RAA Liaison Letter 2024 - 2025 Edition

RAA Liaison Letter – 2024 – 2025 Edition 125 Introduction Major DT (Terry) Brennan RAA Liaison Letter Editor In my editor’s comment in the last edition I discussed the recruiting challenges that Army is encountering. I expressed a personal view that those responsible for the Army recruiting strategy should focus on what makes a career in the Army different from those in broader society, that is, war fighting and leave the corporate focus to non- military careers. Last year I came across an example of how much we had lost our way. The Department of Defence is a unique diarchy where CDF and Secretary of Defence have different roles but are jointly responsible for delivering our raison d’etre for Australia ... war fighting! I clicked on the organisation drop down box on the Department of Defence website. What appeared was a “laundry” list in no apparent order or priority of about 17 organisations. Staring at me was the reason we have lost our way. In this list the Army, Navy, Airforce and Joint Operations Command were lost in the middle of an array of groups such as estate, acquisitions etc who would have no reason to exist without those war fighting organisations to which I referred. I recently revisited the organisation drop down box and was pleased to see it had been revised. The new layout separated the war fighting components and had placed them in a section above the list of groups. I can only hope the penny has dropped that we are not all equal in the hierarchy when it comes to our Defence. I also have heard reports that the current Chief of Army has placed a focus on war fighting and not Army support to disaster assistance and the like. Of course there will always be a support role to the community, and particularly the civilian disaster management agencies in times of need. This with the proviso that the Army has the specialist training and capability to do so in a manner that enhances the level of support being provided by those agencies. The Chief of Army’s reinvigorated focus on “The Professional of Arms” and its importance on ensuring we have an Army that is fit for purpose is extremely refreshing. As I mentioned in the current editor’s comment my observations about “The Profession of Arms” in the previous edition, gave reason for Brigadier Nick Jans (Retd) to write to me regarding his experience of researching this very subject. An extract is in the letters to the editor section. He also included the report he submitted on his return to Australia. Unfortunately the whole subject appeared to slip through the cracks at the time which I must say is disappointing. I would be pleased to hear that with the CAs renewed focus on war fighting that this subject matter might be dusted off and a reinvigorated focus be shone on “The Professional of Arms” and its importance on ensuring we have an Army that is fit for purpose. There is an adage along the lines of “The best way to ensure lasting peace is to prepare for war.” This includes having an Army that can attract the right individuals in sufficient numbers and in a consistently timely manner. The very nature of the Army is that we will have routine separations from those serving regardless of what we offer as a retention incentive. We need an Army that is well prepared for war and not distracted by other societal matters. You only need to watch the Senate Estimates Defence and Foreign Affair Committee to see, in my view at least, Defence is currently not making significant progress in this space. On reflection it seems to me at least that we are good at discussing the Profession of Arms in academic forums in ad nauseum but when it comes to accepting the concept as an important practical part of soldiering, it is a hard road. You only need to search the internet to see that this is a very noteworthy topic. I came across a number of interesting publications and papers. • ADF Publication-0-Command Philosophical Doctrine; Character in the Profession of Arms: Edition 1 2023 dated 31 March 2023. The purpose of this publication states that character lies at the heart of leadership and Spotlight on the Profession of Arms: WHAT MAKES THIS CAREER UNIQUE??