Roger Noble

AO, DSC, CSC (born 16 March 1966) is a retired senior Australian Army officer and diplomat. He joined the army via the Australian Defence Force Academy in 1984 and was commissioned into the Royal Australian Armoured Corps. He commanded the 2nd Cavalry Regiment (c. 2004–05), Al Muthanna Task Group (2005) and the 3rd Brigade (2013–15), and deployed six times on operations to East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq. He was seconded to the United States Army in 2016 and served as Deputy Coalition Land Force Commander, Iraq, as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, and subsequently as Deputy Commanding General – North in the United States Army Pacific (2017–19). He retired from the Australian Army in 2021 and served as Australian Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism from February 2021 to February 2023, before joining Laing O'Rourke

The Pittwater House School in Sydney.^[4] He is married to New York-born author and journalist Daniella Brodsky, with whom he has two daughters.^[2][3][5]

War in Afghanistan.^[2][3] On leaving the Middle East, he was posted as Defence Advisor to the Australian government's Joint Standing Committee for Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and thereafter to Army Headquarters as Staff Officer Grade 1 Concepts. Noble was awarded a Conspicuous Service Cross in the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours in recognition of his "outstanding achievement" in this and earlier staff postings.^[2][7]

Australian Command and Staff College as Director of Studies – Land. The following year, he was awarded a John Monash Scholarship to read for a Master of International Public Policy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University.^[2] Noble was the first member of the Australian Defence Force to receive a John Monash Scholarship. He graduated in 2009, having conducted research into strategy in conflict management.^[9] Noble also holds a Master of Business Administration from Deakin University and a Master of Defence Studies from the University of Canberra.^[2]

Member of the Order of Australia in the 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours.^[10][11]

war against the Islamic State. In an interview with ABC News, Noble expressed confidence that the war against the Islamic State was being won but, remarking on the conduct of warfare in Iraq, conceded that "it's complicated" and that there was "a lot of conventional direct ground combat with high casualties and high risk".^[12] He was promoted major general in November 2016 and,^[13] the following March, succeeded fellow Australian, Major General Greg Bilton, as Deputy Commanding General – North of the United States Army Pacific in Hawaii.^[14] After almost two years, Noble relinquished the command to Major General Daniel McDaniel in January 2019.^[15] He was subsequently appointed Deputy Chief of Joint Operations in Headquarters Joint Operations Command. Noble swapped positions with Rear Admiral Jaimie Hatcher in September 2019, becoming Head Military Strategic Commitments within the Vice Chief of Defence Force Group.^[16] In this role Noble was responsible for the strategic management of potential and present commitments for the Australian Defence Force.^[17]

Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2021 Australia Day Honours in recognition of his "exceptional strategic leadership, planning and coordination" in a number of senior roles.^[18] Shortly after, on 18 February, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marise Payne, announced Noble's appointment as Australia's next Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism. In this role, he led "Australia's international engagement on counter-terrorism" and represented Australia at international forums on counter-terrorism issues.^[19][20] Noble stepped down from the role in February 2023, and later that month joined Laing O'Rourke as General Manager – Defence.^[21]