Rear Admiral Bruce Kafer, (born 1959) is a senior

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

officer and former Commandant of the

Australian Defence Force Academy The Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) is a tri-service military Academy that provides military and academic education for junior officers of the Australian Defence Force in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and Royal Aus ...

, a position he held from December 2009 until December 2013. Kafer served as the Director-General of the Australian Navy Cadets and Reserves from December 2014 to December 2016, when he was appointed Head of the Cadet, Reserve and Employer Support Division.

Naval career

Born in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area ...

, Kafer was admitted to the

Royal Australian Naval College The Royal Australian Naval College (RANC), commonly known as HMAS Creswell, is the naval academy of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). It consists of the RAN School of Survivability and Ship's Safety, Kalkara Flight, the Beecroft Weapons Range an ...

, Jervis Bay as a cadet midshipman in 1977. He subsequently trained on , , and before specialising as a Hydrographic Surveyor in 1982. As such, he served primarily aboard the survey ships '' Flinders'' and ''Moresby''. In 1986, he began an exchange with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, including senior Hydrographic Officer posts aboard and , which included time spent in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

as part as British anti-mine efforts in the Iran-Iraq War. Returning to Australia in 1992, he took up command of HMAS ''Flinders'', and in 1994 was appointed as a Director of the

RAN Staff College The Australian Defence College (ADC) comprises three joint education and training organisations operated by the Australian Defence Force in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: * the War College, * the Australian Defence Force Training Ce ...

. After another period as a Hydrographic Officer, in 1997 he took command of upon its commission into the RAN. Late in 2000, he returned to the Australian Hydrographic Office to begin a four-year appointment as Commander of the RAN Hydrographic, Meteorological and Oceanographic Force Element Group. He later served as Chief of the Combat Support Group at RAN Headquarters and then returned to Iraq to begin an appointment as Commander Task Forces 152 and 158, coalition maritime task forces which were responsible for security and interception operations in the Gulf. In December 2009 Kafer assumed duties as Commandant of the

. He held the post until December 2013, when he was replaced by Air Commodore Alan Clements. He has since served as Director-General of the Australian Navy Cadets & Reserves. Kafer was promoted to rear admiral in December 2016 and appointed as Head of the Cadet, Reserve and Employer Support Division.

Personal life

Kafer and his wife, Geraldine, have two adult sons.

References

External links

ADFA Leaders page entry

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kafer, Bruce 1959 births Military personnel from New South Wales Australian military personnel of the Iraq War Australian military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Graduates of the Royal Australian Naval College Living people Members of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Conspicuous Service Cross (Australia) Royal Australian Navy officers