Mark Wales

Mark Adam Wales (born 3 November 1979) is an Australian author and entrepreneur.

He gained national attention as a competitor on Australian Survivor, which he eventually won.

His earlier career had been as an officer in the Australian Army, where he made ten deployments over 16 years, including four to Afghanistan with the Special Air Service Regiment.

On leaving the military he began business studies in the United States, before launching an apparel brand in New York.

His 2021 memoir, also called Survivor, documented his experiences of war, PTSD and moral injury.

Wales' parents met in the Victorian town of Maffra, where his mother was a secretary and his father a bank teller, before taking a job as truck driver in the remote iron ore community of Newman, Western Australia.

Wales grew up with older brother Steve, younger brother Dan and very few rules, which were "no drugs, no motorbikes, and always do your best, always."

He recalled life in regional Australia as friendly, even hitchhiking as a child with his older brother.

Trips to visit his mother's family in Cookernup, in the state's south west, were frequent.

It was here that he and his older brother were sexually abused by a family member on a dairy farm, where he was "utterly helpless against this guy because he was bigger, stronger, could do whatever he wanted."

Wales has indicated that choosing a military career had been shaped by a desire "to be in control of my environment—never getting in that situation again."

His grandfather on his father's side also influenced the young man, handing him the shin guntō captured from Japanese forces whilst fighting the Battle of Morotai.

Job moves with Australian Customs took the family to Perth, then Geraldton, then back to Perth, where the family settled in Leeming, where Wales went to high school Wales recalls a moment at school where he decided his future: seeing an image on a classmate's magazine showing black-clad troops storming the Iranian Embassy in London to rescue western hostages.

In particular he found the idea of "saving people from hell" compelling.

In June of 1996, his final year of school, 18 Australian soldiers were killed in a tragic Black Hawk accident; though this seemed to increase his resolve.

Age 17, Wales took the Oath of Allegiance at an Australian Defence Force ceremony at Swan Barracks in 1997.

Commissioned as an officer cadet, he moved to Canberra to study at Australian Defence Force Academy which he did not enjoy.

In his service memoir Wales admits "I was a disaster as cadet."

In one fire and maneuver exercise he led, most soldier cadets became lost.

In his grenade training, the weapon was fumbled before exploding, though, remarkably, no one was hurt.

However, he successfully completed his degree and went on to Royal Military College, Duntroon in 2000.

Here, Wales was dressed down by an assessor officer for a catastrophic ambush exercise, along with the feedback that "To my absolute bloody amazement, they followed you. They wanted to work for you. That’s a good thing. You can lead, you have that skill – you just need more technical work."

He would go on to active service, making ten deployments, including Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands, Iraq, Afghanistan, Fiji and Lebanon.

Commissioned as a Lieutenant, Wales was appointed as commander of 5 Platoon in 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, known as 2RAR, based in Townsville.

Through 2001, he lead the platoon on exercises at Line Creek Junction, before deploying to East Timor.

Leading a infantry platoon of 30 soldiers, Wales served a 7 month tour in Timor Leste to protect locals from pro-Indonesia militias.

These involved long patrols of up to nine-days without resupply; and securing Junction Point Alpha on the border with West Timor.

Reporting to Angus Campbell allowed him to learn more about the SASR from a former Squadron commander.

Only to hear that the unit was, at that time, "a menagerie" and that warfare "brings nothing but misery. During Easter 2002, his platoon oversaw the repatriation of 3000 East-Timorese from refugee camps, which, Wales later said, was the first time he had witnessed real human suffering.

To support Operation Anode, Wales' 2RAR unit was sent to the Solomon Islands in to stabilise the country.

This included missions on rigid inflatable boats close to where Australians fought in the Guadalcanal campaign of World War II.

Though he had concerns that his size would impede endurance (he is six foot three inches) he completed all modules and was accepted into the regiment and began the one-year reinforcement cycle in 2005.

Operational roles in special forces began when Wales started leading close protection teams in war zones.

He led protective security detachments for visiting generals and political leaders, such as Lt Gen Peter Leahy, as they visited Baghdad, Basra, Talil, and Camp Victory in Iraq; and Kabul, Camp Russell, Kandahar, and Bagram in Afghanistan.

Wales' squadron was called to provide protection to Xanana Gusmão during the 2006 East Timorese crisis, which extended to combat roles later in the year.

After Selection, Wales moved into special forces, where he would complete four tours of Afghanistan between 2007 and 2010.

Wales was one of 83 candidates who underwent selection for the Special Air Service Regiment, completing the additional officers module after the first week.

In interviews, Wales has said this included planning a hostage rescue operation, whilst being denied food and sleep, and 130 kilometres navigation exercise, on foot, in which he became badly injured.

After providing security for world leaders at the 2007 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Wales was asked to return to Timor for a third tour, in the role of Operations Officer.

By the end of that year he was made a Captain, leading exercises for the 11th/28th Battalion, based in Perth.