BIOGRAPHY

Retired Special Forces Major and highly-decorated combat Veteran Heston Russell has dedicated his life to serving his country and the wider Veteran community.

Heston joined the Australian Army at the age of 17 as a fifth generation Army Veteran following in the footsteps of his father Mark who served for over twenty years in the Australian Army.

While at the Australian Defence Force Academy, Heston completed a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New South Wales majoring in History & Indonesian.

Graduating in 2006 from the Royal Military College of Duntroon, Heston was posted to his first commissioned appointment as a Platoon Commander with the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (2 RAR) where Heston deployed to Timor Leste carrying out peacekeeping operations.

In 2010, Heston successfully completed the highly-competitive Special Forces selection and training to become a Qualified Commando Officer within the 2nd Commando Regiment (2 CDO REGT), Special Operations Command - Australia (SOCOMD).

During his tenure within 2 CDO REGT, Heston completed the appointments of Commando Platoon Commander, Company Executive Officer and Adjutant. These appointments also included three Operational Deployments to Afghanistan and the Middle East Area of Operations and also saw Operational Service in support of a number of Domestic Counter Terrorism operations within the Asia-Pacific Region.

In 2015 Heston was posted on exchange to serve within the United States Special Operations Command, including an additional operational deployment to the Middle East Area of Operations.

On return to Australia in 2016, Heston was promoted to Major and appointed Officer Commanding of the Commando and Support Staff Selection and Training continuum at the Special Forces Training Centre. Later that year Heston completed his final operational deployment, to Iraq, as the Special Operations Joint Lead Planner within the Special Operations Joint Task Force.

After returning from his deployment in 2017, Heston took extended leave to lead the expansion of the US originated fitness brand Barry’s Bootcamp to Australia and Singapore before officially discharging from the Australian Defence Force in January 2019.

In 2020 Heston founded Voice Of A Veteran, a platform that supports the modern Veteran community, instigating action and promoting changes within the government systems designed to support Veterans. A key focus of Heston’s work is to help the wider Australian community better understand the value of Veterans and common issues transitioning to civilian life.

Heston launched, led and supported a number of successful campaigns supporting Veterans, these include:

• Successfully retaining the Meritorious Unit Citation award for over 3,000 Special Forces personnel in the wake of the Brereton report release (October - December 2020)
• Successfully reinstating the 2021 Sydney CBD ANZAC Day march (January - March 2021)
• Achieving majority approval through the Senate and Parliament of Australia to call for a Royal Commission into Defence & Veteran Suicide (March 2021) resulting in the Royal Commission called by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on 19 April 2021.

Heston has now formed the Veteran Support Force (VSF.org.au), an impact organisation that is tasked to proactively support Veterans and their Families throughout the conduct of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.

Heston is an experienced public speaker, focusing on the following core themes; leadership, culture, acceptance, bravery, diversity, identity, emotional Intelligence and mental health.

Heston is a regular commentator for major media outlets including 2GB, Seven Network, SKY News, Steve Price’s Australia Today podcast and several others.

Heston now lives in Brisbane with his Mini-Dachshund Son Copper.