The former Chief of Defence has quietly hidden his highest decoration from the public profile for his new ambassador gig.

Newly released documents revealed Angus Campbell requested his Distinguished Service Cross be removed from his profile on the the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.

However, Campbell has not surrendered the medal. 

Now serving as an ambassador to the European Union and NATO, Campbell was previously an outspoken critic of alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan and called for several soldiers to be stripped of their medals.

An email, seen by The Australian on Thursday, showed Campbell requested his highest medal be removed from his DFAT profile and he be referred to by his diplomatic title – ‘His Excellency’.

That change appears to distance himself from his military career, with his previous title of ‘General’ still able to be used after retiring from the defence force.

Additionally, Campbell sought to keep a reference to his Order of Australia gong intact.

An embassy public affairs manager in Brussels acknowledged the odd request in an email on December 1, 2025.

Angus Campbell (above) is the ambassador to the European Union and NATO and previously served as the Chief of Defence

Campbell requested his Distinguished Service Cross (above) be removed from his public DFAT profile

‘(Campbell) just popped into my office and requested we change the title of this webpage from ‘General (Rtd) Angus John Campbell AO, DSC’ to ‘HE Angus Campbell AO’,’ they wrote. 

Campbell’s request came amid mounting criticism of his treatment of soldiers implicated in alleged warcrimes outlined in a 2020 report by the Australian Defence Force, the Brereton Report.

War crimes investigator Major-General Paul Brereton concluded after a four-year investigation that 39 Afghan civilians were unlawfully killed by Australian soldiers.

He pointed the finger at 25 Special Air Service personnel and called for commanders to take ‘moral command responsibility and accountability for what happened under their command and control’.

Campbell in 2023 renewed his call for nine commanders to be stripped of their medals following the report’s findings.

He’d written to the Afghanistan veterans to inform them his ‘consideration of your command accountability (was) now closed’ and he’d officially requested Defence Minister Richard Marles take away their honours.

‘It is then for the minister to independently determine whether he accepts the assessment in my letter after considering the relevant information including your response,’ Campbell wrote in the 2023 letters.

‘If he is of the view that your award should be cancelled, the minister will make a recommendation to the governor-general. The governor-general will then make a decision.’

Campbell (pictured with Anthony Albanese) has long called for commanders involved in war crime allegations to surrender their medals

A former senior military leader, who requested anonymity due to sensitivities around the Brereton Report, questioned why Campbell didn’t surrender his medal if he wanted it hidden from his DFAT profile. 

A DFAT spokesman said Campbell’s request was ‘an acknowledgment that the use of post-nominals is very uncommon in Europe’.

‘The ambassador has simplified his public profile to only include (his) appointment in the national Order of Australia,’ he said.

Campbell reportedly attempted to hand over his Distinguished Service Cross in 2023 but was directed by then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison not to.

That year he also acknowledged the difficulty in ordering an investigation into the effects of his own command decisions as every army investigator came under his command as Chief. 

‘I did consider whether I might refer myself to some of my predecessors,’ he said at the time. 

‘But quite frankly, with the level of emotion – and unintentional and also intentional disinformation about this issue – I didn’t want to give them that pain.’

Campbell was appointed Australia’s ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, the EU and NATO by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in January 2025.

The position was given to him six months after he retired from his chief position, which he held for six years.