MAJOR GENERAL R.A. GREY, AO, DSO
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Major General Ronald Alwyn Grey was born on 2 July 1930 in Perth, Western Australia, and was educated at Perth Modern School before entering the Royal Military College, Duntroon in February 1948. He graduated as a Lieutenant in the Royal Australian Infantry Corps in December 1951 and was soon after posted to 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR) in Korea as a platoon commander. He was twice wounded during his year tour in this war theatre. He was then posted to Hara Mura in Japan as an instructor at the Commonwealth Division Battle School. He returned to Australia in 1954 and filled regimental and instructional appointments including a tour as a Company Commander with 2 RAR before attending the Royal Military College of Science and the Staff College, Camberley, in the United Kingdom, in 1961-1962 In 1965 he was seconded to HQ 17th Ghurkha Division in Borneo during the Confrontation with Indonesia. For this service, he was Mentioned in Despatches.
Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1967 he became Chief Instructor of Battle Wing at the Jungle Training Centre at Canungra. He also served periods of short-term duty in Vietnam in 1964, 1965, 1968 and 1969.
He commanded 7 RAR from November 1968 until May 1971, which included the Battalion's second tour of duty in Vietnam where he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and the Cross of Gallantry with Palm by the Republic of Vietnam.
After attending the Joint Services Staff College in 1971, he was promoted to Colonel and appointed Director of Plans at Army Headquarters. This was followed by appointment as Australian Army Representative in London from 1973 to 1977 during which time he was promoted to Brigadier. He was a member of the Australian Delegation to the Conference on International Humanitarian Law in Armed Conflicts at Geneva in 1974 and 1975. Then, after attendance at the Royal College of Defence Studies in the United Kingdom in 1977, he was posted as Director-General of Operations and Plans at Army Office in Canberra. In 1978, he was promoted to Major General and appointed Chief of Operations-Army. This was followed in 1930 by appointment as General Officer Commanding Field Force Command In late 1982,
Major General Grey was requested to assume the appointment of Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, and was sworn in by the Chief Justice of the High Court in February 1983. While in this appointment, he was Chairman of the Management Committee of the Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence for one year and he led the Australian delegation to the General Assembly of Interpol at Luxembourg in 1984 and in successive years at Washington, Belgrade and Nice.
Major General Grey was admitted as an Officer of the Order of Australia in January 1983 and served for two years as a member of the Council of the Order of Australia.
He was the first Australian to be awarded the United States Secret Service Honour Award and he also received citations from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration.
Major General Grey retired at his request in February 1988 on completing a five-year term as Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police. He died on 20 January 2022.
