Open letter to Senator James Paterson

Dear Senator Paterson, 

Congratulations on your appointment as the Shadow Minister for Defence. 

I write to you as someone who is concerned about our Nation’s defence preparedness and readiness.  I offer this view on the basis of twenty years’ service in the Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC).  During this time, I was a tank troop leader with 1st Armoured Regiment in Vietnam and was very much aware of the critical importance of the direct fire support we were able to provide to infantry battalions. 

My colleagues and I were all staggered when the Chief of Army stripped tanks from our former Regiment, turning it into a non-combatant unit to evaluate new technologies.  Seventy-five years’ continuous heritage … lost in an instant, along with all the battlecraft and skills associated with a combat ready tank regiment.   

In the view of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), we are in the midst of the gravest geopolitical period in generations; one which is only going to intensify.  ASPI states that “Australia needs to spend more on defence—and it needs to do so immediately”.   

Amazingly at this time of strategic peril, 3 Brigade, the Army’s only armoured brigade (Townsville) is being forced to operate without a tank squadron, a cavalry squadron and a battle-group headquarters.  This is a significant reduction in the brigade’s combat power and is a direct result of making 1st Armoured Regiment an experimentation unit.  

In addition to this, the cavalry regiment in Townsville has been forced to operate as a unit with dual roles … close fire support using tanks, and intelligence gathering using reconnaissance vehicles.  As is patently obvious, these roles are totally incompatible for a single unit.  

The RAAC’s most senior officer has advised the Chief of Army that: 

“The best operational outcome for Army is to form two battlegroups in Townsville, one commanding the cavalry and one commanding the tanks. This has benefits for training and operational focus. The best way to achieve this outcome is to raise Regimental Headquarters, 1st Armoured Regiment, in Townsville and to assign the tanks to it.”   

The Chief of Army declined to accept these recommendations. 

Disappointingly, Minister Marles has also declined to respond to the Petition presented to Parliament and copied, in part, below (EN 7051): 

“We therefore ask the House to urge the Defence Minister, Richard Marles, to reinstate 1st Armoured Regiment as the nation’s tank regiment, overturning the Department of Defence’s decision to remove the Royal Australian Armoured Corps’ oldest and most decorated regular army unit from the ORBAT.  

We seek this so as to honour the service and sacrifice of tank crews during the past 75 years, creating an inspirational legacy worthy of being passed on to those serving today.” 

You can imagine the frustration felt when it appears that the cutback in operational capability is a direct consequence of forced cost savings related to the AUKUS submarines. 

There comes a point, beyond which, the quest to achieve savings actually jeopardises our Nation’s defence.  The decimation experienced by the RAAC, is an example of precisely this.   

It is my hope that the information above might be useful in helping make known the extent to which Army capabilities are presently being completely run down by the Government. 

Yours sincerely,
Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Cameron, MC, RAAC (Retd) 

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FILE PHOTO (2017): Soldiers from the 1st Armoured Regiment await the order to start the parade to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Cambrai. Photo by Corporal Craig Barrett.

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