Lyle Holt
Palawa
Group Captain
Director Integrated Air and Missile Defence Multi-Domain Program Office
Royal Australian Air Force
Medals and Awards
Australian Active Service Medal with clasps ICAT and Iraq 2003
Afghanistan Medal
Iraq Medal
Defence Long Service Medal with 1st, 2nd and 3rd clasps
Australian Defence Medal
NATO Non-Article 5 medal with clasp ISAF
Chief of Joint Operations Gold Commendation
My last job was serving as the Commander of United Nations Command–Rear in Tokyo, Japan; a command that maintained international preparedness during the ongoing 71-year Korean War Armistice.
Both my father, Lyle Holt Sr, and his eldest brother Pat were Korean War veterans. Dad served in HMAS ANZAC from 1952-1953, while Uncle Pat was an infantry Private in the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR). Born on Tasmania’s Flinders Island to a Palawa father, Harold John Holt, who was a WWI veteran of Gallipoli and the Western Front, they carried on the family’s tradition of service.
Uncle Pat first enlisted in 1940 with the 2/40th Battalion. He was captured by the Japanese at the Battle of Timor in 1942. As a prisoner of war, Uncle Pat was sent to Sumatra and forced into harsh labor building the notorious Sumatran Death Railway until liberated in 1945.
After this ordeal, Uncle Pat re-enlisted in 1950 with the newly formed Australian Regular Army. He served in the Korean War from 1951-1952 as part of K-Force with 3RAR, fighting in the major battles of Kapyong and Maryang-San.
My role in Japan continued the legacy of military service demonstrated by my father and Uncle Pat. They had fought bravely to secure peace on the Korean Peninsula decades earlier. I felt proud upholding Australia’s commitment to stability in that region through my work with the U.N. Command. I believe my father and uncle would have been pleased by my contribution there, as well as with my 34-year military career.