Australia: catch all

[SWJED]

Australian Troops Want to See Real Action in Iraq - Reuters.

Australian infantry troops are ashamed of their "second rate" role in Iraq and Afghanistan and want to see combat as well as protection and reconstruction roles, according to an army major who served in Iraq.

In an article titled "We Were Soldiers Once" in the latest edition of the Australian Army Journal, Major Jim Hammett, who served in Iraq, Somalia, East Timor, and Tonga, said some infantry soldiers were ashamed of wearing the Australian uniform.

"The restrictions placed on deployed elements as a result of force protection and national policies have, at times, made infantrymen ashamed of wearing their Australian uniform and regimental badge," Hammett wrote.

"(They) have resulted in the widespread perception that our army is plagued by institutional cowardice." ...

Australian Soldiers 'Ashamed' at Lack of Action - Paul Larter, London Times

Australia’s soldiers won praise for their skills from the Boer War to Vietnam but now their exclusion from frontline conflicts has left many “ashamed of wearing their uniform”, a senior army official said.

The nation’s much vaunted reputation for battlefield courage has been cast into doubt by its own army officers, who have complained that troops are being deliberately kept out of combat roles in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Under the headline “We were soldiers once”, Major Jim Hammett, who has served in Iraq, East Timor and Somalia, launched a scathing critique of the restrictions placed on foot soldiers. He wrote, in the Australian Army Journal, that the infantry were trained to fight, equipped to fight and expected to fight — in short, to do everything but actually fight on the front line. This had fostered an international perception of institutional cowardice.

“Many within its ranks suspect that the role of the infantry has already been consigned to history . . . the on going inaction [in Iraq] . . . has resulted in collective disdain and at times near contempt by personnel from other contributing nations,” he said...

[Danny]

What a shame. No, the troops do not need to be ashamed. Their leadership does, similar to the UK leadership.

My understanding is that the Aussies are great troopers. They, in fact, were inside of Afghanistan before U.S. troops were following 9/11, seeing the importance for our future of early and decisive action.

Whether civilian or military, people take on the traits and characteristics of their leadership. Let's hope that they get some of that (leadership) in the land down under.

[Rex Brynen]

I remember how--in the run-up to OIF--some (although by no means all) folks in the Canadian Department of National Defence were so eager to get into a "real" war that it blinded them to the probable longer-term operational challenges and strategic costs of intervention in Iraq. Indeed, I would argue in this case that cooler heads in civilian institutions (DFAIT, elsewhere) and the civilian political leadership called the situation much better.

This doesn't speak, of course, to the frustrations of Australian infantry deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan who then find their roles and potential contributions there excessively circumscribed.

[jcustis]

I heard this repeatedly from our liaison officer while down under for Talisman Saber last year. The whole matter was pissing the majority of them off to no end.

[jtan163]

There was an article about this matter in the Australian Army Journal:

Australian Army Journal Autumn 2008

[SJPONeill]

Ultimately, that army as with all the other land forces of the Anglosphere exists as an instrument of national policy, and not as a tool for the lads to go off and get their jollies. Should the desire for close combat be so great, there are ways and means for those individuals who desire it so greatly to gain that experience should their own nation's policies be unpalatable.

Having spent a bit of time with teams and individuals from those land forces that are more closely engaged in close combat, if there is any implication of institutional cowardice as claimed above, I would suggest that it either comes from those not worth listening to or simply exists in the minds of some of those who think their nation's policies should be more martial.

I doubt that there are many who doubt that the RAInf (or any other corps) will not hold up its end of the stick if called upon to do so...