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Peter Cosgrove

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General Peter John Cosgrove AC, MC (born 28 July 1947) is an Australian general. He was the Chief of the Australian Defence Force from 3 July 2002 to July 2005, when he retired from active service.

Military service

Cosgrove was educated at Waverley College, then followed his father, a Warrant Officer, into the Australian Army by attending the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1965. Early in his career, Cosgrove fought in Vietnam with the 9th Battalion of The Royal Australian Regiment, where he served with great distinction, receiving the Military Cross.

Cosgrove came to national fame in 1999 when, as a Major General, he led the international forces (INTERFET) in a peacekeeping mission to East Timor. The mission's success made Cosgrove one of Australia's most respected and popular military leaders.

Cosgrove was later promoted in 2000 to Lieutenant General as Chief of the Army (CA) and in 2002 to General as Chief of the Defence Force (CDF).

In 2004, following a joint interview with Defence Minister Robert Hill, General Cosgrove was accused of playing politics after senior government figures, such as Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, queried the Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty's patriotism. Cosgrove strongly refuted that but while continuing to disagree with Keelty's point of view which had sparked the furore he expressed strong support for the Police Commissioner in his Memoir published in 2006.

On 4 July 2005, Air Marshal Angus Houston (now Air Chief Marshal Houston), the then-Chief of Air Force (CAF), replaced General Cosgrove as Chief of the Defence Force (CDF).

There was some speculation that after retirement he would take up the post of Governor-General of Australia, or run for parliament. He has firmly ruled out all such possibilities. Instead he wrote an autobiography, My Story (HarperCollins Publishers Australia, October 2006, ISBN 0732283841), which was a bestseller in Australia.

Cyclone Larry Taskforce

On 23 March 2006, retired General Peter Cosgrove was selected to lead the Queensland Government taskforce of rebuilding communities damaged by Cyclone Larry, a Category 5 tropical cyclone that devastated the Innisfail region of northern Queensland.

He is on the board of Australia's main airline QANTAS and is on numerous other boards as Chairman or member. He is married with three adult sons and lives in Sydney.

Awards

Foreign awards

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