Vice Admiral Justin Jones

Justin Jones was born in Adelaide, South Australia. He was educated at Geelong Grammar School and joined the Royal Australian Navy from Melbourne in January 1988. He is a graduate of the Royal Australian Naval College and the Australian Command and Staff College, and holds a Masters in Management Studies, a Master of Arts (Strategy and Policy) and a Graduate Diploma in Defence Studies.​ ​

He is a Principal Warfare Officer with dual specialisations in surface warfare and advanced navigation. He has served in patrol boats, guided missile destroyers, guided missile frigates, amphibious assault ships, and combat support ships. He has deployed operationally to the Middle East Region four times, been force assigned to 11 named operations, and deployed into the Indo-Pacific region on 12 occasions during his career.

He was in command of the guided missile frigate HMAS Newcastle from December 2008 to July 2010. In 2009, the ship was awarded the Duke of Gloucester Cup for overall efficiency and the Spada Shield for the surface combatant foremost in operations. He then had command of the combat support ship HMAS Success from October 2014 to May 2016, during which the ship deployed to the Middle East and North West Indian Ocean on Operation MANITOU. He resumed command of Success from 18 August to 18 November 2016 for an Indian Ocean deployment. 

His joint operations experience includes postings as Operations Officer to Commander Deployable Joint Force Headquarters (Maritime) in 2003-2004, Commander Plans (N5/N7) within Maritime Component Joint Operations Command in 2006, Director General Operations (J3) Headquarters Joint Operations Command 2020-21 and as Commander of the standing multi agency task force Maritime Border Command/Commander Joint Agency Task Force Operation Sovereign Borders/Commander Joint Task Force 639 – Operation Resolute, 2022-23.

He was the inaugural Navy Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in 2010, contributing to the Lowy Institute MacArthur Foundation’s major publication Crisis and Confidence: major powers and maritime security in Indo-Pacific Asia. He also edited two books; A Maritime School of Strategic Thought for Australia: Perspectives in 2013 while serving as Director of the Sea Power Centre – Australia and the follow on Australian Maritime Strategic Thought 2013-2023 published in 2023.

He was the recipient of the 2006 Vice Admiral Viscount Horatio Nelson KB Trafalgar Bicentennial Sword of Excellence for leadership. In the 2016 Queen’s Birthday honours, he was awarded a Conspicuous Service Cross for outstanding devotion to duty as the Commanding Officer, Success while deployed on Operation MANITOU. He also wears the Meritorious Unit Citation awarded to Parramatta when he was Executive Officer and Second-in-Command, for performance in the North Arabian Gulf on Operation CATALYST in 2005-06.

He has completed the United States Capstone Course and Pinnacle Course, the Commander Joint Task Force Course, the Operations Based on Experience (OBOE) Course, the NATO Joint Synchronisation Course, and the United States Senior Officer Information Operations Application Course.

He commenced as the Deputy Chief of Joint Operations In January 2024. In April 2024, Rear Admiral Jones was announced to replace Lieutenant General Greg Bilton as the Chief of Joint Operations in July 2024 on promotion to Vice Admiral.