MAJGEN Anthony (Tony) Rawlins was born in Narrabri, NSW on 24 Mar 1968. He attended the Australian Defence Force Academy and then the Royal Military College, graduating in 1989 into the Royal Australian Armoured Corps. MAJGEN Rawlins is currently serving as Head Force Design.
His career has been dominated by command and planning appointments in Army and joint billets, and operational service. He has commanded at Troop, Squadron and Regimental level in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, also serving on exchange with the Queens Royal Hussars in Germany on Exercise Long Look (1994). His most recent command appointment was as Commander 7th Combat Brigade (2016-2018).
MAJGEN Rawlins attended Australian Command and Staff College in 2002, and the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies in 2013. He was subsequently posted to the Directorate of Officer Career Management – Army (DOCM-A) as Career Adviser Armoured and Intelligence. On promotion to LTCOL he served as the Senior Career Adviser before assuming command of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment in 2006.
MAJGEN Rawlins has also fulfilled a number of staff, training and representational appointments including Divisional Officer at ADFA (1996-1998), Aide-de-Camp to the Governor General (1997-1998), Careers Advisor and Senior Careers Advisor in DOCM-A (2002-2005), Instructor at Australian (2008) and Canadian Command and Staff Colleges (2009-2010), Colonel – Plans at Headquarters 1st Division/DJFHQ (2010-2012), Director General – Military Strategic Commitments (2014 – 2016) and Deputy Chief of Army (2019-2021).
Operationally he has served as a military observer on UNTSO (1999) and deployed as the Commanding Officer of Overwatch Battle Group West – 2 (OBG(W)-2) in Iraq from Nov 2006 – Jun 2007. He most recently deployed as the Chief of Joint Operations (CJ3) on Headquarters International Security Assistance Force (HQ ISAF) from Jan – Oct 2014.
MAJGEN Rawlins was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross for command of OBG(W)-2. In 2013 he was awarded a Chief of Army Commendation for his joint amphibious capability development work as Colonel – Plans at HQ 1 Div/DJFHQ (2010-2012), and SEC/CDF Commendation for his work in transferring the Bushmaster into service with the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (2018). He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2019 Australia Day Honours List.
MAJGEN Rawlins has completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Bachelor of Laws (Honours), and three Masters Degrees in Management, Arts and Defence Studies. In 2011 he was admitted as a Barrister/Solicitor to the ACT Supreme Court.
He and his wife Sarah have a young son, Zachary, and his leisure interests include all motorcycling genres, mountain biking, kayaking, and drumming.