David Shackleton (admiral)

{{Infobox military person

|name= David John Shackleton

|image=

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|birth_date= {{birth date and age|1948|03|02|df=yes}}

|death_date=

|birth_place= Leeds, United Kingdom

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|allegiance= Australia

|branch= Royal Australian Navy

|serviceyears= 1966–2002

|rank= Vice Admiral

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|unit=

|commands= Chief of Navy (1999–02)
{{HMAS|Brisbane|D 41|6}} (1992)
{{HMAS|Derwent|DE 49|6}} (1989)

|battles= Vietnam War

|awards= Officer of the Order of Australia
Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States)

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}}

Vice Admiral David John Shackleton {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|AO}} (born 2 March 1948) is a retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), who served as Chief of Navy from 1999 to 2002.

Early life

Shackleton was born in Leeds, United Kingdom, on 2 March 1948 to Ernest Shackleton and Elise Wilson. The family immigrated to Australia in 1959 and settled in Adelaide, where Shackleton was educated at Croydon High School.{{cite web|title=Vice Admiral David Shackleton|url=http://connectweb.com.au/view-biography.aspx?pid=10753&p=WWA|website=ConnectWeb|publisher=Who's Who in Australia Online|accessdate=20 April 2016}}

Naval career

Shackleton joined the Navy in 1966 under Supplementary List (Executive) Scheme, and saw service in Vietnam while qualifying as a seaman officer.[http://www.australiandefence.com.au/D09BDA30-F806-11DD-8DFE0050568C22C9 Vice Admiral David Shackleton, AO, RAN, Chief of Navy] Australian Defence Magazine He was given command of the destroyer escort {{HMAS|Derwent|DE 49|6}} in 1988,[http://www.techportaustralia.com/Biography.mvc/Detail/DefenceSAAdvisoryBoard/16 Techport Australia] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716200938/http://www.techportaustralia.com/Biography.mvc/Detail/DefenceSAAdvisoryBoard/16 |date=16 July 2011 }} was the Maritime commander for the opposing forces during Exercise Kangaroo 1989, and reached the rank of captain in 1989. He commanded the destroyer {{HMAS|Brisbane|D 41|6}} from 1991 to 1992, and was promoted to commodore in 1993.

He is a graduate of the RAN Staff College and the Joint Services Staff College, and has earned a Master of Business Administration (executive) from Monash University. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

He was promoted to rear admiral in 1998, and then vice admiral and Chief of Navy in 1999. He initiated various organisational changes across the Navy.

He was a senior Navy witness to the Senate Enquiry into the Children overboard affair.[http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2002/s513330.htm 7.30 Report – 25 March 2002: Defence Dept secretary offered to resign] He was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2000,{{Cite web |url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1129658 |title=It's an honour – Order of Australia |access-date=20 November 2010 |archive-date=4 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204003824/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1129658 |url-status=live }} and Commander of the United States Legion of Merit in 2001. He retired from the RAN in 2002.