Lieutenant Colonel Greg Colton DSM is a regular army officer and former Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute, where he headed up the South Pacific Fragile States Project. Greg holds a BA with Honours in Contemporary East European Studies from the University of London and a Master of Defence and Military Studies from the Australian National University. In his final year as an undergraduate he worked in the Romanian Ministry of National Defence in Bucharest, during which time he wrote his thesis examining the reform of the Romanian Armed Forces as they modernised in preparation for NATO accession. After commissioning from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Greg served as an Infantry Officer in the British Army, including operational tours of Northern Ireland and Iraq, before transferring to the Australian Army in 2007. Since then he has visited PNG several times to deliver training in partnership with the PNG Defence Force and deployed to East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2014, Greg participated in the Lowy Institute’s Australia – PNG Emerging Leaders Dialogue. Greg has also been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his service as a Company Commander in Afghanistan with the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment.

The views expressed are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Australian Army, the Department of Defence or the Australian Government.