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Author: Posted by Brian Hartigan

Soldiers of the 1st Armoured Regiment honour their unit's Standard in Adelaide. Photo by Private Sophie Hartley.
Letters to the Editor 

The significance of 1st Armoured Regiment’s Standard

02/07/202602/07/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 477 Views 0 Comments

On 29 June 2026, the outgoing Chief of Army gave an address at the Australian War Memorial.  He referred to

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Letters to the Editor 

Every Count Matters turns a hidden footprint into a chorus

02/07/202602/07/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 602 Views 0 Comments

Dear Editor, DVA is very good at handling veterans one at a time. One claim. One delay. One family worn

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An Australian Army M1A1 Abrams tank fires during Exercise Jericho Dawn 2016. Photo by Sergeant Pete Gammie
Letters to the Editor 

What can be done to save the Royal Australian Armoured Corps (part 2)

02/07/202602/07/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 323 Views 0 Comments

The following is a follow-up to this letter. Unfortunately, the options available are few indeed.  One might hope that Lieutenant

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An Australian Army M1A1 Abrams fires while working side-by-side Indonesian National Armed Forces Leopard 2 tanks during a combined joint live-fire practice on Exercise Keris Woomera 2024 in East Java, Indonesia. Photo by Leading Seaman David Cox.
Letters to the Editor 

What can be done to save the Royal Australian Armoured Corps?

30/06/202602/07/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 445 Views 0 Comments

The need to save the RAAC is both obvious and urgent.   1st Armoured Regiment has been stripped of its

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Letters to the Editor 

Your thanks mean less if you cannot count us

29/06/202629/06/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 447 Views 0 Comments

Dear Editor, Veterans already have power. It is called a vote. The problem is not that veterans, families, carers, friends

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An Australian Army explosive ordnance disposal technician on Operation Render Safe 26 prepares a charge to destroy unexploded ordnance in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea. Photo by Sergeant Andrew Sleeman.
ADF New Zealand News Pacific 

International team blows WWII-era explosives in PNG

28/06/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 969 Views 0 Comments

Six New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel were part of a multinational effort in Papua New Guinea to destroy about

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Editor's Vlog 

Bunker door part 2

28/06/202628/06/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 473 Views 0 Comments

Building and fitting the bunker door is a big undertaking. It’s already more than 50kg and not fully clad with

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Letters to the Editor 

DVA repair being turned into budget control

28/06/202628/06/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 594 Views 0 Comments

Dear Editor, DVA is confusing repair with control. Veterans were told the system would be fixed after the Royal Commission

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Letters to the Editor 

One Nation is turning law into loyalty

27/06/202627/06/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 453 Views 0 Comments

Dear Editor, Hastie versus One Nation is being sold as politics, but CONTACT readers should hear something louder. It puts

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Letters to the Editor 

The art of the non-decision

27/06/202627/06/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 262 Views 0 Comments

Although it’s a truism, it’s none-the-less worthy of emphasizing:  defending a land mass the size of Australia, means defending a

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Letters to the Editor 

DVA’s doctor game fails the pub test

26/06/202626/06/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 345 Views 0 Comments

Dear Editor, Veterans should not have to guess which doctors the Department of Veterans’ Affairs will count. A recent veterans

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A Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130J Super Hercules takes off from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, during Exercise Red Flag-Alaska 26-2. US Air Force photo by Senior Airman Owen Daives.
New Zealand News USA 

Kiwi Herc flies home from Alaska

23/06/202623/06/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 559 Views 0 Comments

A Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130J Hercules has successfully taken part in the United States Air Force-led Exercise Red

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Letters to the Editor 

What’s wrong with tanks and cavalry being part of the same unit?

23/06/202623/06/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 929 Views 1 Comment

The provision of close fire support by tanks, is a completely different undertaking to that of intelligence gathering by reconnaissance

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Letters to the Editor 

Albanese Labor Simplified DVA Law, Not Yet Veterans’ Lives

22/06/202622/06/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 543 Views 0 Comments

Dear Editor, Albanese Labor’s veterans reform now has a date, a booklet and a ministerial storyline. From 1 July 2026,

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An Australian M1A2 Abrams SEP v3 fires sabot rounds during a live-fire to confirm the aiming system of the tank and to qualify crews on the new systems at the Puckapunyal Military Area, Victoria, November 2024. Photo by Corporal Michael Currie.
Letters to the Editor 

The tragedy that’s befallen the Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC)

21/06/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 515 Views 0 Comments

If a Shakespearean tragedy had cast the RAAC as MacBeth, it couldn’t have been more appropriate.  The RAAC has recently

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Letters to the Editor 

DVA counted the savings before it built the safeguard

21/06/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 580 Views 0 Comments

Dear Editor, This week Veterans Minister Matt Keogh was spinning veteran wellbeing to a Labor-friendly McKell Institute audience, with a

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Minister for Defence Richard Marles and A/g Assistant Director General Strategic Engagement and Policy Branch Australian Submarine Agency, Dr Kate O’Shaughnessy discuss an education display at the Australian Submarine Agency’s Submarine Discovery Centre in Rockingham, Western Australia. Photo by Leading Seaman Zac Dingle.
News Royal Australian Navy 

Submarine Discovery Centre opens in Rockingham

20/06/202620/06/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 3409 Views 1 Comment AUKUS

The Albanese Government has officially opened the WA Submarine Discovery Centre in Rockingham – a new information hub where the

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A missing Cook Islands fisherman waves to the crew of the RNZAF P-8A after they found him west of Pukapuka Island. RNZDF photo supplied.
New Zealand News 

RNZAF Poseidon spots fisherman missing for a week

20/06/202620/06/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 574 Views 0 Comments

A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-8A Poseidon crew found a solo fisherman missing for a week in the northern

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Editor's Vlog 

Hiding ugly in the bunker

20/06/202620/06/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 287 Views 0 Comments Make-n-Do

This week I did some panelling to hide the electrical wires and dust-collection pipes in the bunker. As usual, I

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Letters to the Editor 

Tanks on the Rebound: New Hope for 1st Armoured Regiment?

17/06/202617/06/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 418 Views 0 Comments

Lieutenant General Susan Coyle AM, CSC, DSM will soon be Chief of Army … will she resurrect 1 Armd Regt? The

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CONTACT Air Land & Sea plus COMBAT Camera magazines were past publications of this business. Digital copies of both magazines can be viewed or downloaded via our Archives (see menus).

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