Allegiance Australia Name Rick Burr | Rank Major General Years of service 1982 – present | |
Battles/wars Iraq WarWar in Afghanistan Awards Distinguished Service CrossMember of the Order of AustraliaMember of the Royal Victorian OrderOfficer of the Legion of Merit (United States)Bronze Star (United States) Profiles | ||
In Conversation with Deputy Chief of Army
Major General Richard Maxwell "Rick" Burr, DSC, AM, MVO (born 2 June 1964) is a senior officer in the Australian Army. He served as Commander 1st Division from 2011 to 2012, before being appointed the Deputy Commanding General – Operations, United States Army Pacific in January 2013. Burr was succeeded by Major General Gregory Bilton in the latter post in November 2014. He was appointed Deputy Chief of Army in January 2015.
Contents
- In Conversation with Deputy Chief of Army
- Land Power and Partnering in the Indo Pacific
- Early life
- Army career
- References
Land Power and Partnering in the Indo-Pacific
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.
Army 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. His first posting came as a platoon commander in the 8th/9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment.
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.
Burr commanded Australian troops in Afghanistan in 2002, and later during Operation Falconer in 2003. For his leadership in the Middle East, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the United States Bronze Star Medal. Burr redeployed to Afghanistan in 2008, where he commanded a contingent of special forces. He went on to serve as the Director General Preparedness and Plans and as the Director General Military Strategic Commitments—for which he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2011—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). He was thus the first foreign general to be given a service component command within the United States Army. Reporting to Lieutenant 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, Vincent 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.
Burr has spent the majority of his military career with Australian special forces units, and is the patron of the Defence Australian Rules Football Association. He assumed his current posting of Deputy Chief of Army in January 2015.