What price 1st Armoured Regiment’s esprit-de-corps, heritage and tradition?

The loss of combat power suffered by 3 Brigade (Armoured) is relatively easy to quantify in terms of unit strength and impact on brigade flexibility and command and control.  Not so easy to measure is the impact of 1 Armd Regt’s lost esprit-de-corps, heritage and tradition.  Can this be preserved until it is raised anew as a tank regiment once more?  Or is it gone forever?

Chief of the Defence Force stated that the new experimentation unit was “diligently stewarding [1 Armd Regt’s] traditions”.  This, of course, is a ‘pipe-dream’… as evidenced by the fact that, for the first time, the 2025 Cambrai Day Parade had to be cancelled. 

The 1 Armd Regt Association advised its members that: 

“… the planned Cambrai Parade and following BBQ have been cancelled, as the majority of the Regiment will still be deployed across the country conducting their ongoing support to critical land projects. Quite a disappointment for those keen to attend, however the Regiment’s operational tasking must take priority.”

There is simply no way that one unit can maintain the traditions of another (especially when that unit is itself busy creating its own heritage).  The idea that 1 Armd Regt would continue to do so was part of the assurance agreed by Defence and passed on by the CDF’s staff.  This was a deliberate policy to help smooth the way for acceptance of the new ‘emerging technologies’ unit.  A backlash against the demotion of the Army’s most senior unit was rightly anticipated by Defence.  

Having been on the ‘right of the line’ (where a commander traditionally places his best unit) for 75 years, 1 Armd Regt is now a non-combatant, no longer on the order of battle.

I was banned (almost two years ago) from the 1 Armd Regt Facebook page.  I posted questions which the current CO considered inappropriate (as is his prerogative) and that was it … forever persona non grata.  

While I understand that he has been a good CO for a Combat Experimentation Group (CXG), I wonder if he realises just how much he has been used by the Chief of Army and Director General, Future Land Warfare, to further their own ends.  No doubt his future career is assured, though it is hard to imagine the CXG command experience has qualified him to be a future brigade commander.

His successor’s place is in Townsville, commanding 1 Armd Regt’s tanks (in conjunction with the brigade’s other units: 2 Cav Regt and 3RAR Mech).  Hopefully, the next CA will view his responsibility to the Army, in this way also.  It’s interesting to ponder the situation that exists.  

How much pressure will be placed on Gen Stuart’s successor to maintain the cost savings being achieved in Townsville by 3 Brigade (operating short a tank squadron, a cavalry squadron and a battlegroup headquarters).  

Defence will undoubtedly want to maintain the status quo and the decision for the next CA will be clearcut … a full armoured brigade, with all its combat power and battlegroup flexibility; or a brigade with a single armoured unit having dual roles (incompatible as they are) of close fire support and reconnaissance.  

Interestingly, it seems that it all comes down to unit ‘make up’ … i.e. what the unit’s role is and the manner in which it is executed.  1 Armd Regt’s RAAC role has always been to ‘destroy the enemy, using fire and manoeuvre’.   It’s this common purpose which creates the close bonds that exist between tank crews and make a tank regiment unique. 

How long will it take to rediscover the esprit-de-corps, heritage and tradition from the years past … when 1 Armd Regt becomes a tank regiment again?  

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

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FILE PHOTO: Veterans of the 1st Armoured Regiment during the Cambrai Parade at Edinburgh Defence Precinct. Background photo by Corporal Adam Quinn. The 2025 parade cancelled.

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