Brigadier Clinton J O'Neill
Commander Armed Forces of Malta
Brigadier Clinton J
O’Neill joined the Armed Forces of Malta in 1992 and was commissioned as a
Second Lieutenant in 1994. During the initial two years he served within the Air
Traffic Services and Air Squadron as a Sergeant Pilot. Brigadier O’Neill
graduated with Honors with a Bachelor of Information Technology (IT), as well
as International Maritime Law.
Between 1995 and
1997, Brigadier O'Neill attended two infantry training schools, in Italy as
well as in the United States. In 1999, he successfully completed the Basic
Staff Training Course delivered by a UK Mobile Training Team
in England. As a qualified fixed-wing pilot, he attended various civilian and
military courses, which led him to be qualified to fly any Maltese Armed Forces
aircraft. In 2000 and 2010 he attended courses and earned specialized
qualifications in Maritime
Search and Rescue Coordination and Planning techniques
with the United States Coast Guard. In addition, Brigadier O'Neill also
attended the Combined Strategic Intelligence Training Program (CSITP) conducted
by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in Washington, USA, covering Intelligence
Support to Multinational Operations, an Intelligence Analyst Course, and a
National Intelligence Course. More recently he also successfully completed a
course in Building Integrity for Senior Leaders at the Defence Academy in UK. In 2010, he was presented
with the Long and Efficient Service medal after eighteen years of service in
the Armed Forces of Malta, as well as a clasp of the same medal in 2017. During
Republic Day of 2013, Brigadier O’Neill also received on-behalf-of
all the men and women at Airwing, the ‘Midalja għall-Qadi
tar-Repubblika’ (MQR).
During his military
career, Brigadier O'Neill served as an Operational Pilot in the Air Wing Unit,
as well as Commanding Officer and Staff Officer appointments in the Armed
Forces of Malta. As an area of expertise he specialises in
air/maritime operations, and was appointed as Staff Officer Operations and
later Air and Maritime Operations within the Operations Branch at Headquarters
AFM. He has served on three occasions overseas as part of a
Mobile Training Team to Dakar
in Senegal, as part of the USNAVFOR led mission African Partnership Station, Akkro, in Israel, with the Israeli Administration of Shipping and
Ports and with the Libyan Naval Forces in Tripoli, Libya.
He was also stationed in Lampedusa and Sicily to serve in Joint Operation Nettuno as a Liason Officer. Subsequently, he was
appointed Officer Commanding of the Operations Squadron, Second-in-Command as
well as Commanding Officer within the Air Wing Unit. As a result, in 2016 he
was promoted to the rank of Colonel and was appointed Colonel of the
Operations, Plans and Intelligence Branch of the Armed Forces of Malta. Brigadier
O’Neill has also contributed to the modernization of the Malta Armed Forces air
fleet and to other maritime research and development projects.
He is also a
lecturer at the Maritime Safety and Security Training Center (MSSTC), where he
teaches military personnel, both Maltese and foreign, the Search and Rescue
process and Maritime Law in an Operational context. On an international scale, Brigadier
O'Neill serves as an Alternate Management Board of the FRONTEX European and
Border Coast Guard Agency, and also participates in various European Union fora,
as well as the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
Brigadier O’Neill
has been serving in the Armed Forces of Malta for the past thirty years. During 2022,
he was appointed Deputy Commander of the Armed Forces of Malta, in addition to
his appointment of Colonel Operations, Plans and
Intelligence Branch, within Headquarters AFM. In June 2022, he was promoted to
Brigadier and appointed as Commander of the Armed Forces of Malta.