Vivian, Rosemary (Brigadier) and Stevenson, Robert Charles (Lieutenant Colonel, b.1958)

Collection relating to the International Force East Timor (INTERFET) service of Major (later Brigadier) Rosemary "Rose" Vivian, 72 Electronic Warfare Squadron, 1999-2000, and the Operation Bel Isi service of 225774 Lieutenant Colonel Robert Charles Stevenson, Peace Monitoring Group, Bougainville, 2000-2001.

Folder 1 of 1 - Relates to Major Vivian's deployment with INTERFET and consists of a page from the 20 January 2000 issue of the Australian Army newspaper. One article, titled "72EW Drop the Cloak and Dagger" by Corporal Brian Hartigan, discusses the role of Vivian's squadron in the landing and initial operations of INTERFET. Detachments from the squadron worked closely with the infantry, which according to Vivian "makes the battalion commanders feel a lot more secure to know to know they have another set of ears on the front". The article includes several quotations from Vivian.

Folder 2 of 2 - Relates to the Operation Bel Isi deployment of Vivian's partner, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Stevenson, and consists of copies of eight emails Stevenson sent to Vivian between January and March 2001, covering the first half of his deployment. Stevenson writes of his activities in Bougainville, his admiration for the local people and sympathy for their struggles, his enjoyment of the climate and natural environment, his daily routine, and discusses his staff. He also writes in detail about the operations of the PMG and the Combined Health Element, problems within the 171 Operational Support Squadron aviation detachment (including staffing issues, lax standards in flying safety, and complacency), the work and personalities of other officers, as well as the efforts to erect a memorial in Kieta to Lance Corporal Shawn Lewis, an Australian soldier who drowned while deployed with the PMG in May 2000.

Vivian, then Officer Commanding 72 Electronic Warfare Squadron, was deployed with INTERFET from September 1999 to February 2000. Elements of Vivian's squadron were among the first units to land in Dili, where they were part of the advance force tasked with providing protection to ground troops involved in the main landing. As Vivian remarks, her squadron's role was "to identify any threat to the soldiers and to provide indications and warnings to the battalions of any possible threat to them."

Shortly after Vivian's return to Australia her partner, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Stevenson, was deployed to Bougainville on Operation Bel Isi. Arriving in December 2000, Stevenson was based in Loloho for five months as chief of staff of the Peace Monitoring Group (PMG) where he worked closely with the PMG commander, Brigadier Justin Kelly, chief negotiator (Stephen Henning, a public servant from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade), and chief liaison officer (then a New Zealand lieutenant colonel, Allan M'Crone).

Stevenson returned to Australia in June 2001. He retired from the Australian Army in 2011 and embarked on a career as a professional military historian, having completed a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree at the University of New South Wales, Canberra in 2010. He has published on aspects of command, leadership and operations of the Australian Imperial Force in the First World War. Vivian, meanwhile, subsequently deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, attained the rank of brigadier, and has held senior uniform positions in the Department of Defence.