John Hartley

Major General John Curtis Hartley, (born 5 January 1943) is an Australian defence and intelligence strategist and a retired officer of the Australian Army. He joined the army via the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1962, was commissioned into the Royal Australian Infantry Corps and spent much of his career in military intelligence. He twice deployed on operations during the Vietnam War, during which he was Mentioned in Despatches on two occasions and seriously wounded, and commanded the Albury–Wodonga Military Area and the Army Apprentices' School (1984–87). He served as General Officer Commanding Training Command (1991–92), Director of the Defence Intelligence Organisation (1992–95), Deputy Chief of Army (1995–98), and Land Commander Australia (1998–00). Since his retirement from the army in 2000, Hartley has been involved in community and veterans' organisations and is an active contributor to discussion on defence and strategic issues.

Early life John Curtis Hartley was born in Cardiff, Wales, on 5 January 1943 to Dorothy Ann Prosser and John Curtis Hartley. The family settled in Australia in 1953, where Hartley was educated at Nambour State High School on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. He later obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Queensland. On graduation, he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Royal Australian Infantry Corps on 15 December 1965 and posted to a platoon command in the 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (5RAR). Shortly after, 5RAR was mobilised for deployment to Vietnam. The battalion underwent three months of rigorous training prior to emplaning for Vietnam, arriving on 8 May. Within two weeks, Hartley and 5RAR were engaged in active operations. Alongside the United States 503rd Infantry Regiment and the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, 5RAR took part in Operation Hardihood to clear an area in Phước Tuy Province to establish Nui Dat, a base of operations for the 1st Australian Task Force.

Lieutenant John Hartley (centre, with Owen Gun) and soldiers of 5RAR guard Vietnamese civilians following a house sweep, 26 May 1966. Hartley returned from Vietnam in May 1967 and was posted as aide-de-camp to the General Officer Commanding Northern Command in Brisbane. appointed General Staff Officer (Grade 3) Operations at headquarters 6th Task Force in 1968, In April 1970 he returned to Vietnam for a second tour, this time as a military advisor with the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam. In this capacity, Hartley was a Senior Advisor to a battalion of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He was seriously wounded while operating in Phước Tuy Province on 21 March 1971 and was evacuated to Australia on 5 April, but in recognition of his service Hartley was awarded a Cross of Gallantry from the South Vietnamese government, as well as an Army Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster and "V" device and an Air Medal from the United States. He was posted as Staff Officer (Grade 2) Operations and Intelligence to the 4th Military District in 1974, and appointed a senior instructor at the School of Military Intelligence in Canungra, Queensland, from 1976. His rank was made substantive from 14 July the same year.

Hartley was appointed as Staff Officer (Grade 1) Operations at the headquarters 1st Division in 1981, made Deputy Director of Military Intelligence at Australian Army headquarters in Canberra in 1983 and, was posted as Commander of the Albury–Wodonga Military Area and Commandant of the Army Apprentices' School. He completed the course at the United States Army War College in 1987–88 and, with the rank of brigadier, was posted as Military Secretary at Australian Army headquarters from 1988. As a major general, Hartley was appointed General Officer Commanding Training Command in 1991, and succeeded Major General John Baker as Director of the Defence Intelligence Organisation in 1992. After three years as head of Australia's military intelligence agency, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Army in 1995. In 1998, Hartley was awarded a Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and made Land Commander Australia; his final military appointment before he retired in 2000 after 38 years of military service. He has been Institute Director and CEO of the strategic research institute Future Directions International since 2009,

Hartley has two daughters, and lives in the Perth suburb of Nedlands, Western Australia.

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