Rick Burr

Richard Maxwell Burr
Major General Rick Burr c.2013
Born	2 June 1964 Renmark, South Australia
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	Australian Army
Years of service	1982 – present
Rank	Major General
Commands held	Deputy Chief of Army Deputy Commanding General – Operations 1st Division Military Strategic Commitments Special Air Service Regiment
Battles/wars	Iraq War War in Afghanistan
Awards	Distinguished Service Cross Member of the Order of Australia Member of the Royal Victorian Order Officer of the Legion of Merit (United States) Bronze Star (United States)

Major General Richard Maxwell "Rick" Burr DSC, AM, MVO (born 2 June 1964) is a senior officer in the Australian Army. He served as Commander 1st Division from 2011 to 2012, before being appointed the Deputy Commanding General – Operations, United States Army Pacific in January 2013. Burr was succeeded by Major General Gregory Bilton in the latter post in November 2014. He was appointed Deputy Chief of Army in January 2015.

Early life

Burr was born in Renmark, South Australia, on 2 June 1964 to Maxwell Henry Burr and Lorelie Ann Morrell. Educated at Renmark High School, Burr entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon as an officer cadet in 1982.^[1]

Army career

Burr graduated from Duntroon in 1985 with a University of New South Wales accredited Bachelor of Arts, and was commissioned into the Royal Australian Infantry Corps.^[1][2] His first posting came as a platoon commander in the 8th/9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment.

In 2002, Burr commanded Australian troops in Afghanistan, and Australian troops during Operation Falconer in 2003. In 2008, Burr commanded special forces operations in Afghanistan.^[3]

On 21 August 2012, United States Army Secretary John M. McHugh announced that Burr would be seconded to the United States Army, to become Deputy Commander, United States Army Pacific (USARPAC).^[4] Burr will supervise training and USARPAC liaison with countries in Southeast Asia and Australasia. He will report to Lieutenant General Frank Wiercinski.

He has spent the majority of his military career with Australian special forces units.^[5] He is also the patron of the Defence Australian Rules Football Association.

On 31 October 2012 he stood down as the Commander 1st Division and assumed the post as Deputy Commanding General – Operations of the United States Army Pacific on 17 January 2013.^[6] Burr took up his current posting of Deputy Chief of Army in January 2015.^[7]

Honours and awards

	Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)	[8]
	Member of the Order of Australia (AM)	Awarded 13 June 2011[9]
	Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO)	Awarded 1 April 2000[10][11]
	Australian Active Service Medal
	Afghanistan Medal
	Iraq Medal
	Australian Service Medal
	Defence Force Service Medal with 3 clasps	30–34 years service
	Australian Defence Medal
	Officer of the Legion of Merit (United States)	17 November 2014[12]
	Bronze Star (United States)	[13]
	NATO Medal for ISAF
	Meritorious Unit Citation with Federation Star

References

1. "Major General Richard Maxwell (Rick) Burr". Who's Who in Australia Online. ConnectWeb. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
2. "Commander 1st Division: Major General Richard M. Burr". Army Leaders. Australian Army. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
3. Audrey MacAvoy (1 February 2013). "Australian general gets key post at USARPAC". Army Times. Associated Pres. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
4. Associated Press/Washington Post, 2012, "Two-star Australian general to oversee American soldiers at US Army Pacific" (21 August) Access: 21 August 2012.
5. Inaugural Joint Warfare Conference – Inaugural Joint Warfare Conference 2011
6. Australian Army Website, 2013, "US Army Pacific welcomes MAJGEN Burr" (17 January) Access: 29 January 2013.
7. "Deputy Chief of Army". Army: Our people: Leaders. Department of Defence. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
8. Riverland Weekly – Distinguished Service Cross
9. It's an Honour – Member of the Order of Australia
10. It's an Honour – Member of the Royal Victorian Order
11. "London Gazette". The Gazette. 5 May 2000. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
12. Sallette, William (17 November 2014). "USARPAC honors Aussie generals with glying V". Hawaii Army Weekly.
13. Perry, Brad (5 November 2009). "Decorated soldier believes there is no place like home". Riverland Weekly. Archived from the original on 5 March 2011.