Vice Admiral Michael Joseph Noonan, (born 13 December 1966) is a retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Navy, who served as Chief of Navy from 6 July 2018 to 6 July 2022. He previously served as Commander Border Protection Command from 2013 to 2015 and Deputy Chief of Navy from 2016 to 2018.

Early life

Noonan was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metrop ...

, Victoria, on 13 December 1966 to Michael Joseph Noonan and his wife Valerie Jean (née Maskell). He was educated at

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at the ...

and Keebra Park State High Schools on the

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Gold Coast. Noonan holds

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and struc ...

qualifications in

Business Administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

, Maritime Policy, Marketing Communications and

International Relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...

from the

Queensland University of Technology Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The unive ...

, Universities of

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wat ...

and

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ...

, and

Salve Regina University Salve Regina University is a private Roman Catholic university in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It was founded in 1934 by the Sisters of Mercy and is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. The university enrolls ...

, respectively. He is also a graduate of the

Australian Institute of Company Directors The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) is a non-profit membership organization for directors. The AICD is a founding member of the Global Network of Director Institutes (GNDI). History The origins of the AICD can be traced ba ...

. Noonan married Jan in 17 December 1994. Jan Noonan is also a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and was the first woman to command an Australian vessel on active service, leading HMAS ''Labuan'' on operations in East Timor in 2000. The couple have two daughters.

Naval career

Noonan joined the RAN as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Af ...

in 1984. He was the commissioning commanding officer of , commanding her from 2003. He became Director of Sailor's Career Management in 2006, Chief of Staff in Headquarters Joint Task Force 633 in 2008 and Commodore Training (COMTRAIN) for the Royal Australian Navy and the Director-General of Operations at the Headquarters Joint Operations Command in 2009. Noonan was awarded the Commendation for Distinguished Service on two occasions, and was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gov ...

in 2012.Commendation for Distinguished Service – 9 June 2003
Citation: ''For distinguished performance of duty as the Chief of Staff to the Australian National Command Headquarters in the Middle East during Operation SLIPPER.''Commendation for Distinguished Service – 26 January 2010
Citation: ''For distinguished performance of duties in warlike operations as the Chief of Staff, Headquarters Joint Task Force 633, Middle East Area of Operations from September 2008 to March 2009.''Member of the Order of Australia – 11 June 2012
Citation: ''For exceptional performance of duty and leadership as Director General Operations, Headquarters Joint Operations Command and as Director Military Strategic Commitments.'' Noonan went on to be Commander

Border Protection Command The Maritime Border Command (MBC) is Australia's principal civil maritime security agency, a de facto coast guard, operating in the maritime domain to ensure compliance with Australia's maritime legislation by foreign and domestic non-state acto ...

in 2013 and Deputy Chief of Navy in 2016. On 16 April 2018, Prime Minister

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...

announced that Noonan would succeed Vice Admiral Tim Barrett as Chief of Navy. Noonan was promoted to vice admiral and appointed Chief of Navy on 6 July 2018. Noonan was advanced to an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AO) in the

2018 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as ...

. On 6 January 2022 he was awarded the

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: *Meritorious Civilian Service Award * Meritorious Service Me ...

by Singapore's Minister for Defence

Ng Eng Hen Ng Eng Hen ( zh, s=黄永宏, p=Huáng Yǒnghóng; born 10 December 1958) is a Singaporean politician and former oncologist who has been serving as Minister for Defence since 2011. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has be ...

. On 23 June 2022 he used his senior position to allow his civilian girlfriend to board HMAS Waller where he proposed and they spent the night together in what was dubbed the "Love sub." Waller was involved with filming for an upcoming recruitment drive for the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...

. Five days after the incident, it was announced that he was being replaced as the Chief of Navy, he retired in September 2022.

References

External links

Biography
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Noonan, Michael 1966 births Australian military personnel of the International Force for East Timor Australian military personnel of the Iraq War Australian military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Living people Officers of the Order of Australia Military personnel from Melbourne People educated at Keebra Park State High School Queensland University of Technology alumni Royal Australian Navy admirals Recipients of the Commendation for Distinguished Service Salve Regina University alumni University of Canberra alumni University of Wollongong alumni