Christopher Mullane

Christopher Mullane (ONZM, MBE, Legion of Merit (USA)) is a Retired Lieutenant Colonel of the New Zealand Army.

Early life
Mullane spent his childhood in Auckland, New Zealand and was educated at St Peter's College.

Career
Mullane rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the New Zealand Army. He served in Vietnam. In the mid 1970s he served as an exchange officer at the U.S. Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia. During his exchange he was appointed as Chief of the Leadership Branch, Command and Tactics Department at the School. He was awarded the Legion of Merit for "exceptional abilities and dedication to duty in each of his assignments". Mullane's contribution to the US military was in the form of a leadership manual which was widely used in the US Army. But due to an administrative oversight, even though he had the medal, the award documentation was never officially approved before Mullane returned to New Zealand. The oversight was corrected and the medal was officially presented to Mullane on 18 June 2012, 33 years after he received the medal, by US Army Pacific deputy commander Major General Roger Matthews.