Office of Military Affairs

Lieutenant General Cheryl Pearce of Australia is the Acting Military Adviser for Peacekeeping Operations, and brings to this position more than 35 years of military experience.

Prior to her current appointment, Lieutenant General Pearce served as the Deputy Military Adviser for Peacekeeping Operations, the Deputy Chief of the Australian Army and as the Force Commander, United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus from 2019 to 2021. Lieutenant General Pearce previously held positions as the Commandant of the Australian Defence Force Academy (2017-2018), the Commander of the Australian Joint Task Force in Afghanistan (2016), the Australian Army Headquarters Chief of Staff (2013-2016) and as the Director of Special Operations Support (2010-2012). Lieutenant General Pearce also served as Commandant of the Defence Police Training Centre and Commanding Officer of the 1st Military Police Battalion. Lieutenant General Pearce was the Australian Army’s Provost-Marshal as well as a Military Observer with the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor in 2002.

Lieutenant General Pearce holds a Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies from the University of New England in Armidale, a Masters in Policing, Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism from the Macquarie University in Sydney and a Masters of Arts in Defence Studies from the Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia.