000 Graduate and Fellow of the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies at the Australian Defence College in Canberra
• 2005 Graduate Joint Force Land Component Commanders Course (JFLCC) US Army War College, Carlisle
• 2008 Graduate Australian Institute of Company Directors - GAICD

Personal

Kelly is married to Gabrielle and they have a son, Christopher. He enjoys reading, listening to music and many sports, especially rugby and golf.

Honours and awards

	Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)	26 January 2008[5]
	Member of the Order of Australia (AM)	26 January 2000[4]
	Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)	26 January 2011[7]
	Australian Active Service Medal	with 3 clasps EAST TIMOR, ICAT and IRAQ 2003
	International Force East Timor Medal	2001 - Operation Stabilise (INTERFET)
	Afghanistan Medal	2009 - Operation Slipper
	Iraq Medal	2007 - Operation Catalyst
	Rhodesia Medal	1981 - Commonwealth Monitoring Force
	Defence Force Service Medal with 4 Clasps	35 – 39 years service to ADF
	Australian Defence Medal	2006
	Zimbabwean Independence Medal	1980 - Commonwealth Monitoring Force
	NATO Medal - Non Article 5 for ISAF	2009 - Afghanistan
	Officer of the US Legion of Merit	2004

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mark Kelly (general).

• Official photo (copyright)
• Officer of the Order of Australia Investure Ceremony, 9 May 2008, Government House, Sydney. (Pictured with his brother, wife and son.)
• Officer of the Order of Australia Investure Ceremony, 9 May 2008, Government House, Sydney. (Pictured with the Governor of NSW and his wife and son.)