1 Armd Regt veterans: ‘ultimate betrayal of our service’

Extracts from the 1st Armoured Regiment Association’s letter of 15 January 2025, to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (JSCFADT):

Throughout its 75-year history, 1st Armoured Regiment has been responsible for maintaining the close combat capability of main battle tanks; a decisive and soldier-saving capability, most often operating alongside, and in intimate support to infantry soldiers. 

In the wake of Army’s decision, the remnants of 1st Armoured Regiment will constitute an innovation and experimentation organisation. It will retain no tanks, and, despite its esteemed reputation, history and battle honours, it appears destined to wither as an organisation and lose any capacity to generate the Army’s tank capability.

Because of the consternation and trepidation, I see in our membership … I am compelled to bring their situation to the attention of the JSCFADT. Our observations of how the Army senior leadership has opted to deal with 1st Armoured Regiment and the main battle tank capability, has been triggering and debilitating to many of our members. 

Their outrage and indignation reflect the traits of institutional betrayal and moral injury, just as those conditions were identified in the outcomes of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran suicide. While the Association sought through professional networks to better understand Army’s rationale, the dismissive responses from the Army have only exacerbated the dismay and anger.

In common is their service on and in support of main battle tanks in 1st Armoured Regiment, dating from the early 1950s through to the present day, Association members have fought tanks in close combat in Vietnam, have commanded tank forces on detachment to the British Army at the height of the Cold War, and have instructed US tank leaders in the integration of heavy tank forces with light infantry forces in preparation for the complex fight in the urban areas of Iraq during the second Gulf War. The collective knowledge, experience and wisdom of the association in the combat operation of the main battle tank is highly credible. 

The pain that Army’s decision has caused the 1st Armoured Regiment veterans, particularly those who served in combat in South Vietnam, cannot be understated. To be frank, they all feel gutted as they watch the Regiment stripped of its soldiers, tanks and armoured warfighting capability. They see the demise of the Regiment’s esprit-de-corps that they feel they spilt blood to create. It must be noted that the 1st Armoured Regiment received three hard-won battle honours for its effectiveness in Vietnam and its C Squadron was awarded a Unit Citation for Gallantry. That esprit-de-corps continues to define much of who those veterans see themselves to be, their self-esteem, their pride, and what they carry and draw strength from daily. 

Their intuition knows the emerging arrangements to be unsuitable and perceive the decision making as inept. They believe that the tanks are being moved into a unit structure that is incapable of training and sustaining the tank capability, let alone commanding it in action and raising rotatable sub-units. To them, it feels like betrayal and has generated fear and bitterness in a good number of the membership. They sense the risk this poses to the generations of soldiers who will fight and die in the future defence of Australia’s interests.

To be combat effective, tank crews and their support elements need to train under the unified command of a tank regimental structure. It makes absolute sense to relocate the headquarters and command structure of 1st Armoured Regiment to Townsville and for the 3rd Brigade to retain the responsibility of training and sustaining the M1A2 SEPV3 Abrams tank capability.

The veterans believe the Army’s decision is the ultimate betrayal of their service. They are gutted as they watch all that 1st Armoured Regiment has been during its 75-year history, as it is trashed. 

Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Cameron, MC, RAAC (Ret’d)

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