Captain Viktor Pilicic
Captain Viktor Pilicic, CSC, RAN joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1987, and after graduating from the Naval College completed his training in HMA Ships Brisbane, Geelong and Parramatta. As an Officer of the Watch, he served in HMA Ships Westralia and Swan, and for a brief period in HMA Submarine Ovens, quickly realising the “silent” service was not his forte.
Lieutenant Pilicic graduated as a Warfare Officer in 1995, served in HMA Ships Torrens and Anzac, then, following further specialist Warfare training, returned to sea in 2000 as a Lieutenant Commander and commissioning Operations Officer HMAS Warramunga. During these years, deployments included numerous international exercises and Operations WARDEN (East Timor) and RELEX II (border security).
Ashore from 2002 at Maritime Development, where he achieved First Pass Approval for the Air Warfare Destroyer Project, in September 2003 Lieutenant Commander Pilicic embarked in HMAS Kanimbla as Executive Officer. Significantly, Kanimbla sailed on New Year’s Eve for Operation SUMATRA ASSIST as part of Australia’s disaster relief effort to Banda Aceh, Indonesia following the devastating 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.
Lieutenant Commander Pilicic attended and graduated from Joint Staff Course in 2006, and following 12 months staff duties at Headquarters Joint Operations Command (HQJOC), assumed command Armidale Class Patrol Boat Crew Attack Four in 2008. Over the next two years in command of the crew and embarked in HMA Ships Albany and Larrakia, he participated primarily in border security and fisheries activities under Operation RESOLUTE.
Promoted to Commander in 2010, subsequent appointments included Operations Officer Northern Command; Chief Staff Officer Patrol Boats; and Commander Plans Maritime Operations. Commander Pilicic also deployed to Bahrain in 2015 in support of Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) and Commander Joint Task Force 633 (ADF National Command Middle Eastern Region) under Operation MANITOU. Returning in 2016, he was a Watch Commander at Headquarters Joint Operations Command before assuming command of the Darwin shore establishment HMAS Coonawarra at the end of that year.
Following two fulfilling years in command, for which he was awarded a Conspicuous Service Cross (CSC) in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours List, Commander Pilicic returned to Canberra for Staff Officer Duties in Advanced & Strategic Capabilities Branch, VCDF Group. Pilicic holds a Masters in Maritime Studies through the University of Wollongong.
On 17 December 2021 the newly promoted Captain Pilicic assumed Command of HMAS Kuttabul, Navy’s premier Naval Base and home to the Fleet.
