Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Marcus Frederick Bonser, (born 7 August 1952) is a retired

flag rank A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countries ...

officer of the

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 ...

. His final posting was as Head of the Military Justice Implementation Team 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 ...

Early life

Mark Bonser was born in Sydney on 7 August 1952. He attended high school at

Manly Boys High School , motto_translation = What We Receive, We Pass On , location = 138 Abbott Road, North Curl Curl, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Austra ...

and

Macksville High School Macksville High School is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary day school, located in Macksville, in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1950, the school enrolled approximately 500 s ...

Naval career

In 1971, Bonser joined the

(RAN) and commenced training at 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 ...

. He graduated from the college in 1973, then undertook six weeks training 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 F ...

, before joining the ship's company of the aircraft carrier . Bonser completed his bridge

watchkeeping Watchkeeping or watchstanding is the assignment of sailors to specific roles on a ship to operate it continuously. These assignments, also known at sea as ''watches'', are constantly active as they are considered essential to the safe operation o ...

certification aboard the carrier. Over the following years, he served aboard HMA Ships , , , and . From 1980 until 1982, Bonser served as the commanding officer of the patrol boat . In 1982, after a short period aboard , Bonser was sent to the United Kingdom for

Principal Warfare Officer A principal warfare officer (PWO), is one of a number of warfare branch specialist officers. Australia In Australia, a PWO is a Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Fo ...

training. After qualifying as an

Anti-Submarine Warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

Officer in 1983, Bonser served on exchange to the Royal Navy until 1985 as an officer aboard the destroyers , then . On his return to Australia, Bosner was first posted to the destroyer , then to as the destroyer escort's

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, o ...

. While aboard ''Torrens'', he was promoted to the rank of

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

. In 1988, Bonser was assigned to Maritime Headquarters Sydney in the positions of Fleet Programming Officer and Commander Operations. In 1990, Bonser was attached to the ship's company of as the Chief Staff Officer to the RAN Task Group Commander during the ship's deployment to the Gulf War. He was awarded the

Commendation for Distinguished Service The Commendation for Distinguished Service is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force, it is awarded for the distinguished performance of duties in warlike operations. The Commendation for Distinguished Service w ...

for his actions during the deployment. After returning from the Persian Gulf in 1991, Bonser attended the Joint Services Staff College. From April 1992 until 1993, Bonser was the

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the frigate . During this period, ''Sydney'' was deployed to the Red Sea in support of

United Nations sanctions against Iraq The sanctions against Iraq were a comprehensive financial and trade embargo imposed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Iraq. They began August 6, 1990, four days after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, stayed largely in force until May 22, ...

. During 1994, Bonser was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross for this deployment, and in December, he was promoted to

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 ...

. After promotion, Bonser was posted to Maritime Headquarters again; initially as Chief Staff Officer Operations, then serving as the Chief Staff Officer C3I. In January 1996, he transferred to the Australian Defence Force Headquarters as the Director Combat Force Development (Sea). From October 1997 to mid-1999, Bonser was the commanding officer of the frigate . In July 1999, Bonser was promoted to

commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

and assigned as Commander Northern Command. At the start of 2001, Bonser became the Director General Command and Support Systems in the

Defence Materiel Organisation The Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) is an organisation within the Department of Defence (Australia), Australian Department of Defence, responsible for Military acquisition, acquisition and Military supply chain management, su ...

. Bonser was promoted to

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

in July 2001, and assigned as Director General of

Coastwatch The Australian Coastal Surveillance Organisation, also known as Coastwatch, was an operational division of the Australian Customs Service and the de facto Australian coast guard service. The former Coastwatch Division is now part of the Austr ...

. In June 2002, he was appointed Commander Australian Theatre. In 2003, Bonser was made 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 ...

for his leadership during the

invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...

. From May 2004 to January 2006, Bonser was the Commander

Australian Defence 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 Cent ...

. During this period, he was appointed on 7 October 2005 as head of the Military Justice Response Coordination Team, then later that year as head of the Military Justice Implementation Team.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonser, Mark 1952 births Military personnel from New South Wales Australian military personnel of the Gulf War Australian military personnel of the Vietnam War Graduates of the Royal Australian Naval College Living people Officers of the Order of Australia People from Sydney Recipients of the Commendation for Distinguished Service Recipients of the Conspicuous Service Cross (Australia) Recipients of the Meritorious Unit Citation Royal Australian Navy admirals