Peter Leahy

Peter Leahy was appointed the foundation Director of the National Security Institute on 7 October 2008. He retired from the Army in July 2008 year after a 37 year career as a soldier. As an infantry officer the focus of his career was with soldiers in command, training and staff appointments. He was fortunate enough to command at almost every level in the Army and to serve on exchange in Hong Kong with the Gurkhas and in the United States at the Armys Command and General Staff College.

Peter concluded his career in the Army with a 6 year appointment as the Chief of Army. His period of command was marked by the continuous global deployment of Australian soldiers on high tempo complex and demanding combat operations. During his tenure as Chief of Army he was responsible for the rapid expansion and development of the Army, including the Special Forces to enable it to cope with the many changing demands of modern conflict and a changing security environment. His focus in developing the Army was to provide a hardened and networked Army with increased adaptability and flexibility and the ability to provide a broad range of domestic, expeditionary and development options to Government