Lieutenant Colonel Owen O’Brien BA, MLitt
Commissioned from the Royal Military College, Duntroon into the infantry in 1957, he served for 31 years in the Regular Army and the Active Reserve. In Malaya in the early 1960s he served on counter-insurgency operations and in Vietnam 1966-67 commanded an infantry company. He also served with Australia’s special forces (the SAS). He is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon; the Royal Australian Air Force Staff College; the United States Marine Corps Command and Staff College; the Australian National University; and the University of New England. He was co-author of Changing Step, 1991 and editor of Dearest Geraldine, 2003. Since resigning from the Army he has been a management consultant, show producer and manufacturer, retiring in 2003. As an advisor to Australian government agencies and South East Asian organisations he has travelled widely in Asia and Europe and pursues his interest in international affairs and military history. He presents military history seminars at the University of Sydney and leads The History Team.

Major General John Hartley AO, MA
In 1965 he graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon into the Royal Australian Infantry. In Vietnam 1966-67 he was twice wounded and twice mentioned-in-dispatches. He returned to Vietnam in 1970-71 with the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam, was again wounded and spent a year in hospital. Later he spent 3 years with the US Intelligence Centre - Pacific in Hawaii. Later appointments included membership of the Directing Staff at the Army’s Command and Staff College, senior operations officer on a divisional headquarters and command of the Army Apprentices School. As a general he commanded Army’s Training Command, headed the Defence Intelligence Organisation, was Deputy Chief of the Army and commanded Land Command Australia which involved the preparation of forces to be deployed overseas, including East Timor in 1999. He is a graduate of the Army’s Command and Staff College, the Joint Services Staff College, the US Army War College and the University of Queensland. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1987 and an Officer of the same order (AO) in 1992, awarded the US Army Commendation Medal three times, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and is a Knight Commander of the German Order of Merit. He writes for newspapers and journals on defence and international relations, is a frequent commentator on national television and lectures at several universities.

Air Vice Marshal Bob Treloar AO
He joined the Royal Australian Air Force as an Aircrew Cadet in 1966 and in 1969-70 flew helicopters in the Vietnam War where he was mentioned-in-dispatches for distinguished service, later becoming a fighter pilot and flying instructor. He has flown Vampire, Sabre, Mirage and F/A-18 Hornet aircraft and commanded a fighter squadron and an air defence wing. He commanded the multinational Integrated Air Defence System in Malaysia 1997-99 and 1999-2001 was Commander Australian Theatre, responsible for planning and conduct of joint Defence Force operations throughout Australia and overseas. He is a graduate of the RAAF Staff College and was awarded Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and later appointed Officer of the same order (AO). He coordinated major aspects of Australia’s East Timor deployment in 1999 and operational and logistic support to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, as well as operational commitments to Bougainville, the Solomon Islands, Sierra Leone, the Middle East and Mozambique.

Colonel Gerry McCormack BA
He is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon and the British Army Staff College and the University of Queensland. Commissioned in 1966, he was a tank troop commander in Vietnam in 1968. He later commanded a tank squadron and an armoured regiment, served with the British Army of the Rhine and was instructor in military history at the Officer Cadet School and the Australian Army Staff College. As a colonel he was Chief of the Australian Delegation to the UN Command in Korea and also Australian Defence Attaché in Seoul and, later, in Bonn and Berlin. Before and since retirement in 2000 he has studied and visited battlefields in NW France, Normandy, Waterloo, the Ardennes, Italy, Greece, Gallipoli, Israel, Korea, South East Asia and the central Pacific. He has coordinated the ANZAC Day services at Gallipoli and led a tour of the battlefields of Burma.

Michael Pyne MA, MEd
A former history teacher and graduate of the University of New South Wales, he has written 17 books including major high school texts on history. Since 1998 he has organized and led study tours for combined schools groups, adult groups, and for the Centre for Continuing Education of the University of Sydney, to Italy, the UK, Ireland, Sicily, Malta, Greece/Crete, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Vietnam, Cambodia, New Zealand, Eastern Europe and Russia. He lectures to teacher groups and History Teachers Association seminars on the Middle East, Indo-China, Maori History and Culture and Australians in the Great War.

Associate Professor Harvey Broadbent BA (Hons), DipEd
Writer, lecturer, broadcaster, tour leader, film and TV producer. A fluent speaker of Turkish (and French) he is an experienced lecturer and study tour group leader, especially in the Mediterranean and Middle East regions. He has lived in Turkey, visits every year and is currently Senior Research Fellow in Modern History at Macquarie University, directing a research project centred on Turkish military archives and the Gallipoli Campaign. He has led tours for Australians Studying Abroad and the Centre for Continuing Education and the Workers Education Association to Turkey, England, Syria, Jordan and Greece. As an executive producer for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation he won awards for radio and TV productions such as Gallipoli:The Fatal Shore; Victory in the Pacific; The 75th Anniversary Gallipoli Pilgrimage; and Turks in Australia. He recently worked as historical advisor on a documentary film Revealing Gallipoli. He is the author of Gallipoli, The Fatal Shore which marked the 90th anniversary of that campaign. His wife Cindy also speaks and teaches Turkish and is an experienced history teacher.

