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CONTACT magazine

Letters to the Editor

An Australian Army M1A1 Abrams from 2nd Cavalry Regiment conducts an amphibious assault during Exercise Keris Woomera 2024 at Banongan Beach, Indonesia. Photo by Corporal Janet Pan.
Letters to the Editor 

The shameful treatment of Army’s most senior Regiment!

13/01/202613/01/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 119 Views 0 Comments

“Shameful describes something so bad, wrong, or disgraceful that it causes feelings of shame and dishonour; reflecting a failure to meet

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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 

Demise of 1st Armoured Regiment: Cases for and against

10/01/202610/01/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 278 Views 0 Comments

Arguments that have been made in support of 1st Armoured Regiment becoming an experimentation unit include those set out below:

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Chief of Army Lieutenant General Simon Stuart addresses the audience at the Chief of Army Symposium 2024 in Melbourne, Victoria. Photo by Corporal Cameron Pegg.
Letters to the Editor 

Why Chief of Army can’t be allowed to get away with it!

05/01/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 685 Views 4 Comments

Get away with what?  With throwing 1st Armoured Regiment under a bus and pretending that nothing’s happened … that’s what!

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Soldiers of 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Townsville pull a 62-tonne Abrams tank – for PT.
Letters to the Editor 

Why is the RAAC so subservient?

03/01/202603/01/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 415 Views 1 Comment

The letter below asks questions related to the Royal Australian Armoured Corps, but what is the RAAC and who represents

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An Australian Army M1A1 Abrams fires its 120mm cannon during a live-fire serial for the Coral Balmoral Cup 2024 at the Puckapunyal Military Area, Victoria. Photo by Corporal Johnny Huang.
Letters to the Editor 

Honesty is always the best policy

01/01/202601/01/2026 Posted by Brian Hartigan 370 Views 0 Comments

Let’s look at what the Chief of the Defence Force and Minister have said were the reasons for the tanks

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Letters to the Editor 

Why won’t the Chief of Army answer this question?

27/12/202527/12/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 672 Views 1 Comment

Why was the need for a unit to evaluate emerging technologies so urgent that it justified demoting Army’s most senior

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Australian Army soldiers from 2nd Cavalry Regiment perform a counter attack demonstration during the T4 (D Squadron) Raising Ceremony at Lavarack Barracks, Townsville, Queensland. Photo by Private essica Gray.
Letters to the Editor 

Is the Chief of Army just a figurehead?

20/12/202520/12/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 777 Views 1 Comment

In the famous words of Julius Sumner Miller: Why is This so?   1st Armoured Regiment is the senior regiment

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Letters to the Editor 

What price 1st Armoured Regiment’s esprit-de-corps, heritage and tradition?

16/12/202516/12/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 489 Views 0 Comments

The loss of combat power suffered by 3 Brigade (Armoured) is relatively easy to quantify in terms of unit strength

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Soldiers of the 1st Armoured Regiment honour their unit's Standard in Adelaide. Photo by Private Sophie Hartley.
Letters to the Editor 

Dismal end to the Army’s most senior unit

12/12/202514/12/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 38150 Views 15 Comments

The following quote is from the Wikipedia entry for the Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC): “The removal of 1st Armoured

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The Hanwha Redback Infantry Fighting Vehicle, above, and the Rheinmetall Lynx Infantry Fighting Vehicle, below, have been delivered to Defence to support test and evaluation activities conducted as part of the Land 400 Phase 3 Risk Mitigation Activity.
Letters to the Editor 

Infantry fighting vehicles displace core armour roles

05/12/202506/12/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 746 Views 2 Comments

A series of five articles was published by CONTACT during October and November 2018, titled “Armour in the Australian Army:

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Australian Army and Indonesian National Armed Forces soldiers, supported by an M1A1 Abrams tank, conduct a combined joint-force entry operation as part of Exercise Keris Woomera at Banongan Beach, Indonesia. Photo by Leading Seaman Rikki-Lea Phillips.
Letters to the Editor 

How will the new history of RAAC depict 2023/24?

