Ian D. Langford

Brigadier Ian Douglas Langford, (born 15 February 1975) is a retired senior officer of the Australian Army. He is a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Marine Corps Command and Staff College and the School of Advanced Warfighting. Langford was the Director General Future Land Capability for the Australian Army from 2018 until 2022; and previous to that was the acting head of Land Capability. He served as commanding officer of 2nd Commando, in which role he led combat operations in Timor Leste, Afghanistan, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and the South-West Pacific; with command of Special Operations Command in Afghanistan. For his service, Langford was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross on three occasions – the only person to date to receive that honour.

Early life and education Langford was born in Liverpool, New South Wales, to a military family, moving schools frequently. He enlisted in the army immediately after completing high school in Victoria.

Langford went on to study management at Southern Cross University (2001) followed by a Master of Arts from Deakin University (2005) a Master of Defence Studies (2009) and a Master of Strategic Studies (2010) from the US Marine Corps War College and the School of Advanced Warfighting in Quantico, USA in 2009–10.

Langford has participated in post graduate studies at the Harvard Kennedy School. As a young Lieutenant, he was deployed to Rifle Company Butterworth and later the Solomon Islands.

On promotion to captain in 2002, Langford served as Deputy Operations Officer in the peacekeeping mission, Operation Bel Isi II in Bougainville. Returning to 4 RAR (Cdo) as Operations Officer, Langford organised sub-units in preparation for Operation Bastille in Iraq.

In 2004, Langford was appointed Aide-de-camp to Special Operations Commander Duncan Lewis, and deployed in 2005 to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Israel, Lebanon and Syria.

Command in special forces In command of Special Operations Task Group, Langford had oversight of the training and mentoring of Afghan National Army elements by 2nd Commando Regiment; seen here in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan, March 26, 2012. Having been promoted to the rank of Major, Langford became the officer commanding for 4 RAR (Cdo), a special forces unit, from 2006 to 2007, deploying his Commando Company Group to Timor-Leste for Operation Astute, then to the South-West Pacific evacuation in Operation Quickstep.

Following studies in the United States and promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, Langford was appointed acting Commanding Officer of 2nd Commando Regiment.

Langford returned to Afghanistan in 2011, serving as the Plans Officer at Special Operations HQ and commanded the Special Operations Task Group in Afghanistan 2012–13. For his service, he was awarded a Bar to his DSC in the 2014 Australia Day Honours, as Lieutenant Colonel I. Following this period of combat leadership, Langford wrote a major paper on Australia's special forces

After it was reported that members of the 2012-2013 rotation commanded by Langford were alleged to have committed 16 war crimes detailed in the Brereton Report, Langford attempted to hand back his medal, but was prevented from doing so. The Sydney Morning Herald journalist Chris Masters, who reported extensively on the misconduct of elements of the SASR in Afghanistan, said it was a matter of misfortune that these men were in the rotation when Langford was given command, and that he is considered to be not at fault by Justice Brereton.

Langford became the Staff Officer for Strategy in the Directorate of Army Research and Analysis before being selected to command the 2nd Commando Regiment, including a further deployment to Iraq as CO SOTG-Iraq. This service was recognised with a promotion to full Colonel; and with a Second Bar to his DSC in early 2016, "for distinguished leadership in warlike operations as part of a Special Operations Force on Operation Okra from September 2014 to February 2015." In this role he established an office to explore robotic and autonomous systems, to give the army a "capability edge."

In February 2019, Brigadier Ian Langford gave a lecture titled ‘Accelerated Warfare' a military concept that would accelerate "the velocity of the engagements beyond the speed at which the enemy can target, and precisely execute and comprehend the events unfolding."

By 2022, Langford was described as "one of the army's most respected and decorated leaders."

The resignation was described as "a massive loss" to the Australian Defence Force, since he had been a military leader in the mould of American Admiral William H. McRaven; "super smart, strategic and widely respected." He was made a strategic adviser to UBH Group, who provide defence services in the information domain. In public discussions, Langford has challenged the defence community on Australia's lack of military preparedness, that it lacks armoured protection, and lags behind potential adversaries in acquiring unmanned capabilities.

Since 2023, he has served with UNSW Canberra—being made full professor in 2024—and an adjunct lecturer at Charles Sturt University. Also in 2024, Langford was made the Executive Director of Security and Defence PLuS, a program of the PLuS Alliance which is a joint higher education partnership of King's College London, Arizona State University and UNSW. In the role, it's understood he will lead Security and Defence PLuS operations, as a complement to the AUKUS security agreement.