US. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, has been appointed by the Governor-General of Australia as an Honorary Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia.

The award is bestowed on non-Australian citizens for their extraordinary service to the country.

Courtney has led the effort in Congress to form the AUKUS security agreement between the U.S., Australia and Great Britain to share naval peacekeeping in the Pacific.

The agreement, in part calls for the United States to sell Australia three conventionally armed Virginia-class submarines, with the potential to sell up to two more in the 2030s. Those subs would be built by Electric Boat. Another phase calls for the three nations to work together to build SSN-AUKUS, the future attack submarine for both Australia and the United Kingdom. As part of the agreement, Royal Australian Navy sailors are currently training at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton.

The Australian Embassy is scheduled to present Courtney with the award next month in Washington.