A King’s Birthday honour as a senior officer and cyber security leader is a stratospheric leap from Wing Commander Mark Jobson’s enlistment in the Air Force as a 16-year-old aircraftsman in 1983.

He credits his initial service and radio technician apprenticeship under the mentorship of RAAF non-commissioned officers as setting him up for a successful civilian career at some of Australia and the globe’s largest companies.

“I wanted to be able to take the experience gained over that period and bring it back into Defence,” Wing Commander Jobson said.

He received a Conspicuous Service Medal in the 2026 King’s Birthday honours for meritorious achievement as Director Cyber Security Operations in the Cyber Operations Division of Joint Capabilities Group.

The Conspicuous Service Medal is a recognition of the achievements of everyone in the Cyber Operations Division to work to address increasingly active and advanced threats to Defence.

“Cyber is a team sport,” Wing Commander Jobson said.

“It has taken a lot of work by many people to drive the changes in how Defence carries out cyber security operations that led to the nomination.”

Wing Commander Jobson wished to acknowledge his current chain of command, from Colonel Timothy Pike to Air Commodore Paul Pettigrew and Major General Warren Gould, Head of Cyber Operations Division.

“They have given me the freedom of manoeuvre to push the boundaries and their trust emboldened me to take well-considered risks to enable cyber security operations,” he said.

No node can operate in isolation and Wing Commander Jobson sees the Conspicuous Service Medal as a special recognition of his family’s support for him to be in Canberra for the past four years. 

“This feels like it also recognises the sacrifice that my family has made to enable me to do something where I felt I could have a significant impact,” he said.