Incompatibility: 2 Cav Regt’s recon and close fire support roles

Stripping the tanks from 1 Armd Regt meant that 2 Cav Regt (Townsville) had to take on dual roles: close fire support and reconnaissance.  Trouble is, these roles are incompatible for a single unit.  While it is obviously a conundrum for the RAAC, it will inevitably result in a compromise of one sort or another.  

Close fire support is provided by tanks, i.e. AFVs which are sufficiently well protected and armed to enable them to close with and destroy the enemy, using fire and manoeuvre

Armoured reconnaissance, on the other hand, is also a high-risk role; one requiring specially designed combat reconnaissance vehicles to operate deep behind enemy lines to locate enemy forces and gather vital intelligence.  Sometimes stealth is the key, sometimes speed.  Sometimes the task will be to disrupt enemy logistics, sometimes to conduct surveillance.

2 Cav Regt is now a unit with two squadrons of tanks and two squadrons of recon vehicles.  The two roles are so different, it’s akin to combining light infantry and SAS – in the same unit.  The question that has to be asked is: what is it that will be compromised (apart from 3 Brigade’s combat power)?      

Although designated an armoured brigade by the Defence Strategic Review, 3 Brigade has been forced to operate minus a third of its combat power; i.e. without a third tank squadron, a third cavalry squadron and a battlegroup headquarters.  

Obviously, the differences between two individual units and a single dual-role unit are enormous as far as capability is concerned.  This is something that has to be disregarded, however.  The 2 Cav Regt organisation has been fixed; it’s now a matter of how it works on the ground (and what this means for 3 Brigade’s armoured capability).  

Given that 2 Cav Regt has two different roles to support, is there any possibility that the unit headquarters could be split?  Sadly, no.  This would result in a manning supplement being needed (something unlikely to be approved).

How will 2 Cav conduct two separate operations, one involving recon and the other tanks, when they might be located in completely different parts of the combat zone?  How will logistics echelons manage in these circumstances?  Supplementary echelon vehicles will surely have to be provided.

They will be desperately needed.  Individual armoured units have specific echelon needs – a tank unit, for example, can require truck-loads of ammunition, in addition to fuel.  A recon unit, on the other hand, might have higher demands for fuel and a lesser need for ammunition.  It’s one thing to tailor an echelon for a specific unit; it’s another thing entirely, to meet the far more complex needs of a dual-role unit. 

It’s been noted before.  The 2 Cav Regt organisation is an ad-hoc grouping; one which can be managed in a peacetime context, but has no place in an operational theatre.  How on earth did such a situation come about?  Army units are expected to train as they intend to fight.  In the case of 2 Cav Regt, however, false lessons are continually being inculcated.  

An individual armoured unit, whether tank or recon, trains constantly to develop and perfect its operational skills.  The whole unit has a single focus.  This is not the case with 2 Cav Regt.  An ad-hoc peacetime structure has been forced on the unit.  This is an abomination which must be protested.

Rather than creating a separate experimentation unit, the Chief of Army forced 1 Armd Regt to take up the role; this, in turn, forced 2 Cav Regt to become a dual-role unit.  Money has been saved in the Defence budget (to pay for the AUKUS subs) by reducing the strength of the RAAC and saving on its operating costs – the effect of this, is to reduce the ability of the ADF to respond to Australia’s security needs.     

Surely, our nation is better than this!

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

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FILE PHOTO (Sept 2024): An Australian Army light armoured vehicle from 2nd Cavalry Regiment conducts a river crossing during Exercise Regional Warfighter at Tully Training Area, Queensland. Original hoto by Corporal Jack Pearce, digitally altered by CONTACT.

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