Defence Open Day’s Purpose

Dear Contact Editor.

Open days such as at Simpson Barracks are always thought provokers for some visitors, civilians, but it leaves one wondering the value add of single Open Days annually as a conduit for interacting with the public and moving ahead.

I provide below feedback while fresh in mind (only tip of ideas iceberg) in an unclassified perspective – i.e. wouldn’t expect classified material to be made public, in light of such issues as:
– falling numbers of civilian applicants for Defence roles and falling awareness of all the history (apart from ANZAC Day), roles Defence plays – e.g. in cyber security, anti hacking strategies etc – amongst the general public;

• in a world where there are fewer cadet units across Australia compared to 20th century, fewer full-time military than in the 20th century i.e. small overall military in hardware and man/woman power, fewer celebrations of military events of past e.g. no longer any annual RAAF airshows at Laverton or Point Cook free to public commemorating such as Battle of Britain, fewer Australians who have ever picked up and fired a rifle or handgun (except possibly criminals and police), more Australian citizens from foreign conflict zones sensitive to military things etc;
• general lack of understanding or misunderstanding of Defence roles, the why, when, how of what Defence does amongst the general public and young people and what could happen if Defence didn’t exist in a sufficient capacity and capability sense in a democracy as ours, in our region with or without reliable partners, allies;
• the sense that apart from a few short-duration TV ads about the Army, Air Force, Navy which don’t cover the full range of roles (and there are no annual documentaries on what the RAAF, Army, Navy did, achieved, outcomes, for each year or even each election cycle period (3 years)), played on TV – ABC, SBS, commercial stations), no billboard ads, relatively few accessible annual Open Days, school visits by invitation (not compulsory, not part of mandatory school curriculums as say social studies and why couldn’t Defence be a case study in social cohesion even with chain of command, discipline, self initiative etc.) leaves little scope to broadly educate the young masses of how or why Defence is necessary for a democracy, including such as human rights preservation, diversity, STEM innovation, dual purpose military/civilian outcomes etc.
• during elections its mostly about hardware and software purchases and rarely about all the other stuff that we supposedly have a defence force for and what it does;
• reduced Defence visibility in metropolitan areas as bases, small depots have been closed e.g. Dandenong (Army), Laverton (RAAF), South Melbourne (Army), Port Melbourne (Navy) etc, consolidated over past decades to fewer establishments and usually behind high brick walls (out of sight and out of mind to the public), which while possibly saving $’s does so at reduced physical daily visibility to the public;
• always room for more overlap between civilian/military interests, needs, developments, more interactive opportunities for public and military to engage in problem solving (without necessarily the need for contracts, consultants, etc) i.e. asking the general public at Open Days for their ideas, solutions, possibilities on all manner of things Defence related e.g. dried fruit and honey satchels, seafood/sardines in olive oil, vitamin and protean-enriched chewing gum, mineral gummies etc. in ration kits etc.

So in light of above and today’s Open Day at Simpson Barracks, any reasons why below couldn’t gain sustained traction in Defence at Open Day displays:

