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CONTACT magazine

Author: Posted by Brian Hartigan

Soldiers officers and vehicles of the 1st Armoured Regiment on parade to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Cambrai. Photo by Corporal Craig Barrett.
Letters to the Editor 

If There’s no Trust, What’s Left?

23/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2451 Views 0 Comments

Trust: the result of a working environment in which human values are paramount: the dignity of the individual is respected;

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Letters to the Editor Thought provoking 

Anonymous comments and their authors

22/08/202522/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 655 Views 1 Comment

What motivates a person to offer a comment on a topic under a false name, or with no name at

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An Australian M1A2 SEP v3 main battle tank. Photo by Corporal Michael Currie.
Letters to the Editor 

Why Doesn’t Anyone Understand What’s Been Done to the RAAC?

19/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1604 Views 0 Comments

We used to be a Corps focussed solely on developing the skills needed to close with and out-manoeuvre the enemy;

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One of thousands of photos taken by Billy Cunneen in Vietnam – 1966, a US Army Iroquois takes off, after dropping off soldiers from 6RAR for a patrol.
Poets Corner 

The Return

18/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 6375 Views 0 Comments Frank Meredith

Soldier with your quiet eyes and forward stare Awaken from your thoughts of gentler fare Her lover’s breath is now

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Editor's Vlog 

New steps in the bunker – part 2

16/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1713 Views 0 Comments Make-n-Do

In this week’s video, I finish the new steps leading out of my bunker excavations. I was worried that I

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New Zealand Army gunners from 16th Field Regiment lead a live-fire mortar exercise alongside Papua New Guinea Defence Force counterparts. NZDF photo supplied.
New Zealand News Pacific 

New Zealand Army delivers first mortar course in PNG

16/08/202516/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 3236 Views 1 Comment NZDF, PNGDF

A New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) contingent drawn from various units within 1st (NZ) Brigade and Joint Support Group has

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An Australian Army soldier from the 1st Armoured Regiment controls controls an M134D minigun remote weapon station attached to a modular robotic vehicle during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025 at Townsville Field Training Area, Queensland. Photo by Lance Corporal Caitlyn Davill.
Letters to the Editor 

The questions Chief of Army and his Chief of Staff declined to answer

16/08/202516/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1790 Views 0 Comments

These are the questions that the CA and his Chief of Staff, have been asked to answer (and for which

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An Australian M1 Abrams main battle tank and an M113 AS4 personnel carrier from 2nd Cavalry Regiment during Exercise Brolga Sprint 24 at Townsville Field Training Area, Queensland. Photo by Trooper Dana Millington.
Letters to the Editor 

What is it that the Chief of Army doesn’t want us to know?

15/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1853 Views 2 Comments

On 20 July 25, a letter was posted to Brigadier Matthew Campbell, AM, the Chief of Army’s Chief of Staff.

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A Sallyman provides hot and cold beverages, biscuits and a friendly ear to soldiers 'out bush'. Photo by Corporal Nick Wiseman.
Australian Army News 

Who killed the Sallyman?

13/08/202517/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 4712 Views 16 Comments

After 126 years, the Australian Army has axed funding for the Salvation Army’s Red Shield Defence Services’ Sallyman service. FILE

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Australian soldiers and an Australian Army M1A1 Abrams conduct an amphibious assault during Exercise Keris Woomera 2024 at Banongan Beach, Indonesia. Photo by Corporal Janet Pan.
Letters to the Editor 

All Soldiers are Weapon Bearers, but …

12/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1789 Views 5 Comments

What is it that defines ‘soldiering’? Is it enough to say the life or job of a soldier? The previous

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An Australian Army M1 Abrams Tank from 2nd Cavalry Regiment disembarks at Lucinda as part of their movement to Townsville Field Training Area for Exercise Brolga Run, on May 21 2024, Queensland. Photo by Captain Brittany Evans.
Letters to the Editor 

Are Tanks Needed as Part of a Littoral Optimised Force?

09/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1890 Views 2 Comments

The National Defence Strategy 2024 makes it clear that the Army must have the capacity to respond with credible military

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Editor's Vlog 

New steps in the bunker – part 1

09/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1473 Views 0 Comments Make-n-Do

Using the space during excavation I learnt that steps were definitely a must have for getting out of the pit

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Australian Army birthday cupcakes prepared for Army's 121st birthday activities at Russell Offices in Canberra on Tuesday, 01 March 2022. Photo by Corporal Sagi Biderman.
Letters to the Editor 

An Honourable Institution?

06/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 3960 Views 3 Comments

The Chief of Army has followed in the footsteps of his predecessor, declaring that the Australian Army is a national

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An artists' impression of Australia's future ANZAC-class replacement, the upgraded Mogami-class frigate by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan. Image supplied.
News Royal Australian Navy 

Japan wins ANZAC-class frigate replacement bid

05/08/202505/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2231 Views 0 Comments

The Japanese Mogami-class frigate has been selected as the preferred platform for the Royal Australian Navy’s future fleet of general

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Image generated by ChatGPT
Letters to the Editor 

Will the Chief of Army’s Chief of Staff Respond?

04/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1403 Views 0 Comments

On 20 July 25, a letter was posted to Brigadier Matthew Campbell, the Chief of Army’s Chief of Staff. The

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Editor's Vlog 

So much baggage in my life

02/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1889 Views 4 Comments Make-n-Do

Bags, bags, bags – so many bags! By the end of this video, I will have filled and extracted 19

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Family, friends and past members of the 1st Armoured Regiment watch on during a parade to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Cambrai. Photo by Corporal Craig Barrett.
Letters to the Editor 

1st Armoured Regiment: The Ethics of Manipulation

01/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1328 Views 0 Comments

The Chief of Army wrote to me earlier this year, partly in response to a paper I had submitted advocating

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Soldiers officers and vehicles of the 1st Armoured Regiment on parade to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Cambrai. Photo by Corporal Craig Barrett.
Letters to the Editor 

1st Armoured Regiment: New Unit, New Traditions

30/07/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 5892 Views 0 Comments

The Commanding Officer and RSM of the Combat Experimentation Group (CXG) have said that they are “committed to upholding the

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Soldiers from 8th/9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, watch on as an M1A1 Abrams main battle tank fires in support during Exercise Diamond Run 2017. Photo by Captain Anna-Lise Brink.
Letters to the Editor 

The Infantry/Tank Partnership: Forgotten Until Needed

29/07/202529/07/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 878 Views 1 Comment

Perhaps the CA has forgotten what he was taught back in 1990 before he graduated. As the CI Military Training

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An Australian Army trooper from the 1st Armoured Regiment remotely controls a weapon system on an optionally crewed armoured vehicle during a demonstration in Puckapunyal, Victoria. Photo by Sergeant Tristan Kennedy.
Letters to the Editor 

Who Better to Forge a Path?

29/07/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 801 Views 0 Comments

It wasn’t long ago that the CO, 1st Armoured Regiment, asked: “who better to forge a path through these new

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