Commander Kingsley Scarce
Commander Kingsley Scarce was born in Fairfax County, Virginia, USA. He enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy in 1999 and graduated from the Australian Defence Force Academy in December 2001. He holds a Bachelor of Science (Computer Science), a Masters Degree (Project Management) from the University of New South Wales, and a Masters Degree (Military and Defence Studies) from the Australian National University.
Commander Scarce has held a variety of postings at sea and ashore along with representational appointments. He conducted sea training postings to HMA Ships Tobruk, Arunta, Bunbury and Ipswich, and consolidated his training onboard Ballarat before completing advanced warfare courses in 2006 and 2008. Commander Scarce served as a Principal Warfare Officer and Operations Officer in the frigates Melbourne and Sydney. In late 2014, he returned to Arunta where he served as the Executive Officer, during which time he was privileged to Command Arunta for an extended period due to the absence of the Commanding Officer.
Ashore, Commander Scarce served as a navigation instructor to junior warfare officers in 2005-06. From 2010-12, he served as the Fleet Electronic Warfare Officer to the Navy’s Sea Training Group, charged with the training and certification of the Fleet. Commander Scarce commenced duties as SO2 Maritime Plans to the Navy’s Maritime Operations Branch in mid-2016, before completing the Australian Command and Staff Course (Joint) in 2017. On completion of Staff Course, he served as Deputy Director of C4ISR Design at the Australian Defence Force Headquarters. Returning to Sydney in mid-2019, Commander Scarce served as the Hobart Class DDG Capability Support Manager, responsible for the day-to-day capability management of the HMA Ships Hobart, Brisbane and Sydney.
Representational duties include a secondment to the Royal Canadian Navy frigate Ottawa during 2003-04. Commander Scarce was also based in the United States from 2012-14 where he was a liaison officer to the United States Navy, working on a number of naval surface warfare and special projects including AEGIS and missile defence.
Commander Scarce has seen operational service during numerous RELEX II, CRANBERRY and RESOLUTE patrols on both patrol boats and frigates. In 2009-10 Scarce deployed on Operation SLIPPER as the N3 to the inaugural RAN lead Combined Task Force 150 based out of Bahrain. Commander Scarce returned to Bahrain in 2018, as Australia’s Deputy Maritime Operations Advisor for the Middle East.
Scarce has been awarded the Australian Defence Medal, Defence Long Service Medal, Afghanistan Medial, Australian Active Service Medal with ICAT clasp, Australian Operational Service Medal - Border Protection, and the Australian Operational Service Medal - Greater Middle East Operations. In 2008, he was awarded the Peter Mitchell prize for his performance during advanced warfare training.
Commander Scarce returned to sea in January 2022, on assumption of Command of HMAS Brisbane (III).
