Biography

John Coates AC MBE MA is Notable.

Lieutenant General John Coates AC MBE MA was a senior officer in the Australian Army who served as Chief of the General Staff from 1990 to 1992. After retiring from the Army he became an author and a Visiting Fellow at the Australian Defence Force Academy branch of the University of New South Wales, pursuing aspects of Australia's military history.

Formative years

Henry John Coates was born on 28th December 1932 at Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. He was a son of George Coates and Gwenyth Begg. John was educated at Ipswich Grammar School, Queensland. He graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon into the Royal Australian Armoured Corps in 1955. ^[1]

Military sevice

John Coates AC MBE MA is a Military Veteran.
Served in the Australian Regular Army 1951-1992
Chief of the General Staff; attained the rank of Lieutenant General

John served in 1st Armoured Regiment until 1958, before being posted as adjutant of the 10th Light Horse Regiment. He deployed to the Vietnam War as a Major with B Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment. ^[2] He subsequently became commanding officer of 3rd Cav, before being appointed commandant of the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1983. In 1984, he was head of the Defence Staff in Washington DC. John was assistant Chief of the Defence Force (Policy) in 1987 and Chief of the General Staff from 1990. Turning sixty years of age, John retired from his exemplary military career in 1992. ^[1]

Academia

John graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) from the University of Western Australia in 1962, before completing Honours at the Australian National University in 1965. He graduated with a Master of Arts (MA) from the Australian National University in 1975. He was later a Visiting Fellow in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) campus of the University of New South Wales. ^[1]

Literary works

In retirement, John wrote several excellently-received books on the Australian Army and Australian military history: ^[1]

• Suppressing Insurgency: an Analysis of the Malayan Emergency, 1948–1954, 1992
• Review of the Ready Reserve Scheme (co-authored with Hugh Smith), 1995
• Bravery above Blunder: the 9th Division at Finschhafen, Sattelberg and Sio , 1999
• The Australian Centenary History of Defence (co-editor), 2001
• An Atlas of Australia's Wars, volume 7 of The Australian Centenary History of Defence (OUP, Melbourne), 2001; second edition, 2006

Honours and awards

• Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), 1971 ^[3]
• National Medal, 1977 ^[4] and Clasp, 1980 ^[5]
• Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), 1987 ^[6]
• Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), 1992 ^[7]
• Centenary Medal, 2001 ^[8]

Final parade

John passed away, aged 85 years, on 11 June 2018 at Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. ^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Wikipedia profile: Henry John Coates; accessed 17 May 2020
2. ↑ Australian War Memorial: 17023 Major Henry John Coates; accessed 17 May 2020
3. ↑ Australian Honours: Member of the Order of the British Empire; accessed 17 May 2020
4. ↑ Australian Honours: National Medal; accessed 17 May 2020
5. ↑ Australian Honours: National Medal 1st Clasp; accessed 17 May 2020
6. ↑ Australian Honours: Officer of the Order of Australia; accessed 17 May 2020
7. ↑ Australian Honours: Companion of the Order of Australia; accessed 17 May 2020
8. ↑ Australian Honours: Centenary Medal; accessed 17 May 2020
9. ↑ Ipswich Grammar School Old Boys: Vale Vale Lieutenant-General Henry John Coates; accessed 17 May 2020