• large (for public display) and smaller (public take away) posters of vehicle developments e.g. Abrams tank – a poster showing photo and specifications for comparisons, of what tanks came before e.g. Leopard 1, Centurion, ……same for trucks, armoured cars, jeeps, ambulances, down to kit – rifles, soldier kit from WW1, WWII, Korean War…… to today etc. or Army, Navy, Airforce Aircraft – now and then (20th century) as an educational, information tool to show how things have developed e.g. heavier, more technical, more lethal ……requiring personnel to become more STEM-enhanced or whatever is the needs;
• large (for public display) and smaller (public takeaway) posters (including or not take away smaller versions) of weapons safety, first aid in treating gunshot wounds, cyber security steps, procedures, terrain reading without maps….bush survival without ration kits………..
• highlight that in joining the military the dual military/civilian purpose skills acquired will include such as vehicle maintenance/trouble shooting, first aid, cyber security skills, and ability to cook if required (a diminishing art/craft in civilian life with take away);
• intrigue and excite visitors by showing the process, procedure for innovation in and across the three services in Defence and how lessons learned in Australia and overseas is widely disseminated top to bottom and across Defence e.g. tactics, equipment enhancements, multi usage of kit and equipment. It wasn’t clear for example what the equivalent to DiggerWorks was for the Navy or Airforce or how all these interacted with DST (former DSTO) or even how all across Defence constantly keep abreast of and up to date developments in their and other areas;
• would Defence personnel be across such websites, newsletters, etc. for ideas, inspiration, innovation, initiative…….as say:
  CONTACT Newsletter #281, 17 May 2025 Williamtown and Tindal F-35 sims connected – Australian’s Defence Department and Lockheed Martin have connected F-35 simulators at RAAF Bases Williamtown and Tindal via F-35’s distributed mission training network;
  or 1179 Part-1, ???? Ukraine News, May 17, 2025, 1179th Day of Invasion, ???????? ❤️ ???????? Newsletter – Photos from the war – Protecting against drones: Cope cages are commonplace on both sides of the lines now, which help defend against some drones. However, now drones are getting their own cages to block anti-drone-drones which use dangling ropes and nets to block the rotors of enemy drones.
• while we have the ADF GAP Year for 17-24 year olds, who have completed Year 12 is there any 12 month “Try and See” program for students who graduate from tertiary studies with a degree and then want to or are enticed to do a GAP Year to “see and try” Defence life for 12 months i.e. they have graduated without any prior Defence experience or commitment and would like to try Defence as fully graduated persons for a potential career, with a 12 months, no obligations for later sign up stint?
• are there any reasons why Defence couldn’t get it’s head together with the heads of Education Departments of every State in Australia and work out a 1-2 Week “crash course” for all year 11 or 12 students across Australia that covers such as physical fitness, diet, social relations, firearms and equipment safety, self initiative, self confidence, team activities in base or training camp environment, Geneva Convention laws pertaining to PoWs and civilians in combat zones, and any other area that might only be sporadically or uncoordinated covered (or not) in high school years and have some credit attached to such if going into work force or higher studies after year 12 graduation? This being done at all RAAF, Army, Navy bases across Australia to give all year 11 or year 12 students a taste of military environment (abide by all rules and regulations on base) and the students would do this course in civilian attire with no need for costs of military uniforms. This could raise recruitment levels for Defence down the track and give aimless career students an option they may not otherwise have considered.
• develop a large poster (and smaller take away posters for visitors) that shows all on Open Days the benefits available to Defence employees as they enlist and the increase their enlistment period e.g. cheaper housing and car loans, higher education subsidisation, opportunities to develop innovations and initiatives, rewards in kind on coming up with useful outcomes to military kit, equipment, doctrine, streamlined policies, procedures, ways of better managing multiple challenges and stresses etc. or what ever has primary or dual purpose military-civilian applications.
• other than for classified reasons could posters be developed for Open Days that show the sort of approaches, collaborations that occur each way from and to Defence including from such companies as Gilmour Space Technology, Black Magic Design, Polycharge Technologies, Myriota…………..to appeal to the STEM Nerds out there who might otherwise never consider a career in Defence;
• in the application for tickets to Open Days or after the Open Days send out a feedback form to all attendees to gauge what they liked, what they would have liked more of, what they missed, to better tailor expectations and outcomes for all concerned or even have a hand out flyer questionnaire visitors can fill out and leave on the day at Open Days;
• any reasons why annual Defence Open Days, across all venues, can’t be advertised at such as Simpson Open Day or Cerberus Open Day on these days if not before or better still email all the Defence Open Days to Education Departments across Australia to distribute to all schools in other words use the technology to market Open days to the broadest community possible, proactively, and not just depend on reactive modes of marketing i.e. one or two ads in local news or on web that most might not see?
• does Defence do general de-briefs of highlights, low lights, expectations met, other at end of every Open Day and is there an annual review of all Open Days that provides some sort of evaluation for the taxpayer to contemplate?

A great Defence Open Day e.g. ADFA or Duntroon or HMAS Cerberus or Simpson Barracks or other is one that fires the visitor’s imagination, more than meets expectations, raises lots of questions and answers, inspires young potential future enlistees, and a good Defence Open Day is one where visitors come see, enjoy and leave, but not necessarily much more informed or intrigued than before they came.

Feel free to send this up the chain of command in Navy, Army, Air Force, for their ideas, questions, suggestions, feedback buckets and if any of above makes sense, is worth pursuing or even trialling, please let me know in a full loop communication process.

I’ll leave it at this point.

Cheers

Greg Jarosch

 

FILE PHOTO: Members of the public have a close look at an M1A1 Abrams main battle tank at the Gallipoli Barracks Open Day 2023. Photo by Corporal Nicole Dorrett.

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