Adrian R. Cummins

ADRIAN R. CUMMINS

Of Santa Fe, New Mexico and formerly of Washington, DC, a retired officer of the Royal Australian Navy, died suddenly of a heart attack while skiing at Ski Santa Fe on January 20. He is survived by his wife Benedicte Valentiner, daughter Katherine Cummins and grandson Angus McGregor of Beijing, China, and daughter Julia Cummins of Melbourne, Australia.

Commodore Cummins 39 years of active service in the Australian Navy was highlighted by commands in the 1958 Malayan counterinsurgency; counter terrorism operations for the British in Northern Ireland in 1960, in Malta in 1963 and Borneo in 1964, underwater counter measures during the 1963 Aden emergency, as well as operations in Saigon during the Vietnam War, and the 1991 Gulf War. Among his five sea commands, Commodore Cummins commanded the minesweeper HMAS IBIS; the destroyer escort HMAS SWAN; and the guided missile destroyer HMAS PERTH.

Commodore Cummins ran counter terrorism training activities for the Australian Navy in 1975-76, and was responsible for Australian forces deployed on behalf of the United Nations in 1982-83. He directed Australias counter terrorism policy, training, equipment and intelligence programs from 1984-89. His service included being Director of Surface and Air Weapons, Director Naval Manpower Planning, Director General Defence Conditions of Service, and Director General Naval Warfare.

For his years of distinguished service, Commodore Cummins was awarded the second and third highest honors of his country, the AM in 1977 and the AO in 1989. He was awarded a British Admiralty Commendation for brave conduct while on exchange service with the Royal Navy, and twice, by his country, awarded the Duke of Gloucester Cup for the most efficient ship in the fleet. He was elected to the honorary position of Companion of the Institution of Engineers of Australia (one of only two so elected at the time of his death.). The Commodore was a committed advocate of strategic cooperation with the United States and was frequently invited to attend joint US-Australian Naval strategy sessions.

Upon retiring from active service, he began a second career drawing upon his many years of defense training and experience. He was chairman of Niksar Australia Pty Ltd., a systems engineering company in Melbourne; past director of GEC Marconi Australia companies; past chairman of Fast Ships International Pty Ltd., and of Mingara Services Pty Ltd, a telecommunications consultant; past director of Macdonald Technologies Pty Ltd., Melbourne; a partner of Geothermal Engineering (Middle East) Pty Ltd of Dubai, UAE and Melbourne; co-founder of the Australian Centre for Maritime Studies; past senior strategy advisor to the Australian law firm Dunhill Madden Butler.

Commodore Cummins was educated at the Hampton State School and Wesley College in Melbourne. He attended the Royal Naval Staff College in London, the Royal Military College of Science in London, and the Australian Joint Services Staff College in Canberra, Australia.

Commodore Cummins and his wife, Benedicte Valentiner had been friends since 1956 and were married in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1998. They retired to Santa Fe in 2001. Mrs. Valentiner is well known in Washington D.C. She was Director of Communications in U.S. Senator Pete V. Domenicis Washington office from 1980-1987. In 1988, Mrs. Valentiner became the general manager of Blair House, the U.S. Presidents guest house where she served four administrations before retiring in 2001.

A Memorial Service will be held at the Royal Naval Chapel, Duntroon, Canberra mid February. A memorial service will be held in Santa Fe in late spring.