Born: 17 February 1955, Australia
Died: NA
Country most active: Australia
Also known as: NA
This biography has been shared from The Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, published by the Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology, under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Julie Hammer joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1977, after completing a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Sydney. She was originally an education officer but transferred to the Engineer Branch in 1981. Hammer was the first woman to command an operational unit in the RAAF, the Electronic Warfare Squadron.
Chronology
1977
Career position – Joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as Education Officer
1977
Education – Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Physics, University of Sydney
1977 – 1979
Career position – Education Officer in the engineer cadet squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Frognall, Melbourne
1979 – 1981
Career position – Instructor at the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) School of Radio in Laverton, Melbourne
1981
Career position – Transferred to the Electronics Category of the Engineer Branch
1982 – 1983
Career position – Officer-in-charge of Avionics for the Aircraft Maintenance Flight at the No 3 Aircraft Depot of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in Amberley
1983
Career position – Quality Project Officer at the No 3 Aircraft Depot of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in Amberley
1983 – 1985
Career position – Sub-Section Head in the Aircraft Equipment Engineering Division (AEENG3) in Head Quarters Support Command at Victoria Barracks, Melbourne
1986
Career position – No 5 Advances Systems Engineering Course at the Royal Air Force (RAF) College in Cranwell, UK
1987
Career position – Liaison in the Directorate of Scientific and Technical Intelligence, United Kingdom Ministry of Defence, London
1987
Education – Completed a Masters thesis in control engineering
1987 – 1989
Career position – Technical Intelligence Analyst at the Directorate of Scientific and Technical Intelligence of the Joint Intelligence Organisation in Canberra
1989 – 1991
Career position – Systems Engineer in the Maritime Systems Section (SYSENGA3) in the Materiel Branch of the Air Force Office in Canberra
1991 – 1992
Career position – Project Manageer of project Air 5140 at the Project Management and Acquisition Division of the Materiel Branch of the Air Force Office in Canberra
1992 – 1995
Career position – Commanding Officer of the Electronic Warfare Squadron of the Aircraft Research and Development Unit of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in Edinburgh
1996 – 1997
Career position – Seconded to the Defence Efficiency Review and appointed Co-Chairman of the Science and Technology Sub-Review Team
1996 – 1998
Career position – Project Director of Joint Project 2030 Australian Defence Force Joint Command Support Environment of the Command and Support Systems Branch in the Defence Acquisition Organisation, Canberra
1997
Award – Conspicuous Service Cross
1998
Career position – Director of Command and Intelligence Support Systems at the Command and Support Systems Branch of the Defence Acquisition Organisation, Canberra
1998
Career position – Acting Director General of the Command and Support Systems Branch of the Defence Acquisition Organisation in Canberra
1999 –
Career position – Director General of Infrastructure Services at Defence Information Systems Group
The following is republished with permission from the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.
In 1999, Julie Hammer was the first woman Air Commodore in the Australian Defence Force.
Julie Hammer completed her schooling in Brisbane in 1971, placing eighth in the Senior Public (Matriculation) Examination in Queensland. She joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1977 after completing a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Physics at the University of Queensland.
Julie was initially an education officer but transferred to the Engineer Branch in 1981 shortly after it was opened to women. She was a staff member at the Engineer Cadet Squadron where she was instructed in electronics at the School of Radio. She managed maintenance on F-111, Iroquois, Chinook and Canberra aircraft at Amberley and worked in the engineering management of avionics equipment for the RAAF fleet.
In June 1985, Julie was promoted to Squadron Leader. Julie then went to the United Kingdom to study at RAF Cranwell where she completed a Master of Science in aerosystems engineering. In 1987, she returned to Canberra and served as technical intelligence analyst in the Joint Intelligence Organisation. Following this she worked in a major electronic warfare project, first as project engineer, then after promotion to Wing Commander, as a project manager.
In 1992, she became Commander of the Electronic Warfare Squadron in Adelaide. She was the first woman to command an operational unit in the RAAF and was awarded a Conspicuous Service Cross for that command. In 1996, Julie returned to Canberra and completed a Graduate Diploma in Strategic Studies at the Joint Services Staff College. She was promoted to Group Captain and became Project Director of a number of command and control projects.
In 1999, she was the only Australian student at the prestigious Royal College of Defence Studies in London, completing a course in strategic and international studies. When she returned she was promoted to Air Commodore, becoming the first woman in the Australian Defence Force to be promoted to One Star Level and the highest ranked woman.
She is the Director General Infrastructure Services and is responsible for the delivery of the Defence’s Information Technology and Transfer services. Her branch manages computer mainframe services as well as central, regional and overseas support for both administrative and operational computing systems. It is also in charge of the corporate communications networks and systems for voice and data including cryptographic support.