Jonathan Earley

Rear Admiral Jonathan Paul Earley,  is a senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). He joined the RAN as a maritime warfare officer in January 1990, and has commanded HMAS Ballarat (FFH 155) (2011–12) and HMAS Adelaide (L 01) (2017–18). He served as Commander Australian Fleet from June to December 2022, before taking over as the Deputy Chief of Navy on 16 December 2022.

Naval career
Earley joined the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) as a midshipman Maritime Warfare Officer in 1990. Following his initial training at the Australian Defence Force Academy and HMAS Creswell, he completed his employment and warfare training at HMAS Watson and trained on RAN and Royal Canadian Navy Warships respectively, before specialising as an Air Warfare Officer.

In 2005 Earley was appointed executive officer of HMAS Ballarat (FFH 155). Several shore postings followed, before serving as the executive office of HMAS Ballarat, following this he was awarded the Commendation for Distinguished Service as part of the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours for “distinguished service as the Executive Officer of HMAS BALLARAT during the ship's deployment to Operation Catalyst from March to September 2006.” He was then appointed commanding officer of HMAS Ballarat in 2011. He served as the inaugural executive officer of HMAS Canberra (L02) from 2013, after which he moved to Canberra as Director of Maritime Operations. He was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross as part of the 2017 Australia Day Honours for “outstanding achievement and devotion to duty in maritime operational and humanitarian response planning and deployment.” In 2017 he returned to sea on being appointed as commanding officer of HMAS Adelaide (L01). From 2018 to 2021 Earley served in various staff roles at the operational and strategic levels.

In 2021, Earley was posted to Fleet Command and assumed the role of Deputy Fleet Commander. In June 2022, he was appointed Commander Australian Fleet. Six months later, on 16 December, Earley swapped positions with Rear Admiral Christopher Smith and was appointed Deputy Chief of Navy.