Governor General, General Peter Cosgrove, an RMC graduate and former head of the ADF, said by the time his term ended two years from now many of the graduates would have been been tested in remarkable ways.

"Some of you will have made life and death decisions and will carry them through and will live with the consequences," he said.

"Not only will the men and women in your care entrust their well-being to your care; so too will their loved ones entrust you; so too will Australia.

"It's an awesome task; a never ending task. There is no greater honour in the service of Australia."

Tuesday's sword of honour recipient was Senior Under Officer Robert Loftus, a former RAN marine technician who served in Iraq in 2008.

"I think I was nominated for the sword of honour last week, about Wednesday," he said.

"There were a lot of strong people who graduated in this class. I was very honoured to receive it."

The Queen's Medal, which acknowledges the highest academic achievement, was awarded to Under Officer Stacy Furlong, a former soldier who returned to the ADF to study at Duntroon after running a variety of small businesses.

Both officers said their previous military experience, combined with life experience outside the services, helped them meet the challenges posed by Duntroon's famously rigorous training regime.

"It is absolutely amazing; its an incredible honour to be here, to be in the role and to be ensign and also to be awarded the Queen's Medal," Under Officer Furlong said.

"Working in a variety of jobs before joining the army for the first time and then again in between has given me a really good perspective on the people you are going to be serving with. It also gives you an appreciation of the role you will be doing as well."

A total of 139 young officers, 127 of whom were from the Australian Army, graduated on Tuesday.

Four of the graduates were from Papua New Guinea, two each from New Zealand and Pakistan and one each from Cambodia, Fiji, Malaysia and Thailand.