Vice Chief of the Defence Force (Australia)

Vice Chief of the Australian Defence Force
Incumbent Ray Griggs since 30 June 2014
Style	Vice Admiral Lieutenant General Air Marshal
Member of	Australian Defence Force
Reports to	Chief of the Defence Force
Term length	Four years (renewable)
Inaugural holder	Air Marshal Ray Funnell
Formation	6 June 1986

The Vice Chief of the Defence Force (VCDF) is the military deputy to the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) of Australia, and acts as the CDF in his absence under standing acting arrangements.

Created in 1986, the VCDF is a three-star officer in the Australian Defence Force (lieutenant general, vice admiral, or air marshal). The position's standing responsibilities include: Joint Doctrine, Education, Training and Evaluation; Joint Logistics; Reserve Policy; and Joint Capabilities, Commitments and Concepts. When acting as Chief of the Defence Force, the VCDF attends the National Security Committee of Cabinet (NSCC) and Secretary’s Committee on National Security (SCNS).^[1]

The appointment is made by the Governor General on the advice of his/her ministers under Section 9AA of the Defence Act (1903) and is for a fixed term of four years, nominally rotated between the three services, Navy, Army and Air Force; however in practice this has not been the case and the appointment has been held for longer or shorter periods of time. The role is politically neutral, as are all military positions, and is not affected by a change of government.

Vice Admiral Ray Griggs, the incumbent VCDF, has held the position since 30 June 2014.^[2]

Vice Chief of the Defence Force Group

The Vice Chief of the Defence Force Group is responsible for the provision of military strategic effects and commitments advice and planning, joint military professional education and training, logistics support, health support, ADF cadet and reserve policy, joint capability coordination, preparedness management, and joint and combined ADF doctrine.^[3]

Appointees

The following list chronologically records those who have held the post of Vice Chief of the Defence Force. Rank and honours are as at the completion of the individual's term.

Rank	Name	Postnominals	Service	Term began	Term ended	Time in Appointment
Air Marshal	Funnell, RayRay Funnell	AO	RAAF	6 June 1986[4][5]	January 1987	208 days
Vice Admiral	Knox, IanIan Knox	AC, RAN	RAN	January 1987	16 September 1989 [6]	2 years, 259 days
Vice Admiral	Beaumont, AlanAlan Beaumont	AC, RAN	RAN	16 September 1989[6]	October 1992	3 years,  14 days
Lieutenant General	Baker, JohnJohn Baker	AC	Army	October 1992	April 1995[7]	2 years, 182 days
Vice Admiral	Walls, RobertRobert Walls	AO, RAN	RAN	April 1995[7]	March 1997	1 year,  334 days
Vice Admiral	Barrie, ChrisChris Barrie	AC, RAN	RAN	March 1997	3 July 1998[7]	1 year,  122 days
Air Marshal	Riding, DouglasDouglas Riding	AO, DFC	RAAF	3 July 1998 [7]	5 June 2000	1 year,  341 days
Lieutenant General	Mueller, DesmondDesmond Mueller	AO	Army	5 June 2000	15 July 2002	2 years,  40 days
Vice Admiral	Shalders, RussRuss Shalders	AO, CSC, RAN	RAN	15 July 2002	4 July 2005	2 years, 350 days
Lieutenant General	Gillespie, KenKen Gillespie	AO, DSC, CSM	Army	4 July 2005	3 July 2008	2 years, 365 days
Lieutenant General	Hurley, DavidDavid Hurley	AC, DSC	Army	4 July 2008	3 July 2011	2 years, 364 days
Air Marshal	Binskin, MarkMark Binskin	AC	RAAF	4 July 2011	30 June 2014	2 years, 361 days
Vice Admiral	Griggs, RayRay Griggs	AO, CSC, RAN	RAN	30 June 2014	Incumbent	2 years, 169 days

Timeline

Chief of Joint Operations (CJOPS)

Until September 2007, the VCDF was "double hatted" as the Chief of Joint Operations (CJOPS). In this role he commanded Australian Defence Force operations on behalf of the Chief of the Defence Force. In September 2007, The (Liberal) Minister of Defence, Brendan Nelson announced the formation of a separate three-star CJOPS position based at the Headquarters Joint Operations Command (HQJOC) facility at Bungendore, New South Wales.^[4][8]

References

1. ADF Website (accessed 25 May 2010)
2. "Vice Admiral Ray Griggs AO, CSC, RAN". Vice Chief of the Defence Force Group. Department of Defence. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
3. "About the Vice Chief of the Defence Force Group". Vice Chief of the Defence Force Group. Department of Defence. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
4. VADM Shalders (2 April 2003). "Transcript of Speech to RUSI 'The Evolving role of the Vice Chief of the Defence Force'". Retrieved 25 May 2010.
5. RAAF Air Development Power Centre (6 June 1986). "Funnell first VCDF". Retrieved 2 July 2014.
6. http://www.defence.gov.au/news/navynews/editions/5114/5114.pdf 'Seeing Stars' Navy News, p 11 (accessed 25 May 2010
7. http://www.defence.gov.au/cdf/past_chiefs.htm (accessed 26 May 2010)
8. Minister of Defence Press Release MIN99/07 19 September 2007 Archived 30 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine.