Cheryl Pearce

Lieutenant General Cheryl Ann Pearce, is a senior officer in the Australian Army and a former deputy commissioner in the Australian Border Force. She graduated from the Officer Cadet School, Portsea and was commissioned into the Royal Australian Corps of Military Police in 1985. She has commanded the Defence Police Training Centre (2003), 1st Military Police Battalion (2006–08), Task Group Afghanistan (2016) and Australian Defence Force Academy (2017–18). Pearce has served on operations in East Timor and Afghanistan, and was Force Commander, United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus from January 2019 to January 2021. Pearce retired from full-time service in the army following her return from Cyprus and was appointed Deputy Commissioner Ports and Enforcement in the Australian Border Force in August 2021. She returned to the army in June 2023, on being appointed Deputy Chief of Army. She has been seconded to the United Nations since January 2024, serving as Military Adviser for Peacekeeping Operations.