Neville McNamara

After the war, McNamara was stationed in Japan with No. 82 Squadron, as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF).[3][6] He was promoted to temporary flight lieutenant on 1 May 1946,[7] and received a short-service commission in the Permanent Air Force on 23 September 1948, with the rank of flight lieutenant.[8] In 1949 he was posted to Headquarters North-Eastern Area for air traffic control work.[6] He married Dorothy Miller on 27 May 1950; the couple had two daughters.[9] On 1 September 1950, McNamara was granted a permanent commission in the RAAF.[10] From 1951 to 1953, he served as an instructor at Central Flying School in East Sale, Victoria,[9] gaining promotion to squadron leader on 1 July 1952.[11] He then saw operational service in the Korean War as the Executive Officer of No. 77 Squadron, flying Gloster Meteors.[3][9] Initially employed in the conflict as a fighter unit, by this time No. 77 Squadron's role was primarily ground attack, using the Meteors' cannon augmented by newly fitted rocket armament.[12] McNamara briefly took charge of the unit in November–December 1953 when there was a hiatus between commanding officers rotating out and rotating in.[13]

Squadron Leader McNamara (left) as Executive Officer of No. 77 Squadron, talking with Flight Lieutenant John "Butch" Hannan following the latter's release from a North Korean POW camp, Panmunjom, September 1953

Returning to Australia in 1954, McNamara was posted to Headquarters Training Command as pilot training officer. In 1955–56 he served as staff officer fighter operations at the Department of Air, before undertaking training at RAAF Staff College. He was Commanding Officer No. 25 Squadron at Pearce, Western Australia, in 1957–58,[6] receiving promotion to wing commander on 1 July 1957.[14] He took charge of No. 2 Operational Conversion Unit (No. 2 OCU) at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales, in 1959.[2][9] No. 2 OCU was responsible for training pilots to fly the CAC Sabre jet fighter, which was operated by Nos. 3, 75 and 77 Squadrons.[15] His performance as commanding officer earned him the Air Force Cross in the 1961 Queen's Birthday Honours.[3][16]

In 1960, McNamara was posted to the UK to attend the Joint Services Staff College. The following year he became CO and senior air staff officer of the RAAF Staff in London.[6] In 1964 he was appointed Director of Personnel (Officers) at the Department of Air. He received the Air Efficiency Award in 1965, and the following year took command of RAAF Ubon, Thailand.[2][9] Operating under the provisions of the SEATO agreement during the early years of the Vietnam War, the Australian contingent included No. 79 Squadron, flying Sidewinder-equipped CAC Sabres. Although only fifty kilometres from the Laotian border and occasionally scrambled to intercept North Vietnamese fighters, the Sabres never saw action, in contrast to their USAF brethren also based at Ubon. Limited as its military role was, the RAAF presence was judged politically valuable.[17] Completing his tour in Thailand, McNamara served as air staff officer at RAAF Base Richmond, New South Wales, in 1967–68.[6] He was promoted to acting group captain on 5 July 1967 and to the substantive rank the following 1 January.[18][19] His next appointment was as Director General Organisation at the Department of Air.[6]

Promoted to acting air commodore on 12 April 1971,[20] McNamara became the last Commander RAAF Forces Vietnam and Deputy Commander Australian Force Vietnam (AFV) that month.[3][21] Believing that the Air Force paid "lip service" to its army co-operation responsibilities in the 1950s and 1960s, he familiarised himself with the finer points of air/ground operations by accompanying No. 9 Squadron helicopters on missions supporting 1st Australian Task Force in Phuoc Tuy Province.[3][22] Given the responsibility of overseeing the withdrawal of the RAAF from Vietnam in 1972, McNamara was praised for his "wise and patient counsel, devotion to duty and firm control", leading to his appointment as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in September that year.[3][23] He had been promoted to substantive air commodore on 1 January.[24] In 1973, he was posted to the United States as the Australian Air Attache to Washington, D.C.[2] Promoted to air vice marshal on 20 March 1975,[25] he returned to Australia that year and took up duties as the Deputy Chief of Air Staff, which he later described as "an invaluable learning experience for the top job".[3] He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) on 7 June 1976 for "distinguished service in responsible positions".[26]

RAAF F/A-18 Hornet, selection of which was overseen by McNamara while Chief of the Air Staff in 1979–82

McNamara was promoted to air marshal and became Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) in March 1979.[3] He succeeded Air Marshal Sir James Rowland, who had been the first CAS to personally command the RAAF in a legal sense, following the abolition of the Australian Air Board in 1976. Previously, the CAS position was more akin to a chairman, "first among equals" with the other members of the Air Board. Under this earlier arrangement, McNamara considered that some senior commanders tended to behave like "regional war lords" who thought that the CAS existed purely to handle politicians and paperwork, while they (the commanders) got on with the Air Force's "real work".[27][28] As CAS, McNamara put in train development of new strategies for the air defence of Australia, later remarking that "capability must be matched by ideas".[2][29] He also supervised the selection process that chose the F/A-18 Hornet to the replace the RAAF's Mirage III fighters. McNamara personally favoured the F/A-18 due to its multi-role capability.[2][30] Appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) on 31 December 1980,[31] he was the last CAS to be knighted before Australia abandoned the imperial honours system.[1]

In 1982, McNamara became the first Air Force member to directly command all three of Australia's armed services as Chief of the Defence Force Staff (CDFS), which had replaced the earlier senior position in the defence force, Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee. He also became only the second RAAF officer to be raised to the rank of air chief marshal.[1][2] As CDFS, McNamara had to work to repair strained relations between the Defence Department's military and civilian components. He sought to accomplish this through a restrained management style and respect for the department's public servants. At the same time, he maintained the need for military and civilian personnel to be easily distinguishable, and reversed a trend for armed force personnel to wear suits "in the office" and uniforms only "on parade", which was the preference of Secretary of the Department of Defence Arthur Tange.[3][32] The military and public service wings of the department still clashed over the question of enlarging the CDFS's role to achieve more coherent defence planning.[33] Shortly after McNamara completed his term as CDFS in 1984, the position was redesignated Chief of the Defence Force (CDF), to more clearly reflect its authority over the Australian armed services.[1][34]