The Marines hug the walls inside the buildings as they train their eyes skyward from the edges of the windows. The low hum that drove them to cover becomes louder, and high above the town hangs the silhoutte of an Australian unmanned aerial vehicle. As dawn approaches the quiet town, a harsh voice cuts through the silence. “Stand to!” it calls, “Enemy sighted at 200 metres!”

Marines' words and pics Corporal Jonathan Wright, 31st Marine Expiditionary Unit
ADF words by various officers (amalgamated and edited by Brian Hartigan)
ADF pics Leading Seaman Andrew Dakin and Able Seaman Lee-Anne Mack

AUSSIE SUPERPOWER - No, the headline is not a cliché.
HMAS Melbourne really is a superpowered superpower. Packing two jet engines for a total of 41,000 shaft horsepower, and a suite of weapons I could barely believe, everything about Melbourne is impressive, from top to bottom and most of the bits in between, some of which I’m not allowed to tell you about.
But first, let me rewind a bit....

Words and pics Brian Hartigan

Words and pics Sergeant Brian Hartigan
(reproduced with permission from ARMY newspaper)

Pics Corporal David Gibbs

March-out parades happen at Kapooka almost every week of the year, yet are not well covered. Sergeant Brian Hartigan recently paid a visit to the 1st Recruit Training Battalion to report for ARMY newspaper if anything had changed in the 22 years since he marched out.
Don’t Rain on my Parade is a song that was popular not long after I was born. X-number of years later the recruits of 25 Platoon and 26 Platoon, C Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, might well have sung the same request – if they really cared about the weather, which they didn’t. Their double march-out on 22 June was wet and cold, but not nearly wet enough to dampen the enthusiasm, excitement and relief of the 98 graduating soldiers.

Words and pics Sergeant Brian Hartigan
(reproduced with permission from ARMY newspaper)

Queensland’s first war-animal plaque, to recognise the sacrifices and deeds that animals have undertaken on battlefields around the world, was unveiled at a memorial ceremony at the Robina Community Centre and War Memorial on the Gold Coast on Sunday 23 May. Economic Development and Tourism Committee chair Jan Grew – who had a RAAF working dog named in her honour – dedicated a special plaque to all the animals that have served our nation in times of war and peace.

Words and pics supplied by Nigel Allsopp

I was fortunate enough in May of this year to unveil the first war-animal plaque on the Gold Coast, sponsored by the
Mudgeeraba RSL. To get some media attention for this event I began in February to ask the units that still operate animals in Queensland to come along on the day. In the end, we had a great turnout with Stan the Ram – 8/9RAR’s mascot – mules and donkeys from a re-enactor group, military working dogs from the RAAF and 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment and a troop of light horsemen from the local Mudgeeraba unit. I have been a horse owner and rider myself in years gone by, but when Peter the president of the 14th Mudgeeraba Light Horse said, “Sure, we will come to your event, but how about helping out with ours”, I suddenly felt the need for some revision horse-riding lessons. Peter wasn’t talking about a simple ride. This was the televised ANZAC Day Ceremony on Channel 7’s Morning Show, with only half the population of Australia watching. So, no pressure then!

Words and pics supplied by Nigel Allsopp

NEW REGULAR FEATURE:
The second in a new series of articles cataloguing the weapons suites of the Australian Defence Force.

Part 2- Sniper rifles and support weapons.

Pics ADF, US Army and Brian Hartigan

RIP

Sergeant Blaine Flower Diddams, Australian Special Air Service Regiment, was shot and killed during an engagement with insurgents on 2 July 2012, while on a mission targeting an insurgent commander in the Chorah region of Uruzgan province, Afghanistan.
Sergeant Diddams was 40 years old and is survived by his wife Toni-Ann and their children Elle-Lou and Henry, and his parents Peter and Cate.

RIP

Lance Corporal Pralli Durrer and Lance Corporal Rory Patrick Malone, both aged 26, were killed on 4 August 2012 in a major gun battle with suspected insurgents in the north-east of Bamyan province, Afghanistan.
Lance Corporal Durrer was a crewman with Queen Alexandra’s Mounted Rifles based in Linton.
Lance Corporal Malone was a rifleman in the 2nd/1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, based in Burnham.
Six other NZ Defence Force personnel were wounded during the same incident.
Two local security personnel were also killed, and a further 11 personnel wounded.

Plus our regular columns;

• The Big Picture - RAAF's special operators - 4 Squadron's combat-control teams
  
• Heads up - latest snippets from Australia, New Zealand and around the World
• Military Fitness by Don Stevenson
• Military Self Defence by Maj Travis Faure
• Just Soldiers by WO1 Darryl Kelly
• Frontline Africa by Damien Mander
• Cadet Corner
• Book Reviews
• The Gear Insider

COMBAT Camera is a new photo-essay magazine of very high production standards. It is a stable-mate of and designed to complement CONTACT Air Land & Sea, which is now in its ninth year. COMBAT Camera will source official photos from the Defence forces of Australia, the USA, Canada, New Zealand and others - and invites soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines from any country to submit unofficial materiel. Photos and brief stories for inclusion in COMBAT Camera can be sent to editor@militarycontact.com

The next issue will be in newsagents from 2 November 2012
- followed by 4 issues per year thereafter

Buy Issue #1 here Your Location Australia $8.95 AUD New Zealand $15.00 AUD Asia Pacific $15.50 AUD Rest of World $19.95 AUD

Pre-order issue #2 today Your Location Australia$8.95 AUD New Zealand$15.00 AUD Asia Pacific$15.50 AUD Rest of World$19.95 AUD