Heston Russell
Major Heston Russell is a retired Australian Special Forces officer who launched and won a defamation case against the Australian Broadcasting Corporation over links to alleged war crimes in Afghanistan. Early life and education 
Russell joined the Australian Army at the age of 17 and graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 2006. While at the Australian Defence Force Academy, Russell completed a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New South Wales, majoring in History and Indonesian. On Oct 16, 2023 former Major Russell won his defamation case against the ABC and was awarded $390,000 after a federal court judge found the public broadcaster did not prove its reporting was in the public interest. Career 
Following his graduation from the Royal Military College, Duntroon  Russell was posted to his first commissioned appointment as a platoon commander with the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (2 RAR), where he deployed to East Timor to carry out peacekeeping operations. During his tenure within 2 CDO REGT, Russell completed appointments as a Counter Terrorism platoon commander, Executive Officer, and Adjutant. These appointments also included four operational deployments to Afghanistan and the Middle East Area of Operations and saw Operational Service in support of several counter-terrorism operations within the Asia-Pacific Region. In 2015, Russell lived in the USA serving on exchange to the United States Special Operations Command and the 75th Ranger Regiment, stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia. This exchange also saw Russell deploy with a classified US Special Operations Task Force to the Middle East. In 2016, Russell completed his final operational deployment to Iraq as the Special Operations joint lead planner within the Special Operations Joint Task Force combating ISIS. In 2017, following his return from his deployment, Russell worked to expand Barry's Bootcamp, the US-originated boutique fitness brand to Australia and Singapore. Later, Barry's Bootcamp, was brought to Australia and Russell was appointed as its head of operations. In January 2019, Russell voluntarily resigned from the Australian Defence Force. Between October 2020 and March 2021, Russell successfully launched and led the campaign to retain the Meritorious Unit Citations for over 3,000 Special Forces personnel. During this time Russell was also responsible for lobbying members of the Federal Government to unanimously vote for a motion to support the calling of a Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. Following the successful results of these campaigns, Russell established the Charity Veteran Support Force LTD to support Veterans and their families during the conduct of the Royal Commission. He is currently the Managing Director of Veteran Support Force and launched the inaugural Veteran Games in September 2023 on the Gold Coast in Queensland. Campaigns 
Russell launched, led, and supported several campaigns supporting veterans:
 Successfully retaining the Meritorious Unit Citation award for over 3,000 Australian Defence Forces personnel in the wake of the Brereton report release (October–December 2020). Achieving majority approval through the Parliament of Australia to call for a Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide (March 2021) resulted in the Royal Commission being called by prime minister Scott Morrison on 19 April 2021. Successfully suing the ABC for Defamation of accusations and allegations against his Commando Platoon during 2012 combat operation in Afghanistan. References

External links 
 Official Website

Military personnel from Queensland
Australian military personnel of the Iraq War
Australian military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
Royal Military College, Duntroon graduates
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)