Category: General Musings

Twent years ago I did my Infantry Company Commanders course and as a part of Corps familiarization travelled to Puckapunyal, then the home of the Armoured Regiment, to talk to our ‘turret head’ brothers. We aspiring infantry commanders were put in the drivers seat of the Leopard Battle Tank and got to play ‘Boys and their Toys’ at the ultimate level. Under command of qualified crew commanders we drove the tank and on a quite Friday night in Brisbane, if you listen carefully, you can still here me extolling the wonders of this ultimate weapon. Driving down a steep slope with the Crew Commander saying ‘bore it up ‘er, sir’, I hit 80 kph and then acted on the order, ‘hard right stick’. My limited high school physics brought up visions of impending doom as I thought – 50 plus tons, 80 kph, hard right turn on downward sloping hill has to equal disaster. Not so. The Leopard obeyed and the magnificent suspension coped beyond physics. Similarly I drove it over a 6 foot creek gap at speed and actually had the 50 ton green ‘tonka toy’ airborne for a second ot two. The smart reader will have already noticed the point of this post. It was twenty bloody years ago! To put that in perspective a twenty year gap in battle tank development can be best explained by comparing World War One battle Tanks with World War Two models. Get my drift? When I commanded a company in the Operational Deployment Force in Townsville in the early eighties my troops were carring machine guns that were older than they were. They were riding in APCs that had been rebuilt from 60s stock and restricted parts and flying hours for helicopters was setting the stage for the later Blackhawke disaster. From then till now things have not improved that much. Don’t be mislead by videos of well equiped Aussie soldiers on patrol in East Timor or in Iraq. You are only seeing the cheap end of military hardware. The expensive stuff, the new tanks, carriers and artillery have been put in the ‘too hard’ basket for too long. The debate that we should have had two or three times in the past is just surfacing now. This article from todays Australian sets the pace and, in fact backs up my post earlier in the week. It’s a pity the Generals and I didn’t think the same when I was serving. Lieutenant-General Leahy said the army was undergoing a “military transformation” that could require it to operate independently in protecting Australia and its regional interests, and in coalitions further afield. “The new army that will develop over the next few years will be a land force that is mobile, agile and versatile,” Lieutenant-General Leahy told a conference in Canberra. “It will be a land force that is able to … operate independently, jointly or in coalitions, across a complex spectrum of conflict. The complexity of the army’s missions in areas as diverse as East Timor, Afghanistan, Iraq and the Solomons, shadowed as they are by the ongoing war on terror – indicates the challenging character of the new international security environment. “We are in transition away from being a light infantry force towards becoming a light armoured force.” And this; Defence forces suggest there is a split within the ADF over the purchase of new tanks. The army is thought to be pushing for the purchase of 100 new Leopard tanks at a cost of about $300 million to replace Australia’s ageing fleet. But defence force chief General Peter Cosgrove is believed to favour the much heavier US Abrams-style tanks, which would fit more easily Australia’s role in supporting the US. A final decision will have to be taken by cabinet as part of its review of the future of Australia’s 10-year $25 billion defence forward purchasing plan. Spending on the previous 2001-2010 plan is estimated to already have blown out by at least $2 billion. I’m with Cosgrove here. If we are going to fight with the Yanks then lets have some commonality of equipment. It makes all the diiference in matters logistic and matters logistic make all the difference.

Wednesday just gone witnessed a meet at the revamped Story Bridge Hotel of the right wing chapter of Brisbane Bloggers. Although refreshing to drink with people who have political opinions it would have been good to have some left wing thinkers present to sharpen debating skills -or swords. I invite one of my sons but he muttered something about ‘smelling a right wing plot from a hundred metres’. Ah well, viva la difference Paul Bickford talks like he writes with more body language, Dan Murphy, thinks beyond his years and embraces capitalism while Todd McKenzie and I share a secret past and by extension are trained to agree with each other. Todd bailed earliest under the guise of it being the smart thing to do but I think maintaining the ‘ever’ in the ever-loving girlfriend could have been a motive. It beats the local RSL where I’m a member by obligation but have long wearied of discussions on who won the fifth at Randwick. Yes, as Todd points I am clearly the elder but could I say, that as sure as young tarts become old tarts and young Pilgers become old fools, then young right wing warriors become old right wing commentators. Having literally fought battles against left wing ideology I tested the air for the taste of cordite – damn! no fools to wind up and tear apart, only good chaps all. Gary, absent in person, left a deposit to start the drinking. The next morning the question of ‘Did I have a good time” could only be answered by reference to Todd It appears I did!

