Greg de Somer
Biography
Lieutenant Colonel Greg de Somer graduated from the Officer Cadet School, Portsea, in 1984 and was commissioned into the Royal Australian Infantry Corps. His subsequent military career has involved a wide range of regimental, staff and instructional appointments, and extensive experience (three postings) in special forces. His most recent regimental posting was Officer Commanding 3 SAS Squadron, The Special Air Service Regiment in 1993-94. In 1996-97 he was a tactics instructor and team leader at Tactics Wing at the Land Warfare Centre, Canungra. In 1998 he was the Chief of Army Visiting Fellow at the Asia-Australia Institute, University of New South Wales. Lieutenant Colonel de Somer is currently posted to the Army's 'think tank', the Land Warfare Studies Centre, as a Senior Research Fellow. His overseas service includes a posting in 1991-92 to the United Kingdom at the Directorate of Special Forces and SAS Group. Lieutenant Colonel de Somer holds a Bachelor of Economics (1980) and a Bachelor of Laws (1982), both from the University of Sydney; a Practical Legal Training Certificate from the New South Wales College of Law (1983); a Graduate Diploma of Defence IV Studies (1995); and a Masters of Defence Studies (1997) from Deakin University. He is also a 1995 graduate of the Army's Command and Staff College. He was admitted as a solicitor by the New South Wales Legal Practitioners Board in 1998. Lieutenant Colonel de Somer is currently enrolled as a PhD candidate at the School of Politics, Australian Defence Force Academy, where he is writing a thesis entitled 'The Redefinition of Asia'.
His Masters sub-thesis, 'China's Approach to Nuclear Arms Control in the Post-Cold War Era', attracted significant professional and academic interest. Lieutenant Colonel de Somer has been a regular contributor to the Australian Defence Force Journal.
(Last updated: October 1999)
