Posted by Brian Hartigan – Page 6

Editor's Vlog

Artistic inputs in the basement

12/07/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1424 Views 0 Comments Make-n-Do

This week I get a little artistic in the bunker. Things are going in, instead of always coming out. I

An Australian Army M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank from the 1st Armoured Regiment, drives through the Cultana Training Area, SA during Exercise Rhino Run 24. Photo by Corporal Johnny Huang.

Letters to the Editor

The 2025 RAAC Corps Conference: Right Answers?

11/07/202513/07/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1279 Views 0 Comments

The Jun/Jul 2025 1 Armd Regt Assn newsletter contains a summary of this year’s RAAC Corps Conference, attended by the

History

The RAAC’s First Days: Brian Agnew’s Service

11/07/202511/07/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1911 Views 1 Comment WO2 Brian Agnew

Introduction ‘Baby Boomers’ come from the generation born between 1946 and 1964. I’m one of them. The generation before us

The Standard of the 1st Armoured Regiment is marched onto parade.

Letters to the Editor

Why bother campaigning for 1 Armd Regt to be returned to a combat role?

06/07/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 11998 Views 7 Comments

…the answer is easy. Those responsible can’t be allowed to continue detracting from 1st Armoured Regiment’s hard-fought heritage. A unit

Editor's Vlog

Building a brick arch

05/07/202505/07/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2264 Views 6 Comments Make-n-Do

It feels great to be putting things back into my excavations instead of always taking stuff out. This week I

An Australian Army Abrams M1A2 SEPv3 main battle tank fires during a training serial as part of a soldier qualification course at Puckapunyal Military Area, Victoria. Photo by Corporal Jacob Joseph.

Letters to the Editor

Revisiting the decision to strip the tanks from 1 Armd Regt

04/07/202504/07/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1565 Views 0 Comments

There is a growing suggestion that the Chief of Army was pressured into finding a unit to manage new and

Mixed assets of 2nd Cavalry Regiment on Exercise Brolga Sprint at Townsville Field Training Area, Queensland. Photo by Corporal Caitlyn Davill.

Letters to the Editor

Why 1st Armoured Regiment must become a tank regiment again (quickly)

03/07/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1004 Views 0 Comments

Sometimes one forgets that not all readers have a complete understanding of all the important issues. Rather than emphasising significant

A controller vehicle is followed by two optionally crewed combat vehicles during a land autonomous systems teaming demonstration at Puckapunyal Military Area, September 2024. Photo by Corporal Michael Currie.

Letters to the Editor

Thanks to serving soldier for insightful comments re 1st Armd Regt

01/07/202501/07/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1307 Views 0 Comments

A current serving member of 1st Armoured Regiment recently wrote an open letter to me. (I’d previously written a similar

Soldiers look on as an Australian M1A1 Abrams tank passes by during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023. Photo by Corporal Michael Currie.

Letters to the Editor

Ex Talisman Sabre 2025 – 1 Armd Regt’s role

30/06/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1795 Views 0 Comments

One of the consequences of the tanks being stripped from 1 Armd Regt is that it leaves 3 Brigade (designated

Letters to the Editor

2024 IRONSIDES Journal: More Uncertainty Raised

29/06/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1558 Views 0 Comments

It wasn’t only the CO who suggested that it wouldn’t be long before 1st Armoured Regiment became a tank regiment

155mm rounds in the field. (Cropped) photo by Corporal Brandon Grey.

ADF News

Defence cancels 155mm forging commitment

29/06/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 6863 Views 8 Comments

In a positively-spun statement headlined “Defence’s commitment to domestic manufacturing of large calibre munitions”, the Department of Defence has effectively

Commissioning crew of NUSHIP Arafura before the ship was formally commissioned as HMAS Arafura, at Fleet Base West in Western Australia. Photo by Able Seaman Connor Morrison.

News Royal Australian Navy

HMAS Arafura finally commissioned

29/06/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 6484 Views 4 Comments Arafura-class

More than six years after the ship’s keel was laid down and more than three years after she was launched,

Soldiers of the 1st Armoured Regiment are briefed while sitting in front of their Centurion tanks at Vung Tau in South Vietnam during 1968. Photo by Starry, Donn A. Mounted combat in Vietnam. Department of the Army, via Wikipedia.

Letters to the Editor

The Human Cost of Stripping Tanks From 1st Armoured Regiment

29/06/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1317 Views 2 Comments

The RAAC RSM acknowledged in the 2024 IRONSIDES (just published) that the decision to strip the tanks from 1 Armd

Editor's Vlog

Building walls in my lift shaft

29/06/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1487 Views 2 Comments Make-n-Do

It feels great putting things back into my excavations instead of always taking things out. This week I put walls

A Leopard tank from 1st Armoured Regiment conduct manoeuvres during Exercise Predators Strike at El Alamein Army Camp, Cultana, South Australia. Photo by Able Seaman Kade Rogers.

Letters to the Editor

RAAC newsletter IRONSIDES adds confusion re 1st Armd Regt’s status

27/06/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 814 Views 2 Comments

The 2024 edition of IRONSIDES was published recently. Those of us who looked for some clarity concerning the circumstances which

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

The ‘Combat Experimentation Group’

26/06/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2367 Views 0 Comments

On 29 Aug 24, an article in The Australian Defence Magazine [ADM] stated that: “The Army has re-roled one squadron

Centurion tanks from 1st Armoured Regiment, and armoured personnel carriers from B Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, move along the main road of Binh Ba village. Over three days, armour and infantry dislodged a strong North Vietnamese Army group that had entered the village, for the loss of one Australian killed in action. AWM BEL/69/0389/VN. Binh Ba.

Letters to the Editor

1st Armoured Regiment’s Legacy

23/06/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1233 Views 2 Comments

Prior to returning from Vietnam, the Commanding Officer of 4RAR/NZ, Lt Col Jim Hughes, MC (later Maj Gen) wrote to

Australian Army Soldiers board a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft in support of Operation Beech, at RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland. Photo by Leading Aircraftman Campbell Latch.

ADF News

Troops and aircraft deployed to Middle East

22/06/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 39056 Views 15 Comments Operation Beech

To support Australians seeking to leave the Middle East, Australian Defence Force personnel and aircraft have been deployed to the

Editor's Vlog

Tackling the drainage issue in my lift shaft

21/06/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1824 Views 2 Comments Make-n-Do

Digging is finished in my lift shaft, so now I need to figure out what to do about the groundwater

2nd Cavalry Regiment M1A2 Abrams tanks, conduct a live-fire danger-close serial at Townsville Field Training Area, Queensland, on 7 June 2025. Photo by Lance Corporal Caitlyn Davill.

Letters to the Editor

Sometimes when we copy what others do, we get it wrong…

20/06/202522/06/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1554 Views 0 Comments

This is what has happened with the new role that the Chief of Army designated for the 1st Armoured Regiment.