Educated at Renmark High School, where he was a classmate of future cabinet minister Anne Ruston,[3] Burr entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon as an officer cadet in 1982.

[4] Burr graduated from Duntroon in 1985 with a University of New South Wales accredited Bachelor of Arts, and was commissioned into the Royal Australian Infantry Corps.

For his leadership in the Middle East, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the United States Bronze Star Medal.

Reporting to General Vincent K. Brooks, Burr supervised training within the command and served as USARPAC's liaison with countries in Southeast Asia and Australasia.

In recognising his efforts with USARPAC, Brooks said of Burr that "Australia couldn't ask for a better leader, for a better soldier, a better warrior" and awarded him the Legion of Merit.