Legal eagle to stay

By CAPT John McPherson

Senior Legal Officer CMDR Gerry Purcell is the last Navy officer in East Timor and could remain there until 2005.

Photo: CAPT John McPherson

Commander Gerry Purcell is believed to be Navy’s last man standing as part of the UN contingent in East Timor.

He has a busy job as the Senior Legal Officer to the peacekeeping force (PKF) which is assisting this newest of nations.

And he still has a little time to run before he will be able to get back to Melbourne to see his Aussie Rules football team, Carlton, play again.

CMDR Purcell arrived in East Timor in early February 2004 and is expected to remain with the peacekeeping force during the official transition period between the United Nations Mission in Support of East Timor (UNMISET) and the follow-on mission (FOM) due to be in place until, possibly, May 2005.

The UN Security Council has approved the FOM for a further six months from May 20, 2004, with an option for a further six months upon review.

One of CMDR Purcell’s lasting memories of East Timor will be the “high level of motivation and cooperation between the various national contingents”.

Raised in the Victorian country towns of Shepparton and Warrnambool, Gerry Purcell went to the Royal Australian Naval College, Jervis Bay, in 1962 at the age 16 as a cadet midshipman.

He served in the permanent Navy for 26 years - mostly as a seaman officer and navigation specialist PWO (N). He studied law while still serving several postings as a legal officer in Canberra.

CMDR Purcell is also co-author of the Discipline Law Manual and was project officer for implementation of the DFDA in 1985.

His last job was as Executive Officer of Cerberus in 1986-87.

He left the Navy for a job as a solicitor before starting his own practice at the Victorian Bar.

“Over the years I’ve been fairly active as a member of the Navy Reserve Legal Panel in Melbourne and was invited to take on the job as Legal Adviser to the UN Force Commander on the basis that I had a service background and appropriate skills and experience,” he said.

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