David Horner

David Horner is Professor of Australian Defence History in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University. Born in 1948, he graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1969 and served as an infantry platoon commander in Vietnam in 1971. He had various regimental and staff appointments, and in 1983 graduated from the Australian Army’s Command and Staff College. He has an M.A. in Military History from the University of New South Wales, and a Ph.D. in Military History and Strategic Studies from the Australian National University. In 1976, he was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to investigate the study of military history overseas, and in 1981 was awarded the Australian National University’s most prestigious Ph.D. research prize. From 1985 to 1988, he was a Visiting Fellow in the Department of History, University College, which was established within the Australian Defence Force Academy at the University of New South Wales. From 1988 until he retired from the Regular Army as a Lieutenant Colonel towards the end of 1990, he was a member of the Directing Staff of the Joint Services Staff College. Professor Horner has authored and/or edited twenty-four books on Australian military history, strategy and defence, including Crisis of Command (1978), High Command (1982), SAS: Phantoms of the Jungle (1989), Inside the War Cabinet (1996), Blamey: The Commander-in-Chief (1998), Defence Supremo (2000) and Making the Australian Defence Force (2001). He has recently completed a biography of General Sir John Wilton, Chairman of the Chiefs-of-Staff Committee in the Vietnam War. He is the editor of the Australian Army’s military history series and has been the historical consultant for various television programs. As an Army Reserve Colonel, from 1998 to 2002, he was the first Head of the Australian Army’s Land Warfare Studies Centre. In February 2004, the Australian Government appointed him as the Official Historian for Australian Peacekeeping and Post-Cold War Operations.