James Kidd

Brigadier James (Billy) Kidd DSM (and Bar) CSM commenced service at the Australian Defence Force Academy in 1997 and graduated as a light infantry officer from the Royal Military College Duntroon in December 2000.

He completed the Special Air Service Selection Course in 2004 and has held command appointments within Special Operations Command at the troop, squadron, regimental and component level.

Brigadier Kidd has served as a Senior Instructor at the Royal Military College Duntroon, as a senior planner within a Joint Agency Task Force, as a staff officer within Army Headquarters and as the Defence Advisor at the Australian High Commission in Papua New Guinea. His most recent appointment was as Commander Joint Force Special Operations Component.

He has seen operational service in East Timor, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Iraq and Afghanistan, and has served alongside regional and international counterparts over many years of operations, exercises and other engagements.

Brigadier Kidd completed the Australian Command and Staff Course in 2013 and the Defence and Strategic Studies Course at the Australian War College in 2022. He completed postgraduate studies at the University of Cambridge as a Chief of Army scholar and has completed a Bachelor of Arts (University of New South Wales), a Master of Military and Defence Studies (Advanced) (Australian National University), a Master of International Relations (Deakin University) and a Master of Philosophy (University of Cambridge).

Brigadier Kidd assumed his current role as the Army G5 (Future Land Warfare) in January 2026.

Brigadier Kidd is married to Alexandra, with whom he has two daughters and two kelpies. He is a keen participant in ultra-endurance sports and therefore enjoys occasional food and sleep deprivation.