Major General Mike O’Brien CSC, BSc (Mil), MDefAdmin
He graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1968 and later earned advanced qualifications in project management and a master’s degree in the UK. He served as an infantry officer in Vietnam 1970-71 and then in instructional, staff and project management roles. A specialist in logistic management and defence acquisition planning, he played a major role in logistic planning and supply management for Australia’s operational deployments to East Timor, Bougainville and elsewhere. He is a graduate of the Australian Staff College, the Australian College of Defence and Strategic Studies, the Royal Military College of Science (UK), the University of New South Wales and Cranfield University (UK). He holds the decoration of Conspicuous Service Cross (CSC). He has been heavily involved in military history studies and management of military museums, wrote Conscripts and Regulars, 1995 and several military bibliographies, and acts as advisor to a number of WW II unit associations. He is actively involved with the National Trust, the Royal Historical Society of Victoria and the Royal United Services Institute. Now retired, he owns a bookshop in Melbourne and pursues his broad interests in history.

Jim Webster OAM
One of Australia’s most distinguished and experienced sports historians, he has covered Olympic Games since 1968 and Commonwealth Games since 1962, along with international Rugby tours since 1966, Wimbledon Tennis and British Open golf tournaments. He was Media Director for Australia’s team at the Barcelona and Atlanta Olympics and Media Manager for the Sydney Olympics Village in 2000. As an independent sports commentator he contributes to newspapers and magazines in Australia and other countries and appears regularly on national TV. He is one of the few international journalists on the voting board for the World Golf Hall of Fame in Florida. Awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to sports journalism, he is the author of 10 books including autobiographies of world-famous sportspeople and sports history publications. He has written about, and knows well, most of the world’s greatest golfers over the past half-century.

Air Vice Marshal Alan Titheridge AO, BSc, MDefStud
He joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1965 and was commissioned from the RAAF Academy in 1968. After flying training in Britain he spent 10 years in a range of flying and instructional appointments in Australia and Malaysia, accumulating over 4,500 flying hours in F-18, Mirage, Macchi, Winjeel and CT4 aircraft and is a Qualified Flying Instructor. He commanded No. 77 (Fighter) Squadron, No. 81 Wing and the Tactical Fighter Group and became Air Commander Australia. His staff appointments included senior posts in the RAAF and Department of Defence, and Deputy Chief of Air Force. He is a graduate of the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College, the United States Air Force Air War College, the University of Melbourne and the University of New South Wales. In 1985 he was awarded the decoration of Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and in 2001 Officer of the same order (AO). Since retiring in 2002 he operates a consulting business and pursues his interests in history.

Major General Maurice Dodson CBE, MC, BBS
In 1965 he graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon into the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (RNZIR). He served with 1st Battalion RNZIR in Malaysia 1966-68 and in Vietnam 1968 with Victor 3 Company, RNZIR attached to an Australian battalion. He was wounded in action and awarded a Military Cross (MC) for valour. After attachment to the Malaysian Army 1978-80 he commanded 2/1st Battalion RNZIR and then was Deputy Commander NZ Force in Singapore and NZ Defence Advisor Malaysia 1989. He commanded the NZ Army’s Support Command 1992-95 and was awarded Commander of the British Empire (CBE). After being Assistant Chief of Resources, NZ Defence Force, he became Chief of the General Staff and commanded the NZ Army from 1998 until retirement in 2002. He is a graduate of the Australian Army Staff College, the Australian Joint Services Staff College, Waikato University and the Harvard Business School.

Major Rod Baldwin MPubAdmin
A New Zealander, he graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon into the Royal New Zealand Artillery and served in 1968 in South Vietnam with Australian, NZ and American forces. He resigned from the army in 1968 to pursue a business career, has a Masters degree from Harvard University, held a Harkness Fellowship, was Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C., and served on the staff of the United Nations Secretary General in New York. His business career was in a range of manufacturing and marketing companies in NZ, Australia, Japan, USA and Canada. His interests encompass international affairs, travel, politics, sport and history - especially the American Civil War and the colonial and political development of New Zealand and other island nations of the Pacific.

Vice Admiral Chris Ritchie AO
He joined the Royal Australian Navy as a 16 year old Cadet Midshipman in 1965 and retired as the commander of the Navy in 2005. During his 40-year career he commanded three ships including HMAS BRISBANE during the Gulf War 1991, was Maritime Commander Australia, Commander Australian Theatre (including Australian forces committed to the Middle East and Afghanistan after September 2001) and finally Chief of Navy. He is a graduate of the Royal Australian Air Force Advanced Staff College, the USA Defence Resource Management School, the Royal College of Defence Studies and the Strategic Leadership Course at Oxford University. He was awarded Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) and Commander of the Legion of Merit, USA. He serves on several government committees, educational advisory boards and corporate boards of management and has a special interest in maritime history and the great voyages of exploration.

Colonel (Professor) David Horner DipMilStud, MA (Hons), PhD
He is Professor of Australian History in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University. He graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1969 and served as a platoon commander in the Vietnam War in 1971. He held various regimental and staff appointments and in 1983 graduated from the Australian Army’s Command and Staff College.  His Master of Arts degree with First Class Honours in military history was from the University of New South Wales, and his Doctorate of Philosophy in military history and strategic studies was from the Australian National University. In 1976 he was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to investigate the study of history overseas. In 1985 he was appointed visiting fellow in the Department of History, University of New South Wales, Australian Defence Force Academy. From 1988 until he left the Regular Army as a lieutenant colonel in 1990 he was a member of the Directing Staff of the Australian Joint Services Staff College. He has been a consultant to several international journals and television programs, has lectured widely on military history and strategic affairs in several countries, and is editor of the Australian Army’s military history series. He is the editor or author of 26 books including major studies of World War II in the Pacific. As an Army Reserve colonel he was the first Head of the Australian Army’s Land Warfare Studies Centre. In 2004 he was appointed Official Australian Historian of Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Post-Cold War Operations.