April 1974 was promoted to brigadier, Chief of Staff at HQ Field Force Command in Sydney until December 1975. Bennett attended senior officer training at the Australian Staff College first long course in 1960–61, Joint Services Staff College in UK as a student then exchange instructor 1969–71, and then the Royal College of Defence Studies in UK in 1976. He commanded the 1st Division 1977–79, became Assistant Chief of Defence Staff 1979–82, Chief of the General Staff 1982–84 and Chief of the Defence Force in 1984 (the position having been changed from Chief of the Defence Staff). He retired from the Army in April 1987. Governor of Tasmania During his period as governor, Bennett was called on to be the adjudicator of a sensitive constitutional problem following the inconclusive Tasmanian state election in 1989. The Liberal Government of Premier Robin Gray had suffered a two-seat swing, leaving it one seat short of a majority. The opposition Labor Party led by Michael Field then garnered the support of the five Green members of the House of Assembly for a minority government in what was known as the Labor-Green Accord. Gray refused to resign, initially intending to stay in office until defeated in the House. When he learned of the Labor-Green agreement, he asked Bennett to dissolve the legislature and call new elections. Under normal circumstances, Bennett would have been bound by convention to honour this request. However, Bennett refused to do so. He believed that Gray was no longer in a position to govern, and therefore had lost the right to ask for a dissolution. He'd also been privately assured before the formal accord was signed that the Greens would back a Labor government. Gray was thus forced to resign, and Bennett commissioned Field as premier. Bennett on several occasions also became Administrator of the Commonwealth during overseas visits by the then Governor-General, Bill Hayden. Retirement After retiring from the governorship, Bennett served as inaugural Chairman of the Australian War Memorial Foundation. He has been the Patron of the 2 Commando Association (now the Australian Commando Association Victoria) since 1985, Patron of The St John Ambulance in the ACT since 1996, and a past President of the Order of Australia Association (elected National President of the Order of Australian Association in March 1997). He is also the inaugural National Patron of the Royal Australian Regiment Association. A biography of Bennett's life,