Name Michael Stone | Role Australian Army officer | |
Major Michael Stone is an Officer in the Australian Army notably involved with its operations in East Timor.
He graduated at the rank of Lieutenant from the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1999 after gaining a BA majoring in Management and Geography from the Australian Defence Force Academy. It was then that his relationship with East Timor was initiated with a posting to East Timor as a platoon commander.
He acted as the "fix it" man in East Timor; a negotiator between warring factions; an interpreter; a liaison man for the community; and a facilitator of peace.
In 2007 a documentary titled The Peacemaker as part of the ABC show Australian Story, he was featured and showed his role in East Timor as a negotiator, interpreter, community liaison and the local face of the ADF.
He appeared in Balibo) released in 2009, set in East Timor as a character interviewing locals about the Indonesian invasion (which commenced on December 6, 1975) and its subsequent occupation of East Timor.
He currently is in charge of the Timor Awakening program, taking Australian Ex military and AFP back to Timor and helping them to rediscover themselves after their service through the history and struggle of Timor Leste and also the Australian element history to present day.