1. Ken Gillespie was educated at Inala State High School in Brisbane and enlisted in the Australian Army in 1968 as an apprentice bricklayer.
14 Facts About Ken Gillespie
1. 2.
Ken Gillespie graduated from the Officer Cadet School, Portsea, in 1972, gaining a commission in the corps of the Royal Australian Engineers.
3.
Ken Gillespie held a range of regimental and staff appointments including Instructor at the School of Military Engineering and at the 1st Recruit Training Battalion.
4.
In 1990, Ken Gillespie became Standing Chairman of the Quadripartite Working Group for the Engineers in the ABCA Armies Agreement and in 1991 he attended the UK Joint Services Command and Staff College where he earned a Graduate Diploma in Strategic Studies.
5.
Ken Gillespie was appointed a Member of the Royal College of Defence Studies in the United Kingdom in 1998 and was selected to be Senior National Officer for Australia in the ABCA Program in 1999.
6.
Ken Gillespie was promoted to major general and made Land Commander Australia in January 2004, and to lieutenant general as Vice Chief of the Defence Force in 2005.
7.
Ken Gillespie assumed his appointment as Chief of Army on 4 July 2008.
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David Morrison 8.
On 29 April 2010, Ken Gillespie was presented with Singapore's Meritorious Service Medal by the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, Teo Chee Hean, and Chief of the Singapore Army, Brigadier General Chan Chun Sing.
9.
Ken Gillespie handed over command of the Army to Lieutenant General David Morrison during a ceremony on 24 June 2011, and officially retired from the Australian Defence Force two days later.
10.
Ken Gillespie is married to Carmel and they have a student daughter.
11.
Ken Gillespie has two grown children from a previous marriage.
12.
Ken Gillespie is well travelled, enjoys most sports, and is a keen reader.
13.
On 26 January 2011, Ken Gillespie was promoted to Companion of the Order of Australia.
14.
Ken Gillespie was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 2002 for "distinguished command and leadership" while Commander Sector West deployed on active service with the United Nations Transitional Administration East Timor during Operation Tanager.