The Age carries a story by Annabel Crab about a White House brief for the Presidents upcoming trip to Australia. Under the banner ‘Major blunder in White House Australia brief’ we are told, and expected to believe that the White House thinks John Major is the Prime Minister of Australia. The rundown, however, gets off to a shaky start by identifying the Australian Prime Minister as “John Major”. “In 1996, a Liberal/National Party coalition came to power under Prime Minister John Major after 13 years of ALP rule,” it claims. If the White House tag is on this brief, it would have been compiled by someones favourite niece from Montanna doing work experience. More likely, it was a setup -as in “Anna, could you find or engineer something negative about Howard.” The Howard Haters will be giggling over this and thanking the Age for pointing out how insignificant Howard is on the world stage. It’s a double hammy as well, as in, by inference, Bush doesn’t know who Howard is. Stupid Whiter House, dumb President and unknown Howard. A left wing trifecta. Strange, but the Washington Post news feed doesn’t mention what would be a major diplomatic stuff-up nor does any newspaper other than the Age – well known for setting low standards of journalism and failing to meet them. A tabloid mentality on broadsheet paper.

This from Jackie Kelly, Lib MP Mark Latham, who behind a thin veneer of intellectual sophistication, is a visceral political pugilist who sees politeness as a form of political correctness. Says it all.

The ABC has proven beyond doubt that someone really did plunder the Bahgdad museum. In this article reported by the ABC a man has been…….hang on, I got it wrong. It’s all about the Australian Museum. Never mind Auntie, one out of two isn’t bad.

As if Ruddock doesn’t have enough on his plate in his new portfolio an Australian lawyer thinks being forced to do time for a crime against humanity is a greater transgression than doing the crime. No wonder there are so many lawyer jokes. PHILIP Ruddock’s first task as attorney-general should be to clarify the status of the two Australians held by the US military in Guantanamo Bay, Law Institute of Victoria president Bill O’Shea said yesterday. Why? The status of these two has already been clarified. They were caught fighting for the Taliban who were trying to kill coalition forces. The fact that Australians were a part of that coalition makes it even clearer. They should stay incarcerated for the duration of the War against Terrorism. Clarified?

I’m off to Legacy now to help set up an Antiques and Militaria auction to raise funds for what I class as a uniquely Australian charity. Legacy exists to help the widows and orphans of veterans killed in wars and those who died afterwards as a result of their war service. The volunteer workforce primarily comprises former defence force personnel who have a strong commitment and interest in looking after the families of deceased comrades. Volunteer members were originally called Legatees because they accepted the “legacy of care” for their comrades’ families and this title has continued to the present day. Some 7500 Legatees assist more than 134,000 widows and 1900 children and disabled dependants Australia-wide. That’s right – 134,000 widows. The story behind the wars we fight. Some people just keep on giving and suffering. You might have not served but you can help Legacy help these widows and their kids. Think about it. You can view the Legacy website here Beside Legacy, this week I have the inaugural webmeet of Brisbane bloggers, organized by Andy Murphey from Mangled Thoughts, ably backed by Paul from Paul & Carls Daily Diatribe and Tod McKenzie from……..wait for it………Tod McKenzie. I look forward to meeting other people so if your in town get yourself to the Story Bridge Hotel after work on Wednesday. Blonde and large, you can’t miss me. Oh………Ok……….the blonde is really grey.

The SMH has set up a website titled ‘Rugby Heaven’. Check out the TAG guy – shades of Star Wars. No wonder the baby has a sooky look on his face. Still, looks a lot more professional than an overweight ‘white shirt’ security guy. They’ll be behind the scenes and there will be a lot of them – take a long, hard look Jemaah Islamiah. This guy is not your local Kopassus thug and he would relish the chance to prove it.

Ah, it’s great in the sunshine state. Easy morning, lunch then a dip in the pool. Relax for a bit in the warm sunshine giving little thought to the poor Victorians…I mean 10 celcius, rain and the Lions to play. Half time and I feel a bit sorry for them…but not that much Full time at 134 versus 84 Ah, it’s great in the sunshine state! Now off to a party, good friends, a birthday and a win to celebrate on a balmy sub-tropical night.

A lot has been written about the great Australian – all complimentary, all deserved. I was, however, saddened by the fact that somehow or other Peter Garret was there to politicise and lower the tone of the event. Since he politicized the Sydney Olympics I have had little time for the man. His mere presence insulted my sensibilities. It’s true, Australia isn’t perfect but any opening of closets full of skeletons should be debated and resolved in-family. I can happily handle, and even encourage opposing views, but to push a minority view onto the world stage that denigrates this great country, something the great Slim would never have done, puts the perpetrater in a bucket of slops to be thrown out at the first opportunity. Garrett read a message from Mandawuy Yunupingu, a member of indigenous rock band Yothu Yindi. “You were the first pioneer of reconciliation between black and white Australia,” it said. “The message in your songs brings harmony and balance between people and the land.” I’m surprised that Garret didn’t slip in a “and that mongrel Howard still wont apologize”. It wasn’t Slim’s way. I’m sure he didn’t think in terms of reconciliation. He was just singing to Australians – all of us. Garret, on the other hand, speaks for very few.