Anthony Birks  Lieutenant General Anthony Leonard Birks, (30 December 1941 – 21 January 2002) was a senior officer in the New Zealand Army. He served as Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the New Zealand Army, from 1992 to 1995, and in New Zealand's most senior military post as Chief of Defence Force from 1995 until his retirement in 1999. In the 1978 New Year Honours, Birks was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (Military Division).