Sir Mervyn Francis Brogan | |
|---|---|
 Brogan as GOC Northern Command in 1963 | |
| Born | 10 January 1915 Crows Nest, New South Wales |
| Died | 8 March 1994 (aged 79) |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Service | Australian Army |
| Years of service | 1932–1973 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Service number | NX76403 |
| Commands | Chief of the General Staff (1971–73) Eastern Command (1968–71) Northern Command (1962–65) Australian Staff College (1960–62) School of Military Engineering (1947–49) |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of the Bath Mentioned in Despatches |
Lieutenant General Sir Mervyn Francis Brogan, KBE, CB (10 January 1915 – 8 March 1994) was a senior officer in the Australian Army who served as Chief of the General Staff from 1971 to 1973.
A 1935 graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, where he was the Corps Sergeant Major and was awarded the Sword of Honour, and of the University of Sydney, where he earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree, Brogan served in the Second World War on the staff of New Guinea Force during New Guinea Campaign, and as an observer with the British Army during the Western Allied invasion of Germany. After the war he was commandant and chief instructor at the School of Military Engineering during the 1949 Australian coal strike, and, as Director of Military Training, reopened the Land Warfare Centre at Canungra in 1954. When he was appointed the Chief of the General Staff in 1971, he was the first occupant of that position to possess a university degree. He presided over the withdrawal of Australian troops from the Vietnam War, the ending of the National Service scheme, and the consequent reduction of the size of the Army, and sweeping organisational changes.