Rick Burr

Lieutenant General Richard Maxwell "Rick" Burr, AO, DSC, MVO (born 2 June 1964) is a senior officer in the Australian Army and the current Chief of Army since 2 July 2018.[1] He served as Commander 1st Division from 2011 to 2012, Deputy Commanding General – Operations, United States Army Pacific from January 2013 to November 2014, and Deputy Chief of Army from 2015 to 2018.

Richard Maxwell Burr
Major General Burr in 2013
Born	2 June 1964 Renmark, South Australia
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	Australian Army
Years of service	1982 – present
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	Chief of Army (2018–present) Deputy Chief of Army (2015–18) Deputy Commanding General – Operations (2012–14) 1st Division (2011–12) Military Strategic Commitments (2009–10) Special Air Service Regiment (2003–04)
Battles/wars	Iraq War War in Afghanistan
Awards	Officer of the Order of Australia Distinguished Service Cross Member of the Royal Victorian Order Officer of the Legion of Merit (United States) Bronze Star Medal (United States) Defence Cooperation Medal (Japan)

Early life

Burr was born in Renmark, South Australia, on 2 June 1964 to Maxwell Henry Burr and Lorelie Ann Morrell. Educated at Renmark High School, Burr entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon as an officer cadet in 1982.[2]

Military career

Burr graduated from Duntroon in 1985 with a University of New South Wales accredited Bachelor of Arts, and was commissioned into the Royal Australian Infantry Corps.[2][3] His first posting came as a platoon commander in the 8th/9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. Burr has spent the majority of his military career with Australian special forces units.[4]

In 2000, Burr (then a lieutenant colonel) served as equerry to Queen Elizabeth II during her royal tour of Australia, during which he was appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order.[5][6]

Burr commanded Australian troops in Afghanistan in 2002, and later during Operation Falconer in 2003 as the Commander of the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR), commonly known as the SAS and considered the most elite unit in the Australian Army. For his leadership in the Middle East, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the United States Bronze Star Medal.[7] Burr redeployed to Afghanistan in 2008, where he commanded a contingent of special forces.[8] He went on to serve as the Director General Preparedness and Plans and in 2007 he was seconded as a senior adviser to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, where he was the Director General Military Strategic Commitments—for which he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2011[9]—before assuming command of the 1st Division (2011–12).

On 21 August 2012, United States Army Secretary John M. McHugh announced that Burr would be seconded to the United States Army to become Deputy Commander, United States Army Pacific (USARPAC).[10][11] He was thus the first foreign general to be given a service component command within the United States Army. Reporting to General Vincent K. Brooks, Burr supervised training within the command and served as USARPAC's liaison with countries in Southeast Asia and Australasia. Having served two years in the role, he handed over to Major General Greg Bilton in November 2014. In recognising his efforts with USARPAC, Brooks said of Burr that "Australia couldn't ask for a better leader, for a better soldier, a better warrior" and awarded him the Legion of Merit.[12][13]

Burr assumed the post of Deputy Chief of Army in January 2015. Promoted to lieutenant general, Burr succeeded Angus Campbell as Chief of Army on 2 July 2018.[14]

Burr holds a Master of Military Studies from the Marine Corps University at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, where he is a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Marine Corps Command and Staff College and graduate of the United States Marine Corps School of Advanced Warfighting. He attended the six-week Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.[15] Burr is the patron of the Defence Australian Rules Football Association and has a strong commitment to Indigenous Australian service members.

References

1. Greene, Andrew (16 April 2018). "Angus Campbell will be Australia's next Chief of Defence". ABC News. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
2. "Major General Richard Maxwell (Rick) Burr". Who's Who in Australia Online. ConnectWeb. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
3. "Commander 1st Division: Major General Richard M. Burr". Army Leaders. Australian Army. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
4. Inaugural Joint Warfare Conference – Inaugural Joint Warfare Conference 2011
5. It's an Honour – Member of the Royal Victorian Order
6. "London Gazette". The Gazette. 5 May 2000. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
7. Perry, Brad (5 November 2009). "Decorated soldier believes there is no place like home". Riverland Weekly. Archived from the original on 5 March 2011.
8. Audrey MacAvoy (1 February 2013). "Australian general gets key post at USARPAC". Army Times. Associated Pres. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
9. It's an Honour – Member of the Order of Australia
10. Associated Press/Washington Post, 2012, "Two-star Australian general to oversee American soldiers at US Army Pacific" (21 August) Access: 21 August 2012.
11. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/21/australian-general-us-army-pacific The Guardian, 2012, "Australian general to help lead US military push into Pacific" (21 August) Access: 21 August 2012.
12. Australian Army Website, 2013, "US Army Pacific welcomes MAJGEN Burr" (17 January) Access: 29 January 2013.
13. Sallette, William (17 November 2014). "USARPAC honors Aussie generals with glying V". Hawaii Army Weekly.
14. "Deputy Chief of Army". Army: Our people: Leaders. Department of Defence. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
15. "Chief of Army change of command service". MSN. Retrieved 3 February 2019.