Operation ASTUTE: Brigadier Bill Sowry
Brigadier Bill Sowry
Commander International Stabilisation Force (CISF), East Timor
Brigadier Bill Sowry is the Commander of the multi-national International Stabilisation Force in East Timor. He assumed command on 16 January 2009, and will serve on Operation ASTUTE for nine months.
Brigadier Sowry has more than 29 years service in the Army and has commanded engineer units at every level from troop, squadron, and regiment to group level. Brigadier Sowry is a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, India and the Australian Defence College. He also has degrees in Engineering, Science, Management and International Relations. His operational service includes the UN Mine Clearance Training Team based in Peshawar, Pakistan, in 1990 and in November 2003 the then Colonel Sowry deployed on Operation ANODE as the Military Advisor to the Special Coordinator for the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands. His previous appointment also involved the planning of engineer contributions to the deployments in the Solomon Islands, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Aceh, Iraq and Afghanistan.
His previous appointment was within the Defence Organisation’s Infrastructure Division where he was on the team developing the Defence White Paper and Companion Reviews. Before this he was responsible for the delivery of a number of large Public Private Partnership projects.
Bill Sowry and his wife Kath, also a serving Army officer, have four children. His leisure interests include skiing, swimming, military history, gardening and woodwork.
