Is he or isn’t he?

Posted on by
Yesterday the Courier Mail carried a story about an Army Major making false claims to SAS service and being otherwise free with the truth about his service in Iraq The story was filed by Michael McKenna and Ian McPhedran who, if they can’t get the small points right, most probably have trouble with the gist of the whole article. They report;
Mr Withycombe, a serving major with the First Battalion at Enoggera Barracks….
That’s Major Withycombe as he is still serving and 1RAR are Townsville based, not Enoggera. Yeh. I know – small point but I’m annoyed by journo’s getting facts wrong when dealing with the Army and if the can’t get the small things right….. They go on to report;
But senior Australian Defence Force sources last night dismissed Mr Withycombe’s claims, detailed in his campaign brochures and in claims he made in an interview with The Courier-Mail. They said the claims were either untrue or grossly exaggerated.
Who are the senior Australian Defence Force sources? I ask this because in todays Australian an article by David Nason (can’t find a link) points out;
Major Withycombe was backed up by the Defence Department wich issued a statement to the National Party saying the Army had no issue with any of the claims made in Major Withycombe’s campaign brochure
Who’s right- David Nason or the two CM chaps? I don’t know as I don’t have all the info but I think it’s a reasonable question.
Politics

3 comments

  • Deep Throat
    Thursday, 2 Sep 04 at 20:55

    Major Nicholas Withycombe is in Enoggera now. Not in a battalion, but in an operations style position. Unit is D**H*. You can guess the asterisks.

  • Mike
    Friday, 3 Sep 04 at 12:49

    It’s a bit like John Kerry. If your war service is that good you shouldn’t need to tell everyone about it.

    Ex-soldiers shouldn’t run on what they’ve done on the battlefield, they should run on what they stand for.

  • kev
    Friday, 3 Sep 04 at 15:57

    Mike,

    I sort of agree but you might note Kerry only speaks of Silver Stars and Purple Hearts – ie I’m a hero. Maj Nick talks of having done things – positions held – results achieved – ie I am proven competant . I think he needs to start somewhere- sounds better than “I was a shop steward” for example.

    An indication of being trained, educated, has had to make hard decisions etc says something positive.

    The Army bit will fade if he gets in.