RAAC ARA units – 1 Armd Regt; 2 Cav Regt; and 2/14LHR(QMI)

How long will it take until the above becomes reality?

It must happen sooner or later; given that the alternative is that the RAAC’s oldest ARA unit, 1st Armoured Regiment, remains a non-combatant … without an RAAC role.

There are still many who simply can’t fathom how all this came about.  

After 75 years service, all but five of which as Army’s sole tank regiment, 1 Armd Regt was made an experimentation unit.  Why?  

When the infantry became responsible for armoured mobility (being equipped with mechanised armoured fighting vehicles), manpower authority for an RAAC ARA unit was lost.

Apparently, a lot of negotiating went on behind the scenes, before a decision was finally made about which unit was to go.  Somehow (no-one will admit to knowing) … it was decided that the RAAC’s most senior ARA regiment, rather than the most junior, would be the one to be scrapped.  

Surprisingly, nothing has been revealed about the negotiations and lobbying involved … all the relevant ‘goings-on’ have been kept secret and ‘those in-the-know’ aren’t prepared to comment.

It’s a simple question: why was 1 Armd Regt removed from the RAAC ORBAT (i.e. stripped of any RAAC role and made a non-combatant)?  Surely, it’s not possible for such a decision to be kept a secret.  

One would hope, indeed expect, that matters which determine the future of the RAAC’s oldest and most senior unit would be decided on the basis of stakeholder consensus.  Disappointingly, however, no explanation has been provided.  Without putting too fine a point on it – members of the RAAC have been shafted. 

Is it too much to expect that the RAAC Representative Honorary Colonel and Head of Corps would make an official statement explaining the reasoning for the decision – or would this create a conflict of interest, i.e. these officers disagreed with the decision and are unwilling to breach loyalty to the Chief of Army by saying so publicly?  

Given that three years have passed without any justification or reasoning being provided, there would seem to be little hope of any enlightenment being provided retrospectively.  

It is well known that the Chief of Army at the time, wanted an experimentation unit.  It would seem that a ‘captain’s call’ might’ve been made; i.e. no matter how much the RAAC hierarchy protested, the decision had been made and was out of anyone’s hands.  Is this the sort of behaviour in keeping with the ethics of the Armoured Corps?  Of course NOT!

Letters to the Chief of the Defence Force and Minister for Defence have been rebuffed.  A response from the latter stated that 1 Armd Regt has been given an important new role that will be instrumental ‘in directly shaping how Army fights”.  The Minister has been asked what this actually means, but no response has been received.

The CDF has stated that 1 Armd Regt will continue to carry its Standard.  But this was awarded on the basis that the unit was a tank regiment (the equivalent of the earlier ‘Heavy Dragoon Guards’ in the British Army).  Now that it is no longer a tank regiment, this has to be forfeited.  

CAs, of course, can make rules to suit themselves.  So it is, that a unit’s once proud heritage has been bastardised, in favour of new arrangements.

But the real question is this: why does the RAAC have to accept a two ARA unit limit?  

Why can’t it comprise three ARA units? There is more than sufficient justification for the RAAC ORBAT to be made up of: 1 Armd Regt (tank); 2 Cav Regt (recon); and 2/14 LHR (QMI) (recon).

1 Armd Regt and 2 Cav Regt would be located in Townsville and make up 3 Brigade’s armoured brigade (with 3RAR).  2/14 LHR (QMI) would continue to be based in Brisbane, as it is now.  This would see the incompatible dual-role arrangement for 2 Cav Regt done away with (never to be raised again, hopefully). 

Given that 2 Cav Regt is currently operating four squadrons (two tank and two recon), it would seem that any shortfall with the number of platforms could be managed on a unit-by-unit basis.

The time is long past for the ARA RAAC to be returned to its combat role!

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

.

.

ChatGPT image

.

.


.


.