What Will the Chief of Army’s Reply be?

The following is the letter I sent to Lieutenant General Simon Stuart on 10 May 2025:

“Dear General,

I have enclosed a number of articles published recently in Contact Magazine Australia. While these have been copied to senior RAAC officers, I’m not sure that you would’ve seen them.

You’ll see that, more than anything else, former members of 1st Armoured Regiment desperately seek information about your plans for the unit.

Is it to continue permanently in its current role, never to be re-equipped with tanks; or is this a temporary measure until sufficient housing is available in Townsville and you elect to bring the 3rd Armoured Brigade up to full strength?

Your advice in this respect would be greatly appreciated and will be circulated to all who continue to value their service with the unit.

One, now 93, has been associated with 1 Armd Regt throughout its 75-year history.

Finally, many thanks for the copy of the 2024 National Defence Strategy that you kindly forwarded to me.

Yours sincerely …”

Is it his intention to bring 3 Brigade up to full strength as an armoured brigade as required by the 2023 Defence Strategic Review (DSR), i.e. with 1 Armd Regt, a tank regiment, and 2 Cav Regt, a cavalry regiment? This might require waiting until sufficient housing is available in Townsville.

Could it be that he intends to ignore the DSR and keep 1 Armd Regt permanently in Adelaide? The advice of Air Chief Marshal (Ret’d) Sir Angus Houston was to write to the minister, but we’ve already done that (the minister deferred to the CA’s authority).

On a different matter … a story about the experiences of the ‘93-year-old’ is currently being drafted, and what an amazing story it is! Starting with recruit training at the Armoured School; learning driving and servicing (D&S) skills for three A vehicles and two B vehicles with the cadre staff at 1 RNSWL; teaching RAAC recruits how to drive a Matilda tank at 12 National Service Training Battalion at Holsworthy; and then Centurions arrive, and the story continues.

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

 

FILE PHOTO: An M1A2 Abrams tank arrives at Lavarack Barracks, Townsville on 14 November 2024. Photo by Corporal Guy Sadler.

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