02/12/202502/12/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 701 Views 0 Comments

The first volume of the RAAC history was written by the late Maj Gen R N L Hopkins, CBE. It

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A Centurion tank of C Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment, moving through the jungle in South Vietnam. June 1971. Australian War Memorial file FOD/71/0305/VN.
Letters to the Editor 

How is change brought about?  By rightfulness and persistence!

30/11/202530/11/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 737 Views 0 Comments

Will 1st Armoured Regiment become a tank regiment again?  Will it resume its rightful place as part of Australia’s only

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An Aussie soldier writing in the field. Cropped from larger image by Corporal David Cotton.
Letters to the Editor 

CONTACT supports 1 Armd Regt’s reinstatement campaign

27/11/202527/11/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 483 Views 0 Comments

Between 22 April and 25 November 2025 (when these statistics were compiled), CONTACT published 81 letters related to the demise of

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An Australian Army Abrams M1A2 SEPv3 main battle tank during a live-fire serial as part of a qualification course for Royal Australian Armoured Corps soldiers at Puckapunyal Military Area, Victoria. Photo by Corporal Jacob Joseph.
Letters to the Editor 

In our ADF superiors we trust (or hope)

25/11/202525/11/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1169 Views 1 Comment

On 7 Nov 24, the Chief of Army said: “I’ve set four strategic priorities for our Army. The central one

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An Australian M1A2 SEP v3 main battle tank is test fired remotely for the first time to check the main gun for safety before a live-fire to qualify crews on the new systems at the Puckapunyal Military Area, Victoria, 5 November 2024. Photo by Corporal Michael Currie.
Letters to the Editor 

The Chain of Command must stand for something …

22/11/202522/11/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 876 Views 2 Comments

The essential element is that someone is responsible for making a decision; as compared with the procrastination that often accompanies

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An M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams main battle tank is loaded onto a United States Navy asset during Exercise Talisman Sabre at Townsville Port, Queensland. Photo by Lance Corporal Caitlyn Davill.
Letters to the Editor 

The RAAC Head of Corps’ dilemma

20/11/202520/11/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 539 Views 0 Comments

Heads of Corps were reinstated in 2001 via Chief of Army Directive 05/01.  According to the Directive, HOC are responsible

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An Australian Army soldier from the 1st Armoured Regiment controls controls an M134D An Australian Army soldier from the 1st Armoured Regiment 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.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 

What part did Future Land Warfare play in the demise of 1st Armoured Regiment? 

14/11/202514/11/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 605 Views 0 Comments

In October 2022, the outgoing Director General of Future Land Warfare was Brig Ian Langford, DSC (and bars).  He’d brought

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An Australian Army M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams main battle tank provides support for soldiers during an urban assault at Shoalwater Bay Training Area as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre 25. Photo by Corporal Michael Rogers.
Letters to the Editor 

Is an Army unit something that the Chief of Army can do with as he likes?

10/11/202510/11/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 5862 Views 19 Comments

He’s the one in charge … so, why not? If he wants a unit to undertake a new role managing

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Australian Army soldiers from the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, conduct a trench clearance, supported by 2nd Cavalry Regiment M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks, as part of Exercise Brolga Sprint at Townsville Field Training Area, Queensland. Photo by Private Jessica Gray.
Letters to the Editor 

Is frank and fearless advice a thing of the past?

08/11/202508/11/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2983 Views 4 Comments

Is the concept of ‘frank and fearless advice’ simply rhetoric; or is it a goal which defines the ideals to

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An Australian Army M1A2 Abrams main battle tank from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment during the South Queensland Warfighter Exercise at Shoalwater Bay, Queensland. Photo by Corporal Johnny Huang.
Letters to the Editor 

An Appalling Lapse of Judgement

06/11/202506/11/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 740 Views 0 Comments

“It was warm and humid as I stepped out of my vehicle to greet the commander of the Australian Army’s

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