Wilton was promoted to major general in 1957 and became Commandant of Duntroon. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1962 and made CGS the following January, with the rank of lieutenant general. As CGS he oversaw a reorganisation of the Army's divisional structure, the reintroduction of conscription, and deployments during the Indonesia–Malaysia "Konfrontasi" and the Vietnam War. Knighted in 1964, he handed over the position of CGS in May 1966 and was appointed CCOSC. In this role he had overall responsibility for Australia's forces in Vietnam, and worked to achieve an integrated defence organisation, including a tri-services academy, a joint intelligence group, and the amalgamation of separate government departments for the Army, Navy and Air Force. Wilton was promoted to general in September 1968, and retired from the military in November 1970. He served as Consul-General in New York City from 1973 to 1975, and died in 1981, aged seventy.