Ben Alward graduated from the Royal Military College Duntroon in 1999 and was allocated to the Australian Intelligence Corps. He has served in command and leadership appointments across Army, Special Operations and the Joint Force and in a range intelligence specialisations including Electronic Warfare, Human Intelligence and Signals Intelligence. He has deployed on numerous Operations both domestically and in the Middle East, has served the Minister for Defence and Army headquarters in Canberra, and has undertaken an instructor role in the UK. Lieutenant Colonel Alward is a graduate of the Australian Command and Staff College and has been awarded a Masters in Military and Defence studies from the Australian National University. He also holds a Masters of Project Management from the University of New South Wales, a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Southern Queensland, an Advanced Diploma in Portuguese language from the ADF School of Languages and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Ben Alward is currently the Commanding Officer of the 1st Intelligence Battalion.