Defence Leaders: Army
RSM-A Stephen Ward
Regimental Sergeant Major of the Army
Warrant Officer Stephen Ward was born in Bundaberg, QLD on 11 May 1956. He enlisted in the Australian Regular Army on 23 January 1979. From 1RTB he was allocated to the Royal Australian Infantry Corps and completed his Initial Employment Training at the 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, in Townsville.
Six years in 1 RAR saw him complete a number of Regimental appointments through to Platoon Sergeant. After 9 months as a Pl Sgt in D Coy, Warrant Officer Ward was posted to Depot Coy, Infantry Centre, in Singleton where he spent 2 and a half years as a Pl Sgt/Comd of the IET platoons.
This posting was followed by 2 years as a Pl Sgt/Comd in 8/9 RAR, where he completed both his subjects for Warrant Officer. In 1989 Warrant Officer Ward was promoted to Warrant Officer Class Two and posted to the United States Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia where he was the Team Sergeant Major of Tactics Team Four. This team was responsible for instructing all new instructors marching into the school, officer selection courses, NCO promotion courses and pre-command courses in the application of the decision making process. Whilst at the US Army Infantry School he was awarded the Instructor of the Year for 1991.
In 1992 Warrant Officer Ward was posted back to 8/9 RAR as a Company Sergeant Major. During this time the first Ready Reserve Company was trained. The culmination of this training was a five week exercise in Brunei. In 1994 he was posted to 12/40 RTR, Hobart, as the operations/training Warrant Officer for the battalion and Support Company. He successfully completed the 1/94 Regimental Sergeant Major Course.
In January 1996 Warrant Officer Ward was promoted Warrant Officer Class One and posted as the Regimental Sergeant Major of the 8th/7th Battalion, The Royal Victoria Regiment at Ranger Barracks in Ballarat. For his work as the RSM of the 8th/7th Battalion and for his development of training at the 12th/40th Battalion, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 1998 Queens Birthday Day honours list. After two years as RSM 8/7 RVR, he attended the Army School of Languages and studied Indonesian language and culture. Upon graduation from the school in Dec 1998 he was posted, to what has probably been the highlight of his career, as the Regimental Sergeant Major of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment. During this period he participated in OP PLUMB BOB and the Battalion’s preparation for operations in East Timor. He then deployed with the Battalion in October 2000.
In January 2001, Warrant Officer Ward was posted to the Soldier Career Management Agency as the Career Manager for regimental Sergeant and Staff-Sergeant – Infantry.
In December 2002 Warrant Officer Ward was posted as the Regimental Sergeant Major of the 3rd Brigade. After completing two years as RSM 3 Bde he was posted as RSM 1 Div/DJFHQ. Subsequently in January 2007 he was appointed as the RSM of Land Command. He took up his appointment as RSM-A from 14 December 2007.
Warrant Officer Ward is married to Rhonda and has one child and two grand-children. Warrant Officer Ward has many interests including travel, woodworking and running. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree, with distinction, from the University of Southern Queensland. He continues to study the Indonesian language.