Lieutenant Colonel Richard Barrett was born in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, but grew up in Darwin, Australia. After completing his secondary education he attended the Australian Defence Force Academy and the Royal Military College Duntroon from 1991 to 1995.

Following graduation LTCOL Barrett was allocated to the Infantry Corps and his first posting was to the 1st Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (1 RAR). In 1999 LTCOL Barrett was posted as the Adjutant of the 11th/28th Battalion, the Royal Western Australia Regiment and in 2000 he was posted to the 6th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR). 6 RAR deployed to East Timor during this period, where LTCOL Barrett served as the Battalion's Intelligence Officer.

On return to Australia LTCOL Barrett was posted as a tactics instructor at the Royal Military College (RMC). In 2004 LTCOL Barrett returned to the Regiment as the Adjutant of the 2nd Battalion, was promoted to Major and served as the Officer Commanding Charlie Company.

In 2007 LTCOL Barrett attended Australian Command and Staff College. His thesis on Civil-Military Operations was published by the Australian Army Journal as a Working Paper in April 2010. LTCOL Barrett holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours), a Master of International Affairs, a Master of Strategic Planning and Graduate Diplomas in Defence Studies, Management in Defence Studies and Languages (French).

In 2008 LTCOL Barrett was posted as an exchange officer with the Marine Forces Pacific (MARFORPAC), Hawaii. LTCOL Barrett was a lead planner for United States Marine Corps (USMC) international training activities throughout the Pacific region. LTCOL Barrett was fortunate to deploy with the USMC to Afghanistan in 2009 as a part of the Marine Expeditionary Brigade Afghanistan (MEB-A) as a G-3 Future Operations planner. In 2012 the MEB-A was awarded the US Presidential Unit Citation. LTCOL Barrett was awarded the United States Meritorious Service Medal for his work with MARFORPAC and the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for his performance with the MEB-A.

LTCOL Barrett returned to Australia in January 2010 on promotion as the Chief Instructor of the Royal Military College of Australia. At the end of his tenure at RMC-A he deployed to the Headquarters of the International Stability Assistance Force Afghanistan (HQ ISAF), in the Future Plans cell. For his work at HQ ISAF he was awarded an ADF Bronze Commendation.

In 2012 LTCOL Barrett served as the Staff Officer (Policy) to the Chief of the Defence Force.

In January 2013 LTCOL Barrett was proud to march in as the Commanding Officer of the 5th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (5 RAR).

LTCOL Barrett is married to Kate and they have a young son Thomas.