Top United States honour for Australian procurement chief

Recently-retired chief executive of Australia’s Defence Materiel Organisation, Mr Warren King, has been awarded the United States Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service in an investiture ceremony in Washington DC today.

The Secretary of the Australian Department of Defence, Mr Dennis Richardson AO and acting Chief Executive Officer of the Defence Materiel Organisation Harry Dunstall, congratulated Mr King on the prestigious award.

Mr King was nominated for the award in recognition of his leadership and project management expertise as Chief Executive Officer of the Defence Materiel Organisation.

The Honourable Frank Kendall III, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, representing the United States Secretary of Defense, presented the medal to Mr King in a ceremony at the Pentagon in the presence of His Excellency the Honourable Kim Beazley AC, Australian Ambassador to the United States, Mr King’s family, and senior United States defence officials.

Under Secretary Kendall said that Mr King’s award recognised the successful partnership between the United States and Australia and Mr King’s personal contribution to cooperation in new, leading-edge technology areas.

“Mr King played a significant role in the Australia-United States Ministerial Defense Acquisition Committee where he enhanced the connectivity at the operational and working levels across cooperative acquisition, logistics support, research and development, and the test and evaluation of defence equipment,” Under Secretary Kendall said.

“The distinctive accomplishments of Mr King reflect great credit upon himself and the Australian Department of Defence.”

Mr King stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of the Defence Materiel Organisation on 27 February 2015 after a distinguished career spanning almost five decades in Defence and industry, including 20 years of service with the Royal Australian Navy and a short-term secondment to work under the United States Secretary of the Navy on acquisition reform.

Media note:
Imagery is available at the following link: http://images.defence.gov.au/S20151357

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