Back to
Vice Admiral Peter Jones AO DSC RAN retired

Vice Admiral Peter Jones AO DSC RAN retired

Adjunct Professor
UNSW Canberra
School of Humanities & Social Sciences

Peter Jones joined the Royal Australian Naval College in 1974 as a 16 year old cadet midshipman. His early sea service ranged from the aircraft carrier Melbourne through to destroyers, minor war vessels and the Antarctic resupply ship Nanok S. After completing his specialist warfare training with the RN he served as gunnery officer of the frigate Canberra. Peter went onto be Executive Officer of the frigate Sydney, which deployed to the Red Sea for sanctions enforcement against Iraq; command of the frigate Melbourne which deployed to the Arabian Gulf for sanctions enforcement against Iraq (for which he was made a Member of the Order of Australia) and later Commander Australian Surface Task Group. During 2002-2003, then Captain Jones commanded the RAN Task Group in the Arabian Gulf and the multinational Maritime Interception Force (MIF). He was the Maritime Interception Operations Screen Commander during the 2003 Iraq War and commanded the MIF during the Khawr Abd Allah Waterway clearance operation. He was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross and a US Legion of Merit for his command of the MIF.

Peter’s shore appointments have included Research Officer to the Chief of Naval Staff and two posting in tactic development, they were as Officer in Charge of the Tactical Development Cell (for which he received a Maritime Commander’s Commendation) and as Deputy Director Tactics and Operational Analysis (at the Canadian Maritime Warfare Centre) for which he received a Canadian Chief of Maritime Staff Commendation. Peter later served as Director Naval Strategy & Futures, Commander Australian Navy Systems Command, Head of ICT Operations/Strategic J6 and Head Capability Systems within Capability Development Group.

In the course of his academic studies, Peter earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters of Arts from the University of New South Wales. He is also a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. In 2011 Peter was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral and appointed as Chief Capability Development Group. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2012. Peter retired from the Navy in later 2014.

He is a past President of the Australian Naval Institute and is one of the founding members of the Naval Studies Group. He is also a member of the RSL Australia’s Defence and National Security Committee.

Expertise

He has expertise in Australian naval history, defence policy and maritime strategy.

Website: Wikipedia

 
Email

jonespayget@gmail.com

    • Australia's Navy, AGPS, Canberra, inaugural Executive Editor (1989–1991).
    • Reflections of the RAN, co-edited with James Goldrick and Tom Frame (1991).
    • Australia's Argonauts: The remarkable story of the first class to enter the Royal Australian Naval College (2016).
    • Guy Griffiths: The Life and Times of an Australian Admiral (2021).
    • A Maritime Strategy for Australia – AMS 2035 (2025) edited with Jennifer Parker
    • His next book, Salt in His Veins, the biography of Vice Admiral Sir Albert Poland, will be published in 2026 by Fonthill.
    • The Royal Australian Navy, Volume III – The Australian Centenary History of Defence, Oxford University Press, 2001. Chapters spanning 1972–1991.
    • The Face of Naval Battle: The Human Experience of Modern War at Sea, Edited John Reeve and David Stevens, Allen and Unwin, 2003, Chapter on Future Naval Battle.
    • Positioning Navies for the Future, Seapower Centre Australia, Canberra, 2006. Chapter – "Littoral Warfare Today and in the Future".
    • Australian Dictionary of Biography entries for Vice Admiral Sir John Collins, Rear Admiral Sir David Martin and Captain James Esdaile, Australian National University.
    • Presence, Power Projection and Sea Control: The RAN in the Gulf 1990–2009, Sea Power Centre in Australia, 2009. Chapter on Task Group Command.
    • Naval Power And Expeditionary Wars: Peripheral Campaigns And New Theatres Of Naval Warfare, edited by Bruce Elleman, Rutledge, 2010, contributed chapter on Iraq 2003.
    • Australian Naval Command and Leadership in Recent Operations, Edited by John Perryman & Andrew Forbes, Seapower Centre Australia, 2014.
    • The War at Sea 1914–18, edited by Andrew Forbes, Seapower Centre Australia, 2015.
    • Niche Wars: Australia in Afghanistan and Iraq, 2001-2014, edited by John Blaxland, Marcus Fielding and Thea Gellerfy, ANU Press, Canberra, 2020. Chapter on Maritime Operations.
    • “Vice Admiral Sir John Collins”, in James Goldrick and Alastair Cooper, eds., The Navy Chiefs: Australia’s naval leaders 1911-1997, Allen and Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW, 2024.
    • Journal of the Australian Naval Institute, "Australian Naval Institute in 1991 – A Discussion Paper on Future Options", Lieutenant Commander Peter Jones, RAN & Lieutenant Tom Frame, RAN, Vol. 17 No. 1 February 1991.
    • Journal of the Australian Naval Institute, "Women in Surface Combatants", Vol. 19 No. 4, November 1993.
    • Journal of the Australian Naval Institute, "Change Management in the RAN: Making it Better," Vol. 20 No. 4 January 1995.
    • Niobe Papers, Volume 7, Edited by F.W. Crickard and G.L. Witol, The Naval Officers Association of Canada, 1995, Paper – "The RAN and the Naval Reserve."
    • Multi-National Operations: Their Demands and Impact on Medium Power Navies, Maritime Security Working Papers Number 3, May 1996,, Centre for Foreign Policy Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.
    • Journal of the Australian Naval Institute, "The need for a ship design philosophy in the RAN", Vol. 25 No. 2 June 1999.
    • Journal of the Australian Naval Institute, "Maritime Interception Operations Screen Commander in the Gulf, Parts 1 & 2: Operation Slipper" , Winter and Spring Editions 2003.
    • United States Naval Institute Proceedings, "A Farewell to the Gulf"; October 2004.
    • Australian Defence Force Journal, "Advanced in Information Communications Technology & their Impact on future ADF Commanders", Issue 176, 2008.
    • Australian Defence Force Journal, "In the Wake of an Admiral: Some Reflections on Sea Command in the Modern Era", Issue 184, 2011.
    • Struggle For A Solution: The RAN and the Acquisition of a Surface to Air Missile Capability, Sea Power Centre Working Paper No.2., P.D. Jones & J.V.P. Goldrick, 2000.
    • Task Group Command, Centre for Defence Command, Leadership and Management Studies, Command papers, No. 3, 2004.
    • Jane's Fighting Ships (1979–1989).
    • Vanguard to Trident: British Naval Policy Since World War II, Eric Grove, US Naval Institute Press, 1987.
    • King's Ships Were At Sea, J.V.P. Goldrick, US Naval Institute Press, 1984.[4]