Commander Mark Tandy
Commander Mark Tandy, CSC and Bar, RAN is an officer of the Royal Australian Navy and formerly the Warrant Officer of the Navy from 2008 until 2012.
Born in Western Australia and educated in Tennant Creek and Darwin, he joined the Royal Australian Navy from Darwin in 1982 as a radio operator.
Commander Tandy has been fortunate to have had two careers in his 39 years of naval service - as a communications specialist he served on a Frigate, Patrol Boats, Logistic Support/Training and Replenishment ships. In a tri-Service instructor role he delivered international specialist training in Australia, Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand, and leadership training in the United Kingdom. Shore postings have included HMAS Albatross (Nowra), HMAS Coonawarra (Darwin), HMAS Harman (Canberra), HMAS Cerberus (Melbourne), ADF Recruiting Unit (Townsville), HMAS Creswell (Jervis Bay) and Strategic Headquarters (Canberra).
As Warrant Officer of the Navy, he formed part of the senior leadership group within Navy and was charged with championing and leading far-reaching cultural and financial reform in Navy through the New Generation Navy and Strategic Reform Programs.
Commander Tandy was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross in the 2011 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for outstanding achievement as Warrant Officer of the Navy.
Since commissioning in 2012, then Lieutenant Commander Tandy was posted to various roles including Executive Officer HMAS Moreton (Brisbane), a Maritime Planner and Staff Officer at the Deployable Joint Force Headquarters (Brisbane), where he deployed to Operation PACIFIC ASSIST (Vanuatu) and participated in Exercises TALISMAN SABRE (USS Blue Ridge in Japan and off the east coast of Australia), NORTHERN RESCUE (Japan) and KEY RESOLVE (South Korea), and performed the Battle Watch Captain role during HMAS Canberra’s (LHD) initial Amphibious Accreditation.
In 2020, Lieutenant Commander Tandy returned to Australia after completing a three year posting as Australia’s Assistant Defence Adviser in Wellington, New Zealand, and then posted to Cairns to assume the role of Officer-in-Charge of Navy’s Indigenous Development Program. He was promoted to Commander in 2020.
Commander Tandy was awarded the Bar to the Conspicuous Service Cross (CSC and Bar) in the 2022 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for outstanding devotion to duty as the Officer-in-Charge of Navy’s Indigenous Development Program.
Commander Tandy holds a Master in Maritime Studies from the Australian Command and Staff College at Weston Creek (University of Wollongong).
Commander Tandy assumed Command of Navy Headquarters - Tasmania, located Anglesea Barracks in Hobart on 17 December 2021.
