PATRON
BRIGADIER Brett Paul Chaloner, CSC
BRIG Chaloner entered Army via the Australian Defence Force Academy in 1991 and commissioned in 1994. Following service in Transport and Infantry, BRIG Chaloner completed Commando selection and reinforcement training and served in the 4th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (Commando) (4RAR(Cdo)). He subsequently completed Special Air Service Regiment selection and training, serving in a range of command and operations appointments. These included deployment to East Timor and Counter Terrorism duties in support of the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Concurrent to service as the Adjutant of the Royal Military College – Duntroon, BRIG Chaloner deployed in support of operations in Iraq in 2003.
His time as a Major was anchored by the challenge of raising Tactical Assault Group - East within 4 RAR (Cdo). It included support to the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games and combat operations in Afghanistan. In 2008, he graduated from the Australian Command and Staff College. On promotion, to Lieutenant Colonel, he was posted to the US Joint Special Operations Command as a Liaison Officer and planner. Here he was exposed more broadly to the art and science of combatting global terrorism and hybrid threats. This posting included a deployment to Afghanistan as part of the US Special Operations Force.
BRIG Chaloner returned to Australia to assume the role of Operations Officer for Special Operations Command before taking command of the 2nd Commando Regiment in 2012. During his tenure, the unit continued to undertake intense combat operations in Afghanistan. BRIG Chaloner was promoted out of unit command and served as Commander of an Advisor Team, and Senior Advisor to an Afghan Corps Commander in Southern Afghanistan in 2014.
BRIG Chaloner broadened his ADF experience as Director Joint Collective Training within Joint Operations Command. After service as Director of the Land Intelligence Program in Army Headquarters, BRIG Chaloner spent 2018 as the Chief of Strategy and Plans for the Combined Joint Task Force in Iraq and Syria. He focused on the rare planning challenge of ending a campaign and transitioning to normalised international engagement. In 2019, he completed Higher Defence College in India.
BRIG Chaloner is married to Fiona and they have two boys. Anything to do with the Family, parachutes, mountains or open water are his passion. He continues to study externally. He is Patron of the Harbord Diggers RSL Sub-Branch, and involved in a number of Not-For Profit Boards and organisations linked to veteran’s welfare initiatives, the preservation of mega-fauna, and the development of ‘earth friendly’ technology.
