Elizabeth Cosson AM CSC (b.1958) enlisted in the Australian Army in 1979 and was the first woman to be promoted to the rank of Major General in the Australian Army in 2007. Selected with 32 other women for the first male-equivalent officer training course, these officer-cadets were segregated from men, and taught weapons and tactics as well as administration. The course was groundbreaking for the army, and in some cases the women wore the boots of school cadets. Throughout her distinguished military career, Elizabeth Cosson held significant logistics and administrative positions. She received a commendation for her work in improving the availability and deployment of Black Hawk helicopters in Cambodia. In 1999 she was responsible for logistics planning for the East Timor operation, followed by her appointment as Chief of Staff of the Peace monitoring group in Bougainville for which she was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross in 2001. On her return, she was seconded to the Joint Standing Committee for Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade in the House of Representatives. In 2006, Elizabeth was appointed to investigate and report on the repatriation of the body of Private Kovco from Iraq. Her draft report, contained on a CD that was inadvertently left in a public computer at an airport lounge, which was the cause of embarrassment to Elizabeth and Defence. Despite this, given her stellar service record, in 2007, as head of National Operations, she was responsible for the management of integrated service delivery to 80 defence force bases across Australia. At a time when only 13% of the defence forces’ members were women, she was promoted to the level of two star general. After 31 years of service in a range of appointments in Australia and overseas, Major General Cosson retired from full-time military service in November 2010. Following this remarkable career in the Australian Army, Ms Cosson was appointed to the Australian Public Service as First Assistant Secretary of the Client and Commemorations Division at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. In this position she was also responsible for administering the work of the ANZAC Centenary Advisory Board and delivering commemorative services. Since November 2012, Ms Cosson is a Deputy Secretary in the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. In 2011, she was made a Member of the Military Division of the Order of Australia (AM) for her contributions to the Army and for delivering organisational reform. She is married to James and they live in Canberra.
