Brigadier James Baker

Brigadier James Baker entered the Army in 1981 and in December of that year graduated from the Officer Cadet School, Portsea into the Royal Australian Corps of Signals.  After completing a number of regimental postings in the fields of communications and electronic warfare, he was posted to the 1st Radio Battalion, United States Marine Corps where he served in the Operations Cell of that unit.  During this two-year exchange position, Brigadier Baker served on operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the Gulf Crisis of 1990/91.  

On returning to Australia, Brigadier Baker was promoted to Major and posted to a staff appointment in Army Headquarters before serving as the Officer Commanding the 103rd Signal Squadron supporting the Ready Deployment Force Brigade.  His first appointment as a Lieutenant Colonel was as a communications plans staff officer at Headquarters Australian Theatre from 1997 to 1999.

Following his appointment as the Commanding Officer of the Army School of Signals (2000 – 2001), Brigadier Baker was posted as an Instructor at the Australian Command and Staff College.  During this posting, Brigadier Baker was seconded to the Operation Bastille Australian Planning Team at Headquarters United States Central Command.   He later deployed to Qatar when the Planning Team transitioned to the Australian National Headquarters – Middle East Area of Operations.    On returning to Australia, Brigadier Baker was appointed as the Director of Policy and Operations Support within the Office of the Chief Information Officer.   During 2005 he served as a special projects officer within the National Security Division, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and in 2006 was the Director of Joint Preparedness Management.  He was posted to his current appointment as the Commader of Joint Task Force 631 in Timor Leste in January 2008.

Brigadier Baker attended secondary schooling at Scotch College, Adelaide and is a graduate of the Australian Command and Staff College, Queenscliff (1994) and the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies (2007).  He holds a Bachelor of Social Science in Human Resource Development, a Graduate Diploma in Engineering, a Diploma in Management and is finalising the requirements for a Master of Arts in Strategic Studies.