Lieutenant General Cheryl Pearce
Acting Military Adviser
Australia
Lieutenant General Cheryl Pearce of Australia is the Acting Military Adviser for Peacekeeping Operations, and brings to this position more than 35 years of military experience.
Prior to her current appointment, Lieutenant General Pearce served as the Deputy Military Adviser for Peacekeeping Operations, the Deputy Chief of the Australian Army and as the Force Commander, United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus from 2019 to 2021. Lieutenant General Pearce previously held positions as the Commandant of the Australian Defence Force Academy (2017-2018), the Commander of the Australian Joint Task Force in Afghanistan (2016), the Australian Army Headquarters Chief of Staff (2013-2016) and as the Director of Special Operations Support (2010-2012). Lieutenant General Pearce also served as Commandant of the Defence Police Training Centre and Commanding Officer of the 1st Military Police Battalion. Lieutenant General Pearce was the Australian Army’s Provost-Marshal as well as a Military Observer with the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor in 2002.
Lieutenant General Pearce holds a Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies from the University of New England in Armidale, a Masters in Policing, Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism from the Macquarie University in Sydney and a Masters of Arts in Defence Studies from the Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia.
Brigadier General Yakhya Diop
Chief of Staff
Senegal
Brigadier General Yakhya Diop of Senegal is the Chief of Staff of the Office of Military Affairs, Department of Peace Operations. He brings to this position more than 25 years of military leadership experience spanning command, strategic planning, military education, and international peace operations.
Prior to his current appointment, Brigadier General Diop served in a range of command and senior staff positions within the Senegalese Armed Forces. He commanded the Commando Battalion from 2015 to 2017, following his service as its Deputy Commander. He also led the Training and Education Division at the Armed Forces General Headquarters and served as Commandant of the Senegalese National Military Academy. Earlier in his career, he was a platoon leader, company commander, infantry instructor, and officer responsible for cadet training at the Military Academy.
Brigadier General Diop has extensive international operational experience. His deployments include service with the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) as a Company Commander, the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) as a Staff Officer at Force Headquarters, and the ECOWAS Mission in The Gambia (ECOMIG) as a Task Force Commander. These assignments have provided him with significant experience at the operational and strategic levels in multinational peace operations.
Brigadier General Diop graduated from the Senegalese National Officers Academy (ENOA). He holds a Master of Military Art and Science from the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and a Master of Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College, where he graduated as a Superior Graduate of the Class of 2018.