Warrant Officer Joel McMahon was born and raised in Perth, Western Australia and educated at Servite College. He enlisted into the Australian Army in 1998 and was allocated to the Royal Australian Infantry Corps as a rifleman.

On completion of initial employment training Warrant Officer McMahon was posted to the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment. During his tenure at the 3rd Battalion, Warrant Officer McMahon served at all levels from rifleman to Platoon Sergeant and Operations Sergeant.

Warrant Officer McMahon’s instructional postings include the Parachute Training School as a static line and freefall instructor, and the Royal Military College – Duntroon where he served as a small group instructor and as a Drill Sergeant. Warrant Officer McMahon promoted to Warrant Officer Class Two in 2015 and posted to the Parachute Training School as the Senior Instructor – Freefall, and subsequently as the Warrant Officer Development.

In 2017, Warrant Officer McMahon was posted to the 5th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment as the Operations Warrant Officer and as a Company Sergeant Major of Delta and Support Companies. Warrant Officer McMahon was appointed as the Sergeant Major of the Command and Tactics Directorate at the Maneuver Center of Excellence, Fort Benning, USA in 2020.

Warrant Officer McMahon’s overseas training includes working as an Observer Trainer at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana, USA in 2005. He also participated in Exercise Long Look in 2009 where he spent three months as an instructor at the No1 Parachute Training School at RAF Brize Norton, UK.

Warrant Officer McMahon’s operational service includes: International Force East Timor (INTERFET) in 1999-2000, the United Nations Transition and Assistance East Timor (UNTAET) in 2002, Timor-Leste in 2006 as a Section Commander, and Afghanistan in 2012 as a Platoon Sergeant with MTF-5.

In 2017 Warrant Officer McMahon was selected as the first warrant officer to attend the exclusive Apollo Future War Analysis course at CDSS. He holds a Masters of War Studies (UNSW) and is passionate about promoting professional education amongst our junior leaders. Warrant Officer McMahon is married to Tammy and together they have two young daughters, Grace and Peyton. In his spare time, Warrant Officer McMahon enjoys reading (particularly Military History), parachuting, sports and travelling with his family.