Thursday, November 20, 2025
Latest:
  • Frozen blood a lifesaver on the battlefield
  • Defending Australians against espionage
  • Aviators raise $7400 for mental health
  • Royal visit evokes fond memory for veteran
  • Joint training boosts air crash response

CONTACT magazine

Australia's best free military news site

  • NEWS
  • Poetry
  • Podcasts
  • Fitness
  • Videos
  • Archives
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • Write to us
CONTACT magazine

Letters to the Editor

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 

White Lies, Pork Pies, and Whoppers

15/09/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2406 Views 0 Comments

How does one get to the truth of a matter when it is constantly hidden behind half-truths? This happens whenever

Read more
M1A1 Abrams tanks during the 1st Armoured Regiment's Cambrai Parade at Edinburgh Defence Precinct. Photo by Corporal Adam Quinn.
Letters to the Editor 

How do you cover up the cover up?

13/09/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2319 Views 0 Comments

The responses to all the letters written to everyone about 1st Armoured Regiment’s tanks being stripped from it and the

Read more
Letters to the Editor 

Avoiding the Issue and Taking the Easy Option: The RAAC Way?

11/09/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1553 Views 0 Comments

Will the next Chief of Army (likely to be appointed at the end of 2025) revoke the decision to employ

Read more
An Australian M1A2 SEP v3 main battle tank fires a sabot round during a live fire to confirm the aiming system of the tank at Puckapunyal Military Area, Victoria. Photo by Corporal Michael Currie.
Letters to the Editor 

When Leadership Goes Missing: What do we do?

07/09/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2468 Views 0 Comments

The following quotes from Major General R N L Hopkins, CBE (author of ‘Australian Armour’), are relevant to the Royal

Read more
Australian Army soldiers from the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, and the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, patrol through Cowley Beach Training Area during the combined arms training activity. Photo by Corporal Brodie Cross.
Letters to the Editor 

Damage to the RAAC: How Much More Can we Possibly Suffer?

05/09/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1459 Views 0 Comments

The damage so far: 1 Armd Regt stripped of its tanks and made a non-combatant, losing all crew skills and

Read more
A M1A1 Abrams main battle tank puts out a smokescreen at Cowley Beach, Queensland. Photo by Leading Seaman David Cox.
Letters to the Editor 

The Guy With the Microphone is Always the Winner

02/09/202502/09/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1663 Views 0 Comments

The recent Chief of Army’s symposium introduced a new catchphrase: ‘command accountability’. A bit of research brings up ADF Philosophical

Read more
An Australian Army M1A2 Abrams main battle tank from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment during a live-fire practice in the Townsville Field Training Area during Exercise Eagle March. Photo by Sergeant Matthew Bickerton.
Letters to the Editor 

Demise of 1st Armoured Regiment – Winners and Losers.

30/08/202530/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1955 Views 0 Comments

The recent (2025) Chief of Army Symposium highlighted some of the failings in the Defence space that we’ve been saddled

Read more
An Australian M1A2 Abrams SEP v3 fires sabot rounds during a live-fire to confirm the aiming system of the tank and to qualify crews on the new systems at the Puckapunyal Military Area, Victoria, November 2024. Photo by Corporal Michael Currie.
Letters to the Editor 

When Something Isn’t Right: What do You do?

27/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1552 Views 1 Comment

The Chief of Army can’t explain why 1st Armoured Regiment had to be stripped of its tanks and made a

Read more
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 2488 Views 0 Comments

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

Read more
Letters to the Editor Thought provoking 

Anonymous comments and their authors

22/08/202522/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 694 Views 1 Comment

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

Read more
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 1652 Views 0 Comments

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

Read more
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 

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

16/08/202516/08/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1828 Views 0 Comments

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

Read more
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 1900 Views 2 Comments

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

Read more
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 1828 Views 5 Comments

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

Read more
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 1928 Views 2 Comments

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

Read more
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 3998 Views 3 Comments

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

Read more
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 1446 Views 0 Comments

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

Read more
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 1372 Views 0 Comments

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

Read more
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 5941 Views 0 Comments

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

Read more
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 915 Views 1 Comment

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

Read more
  • ← Previous
  • Next →

Hours more reading…

OUR SUPPORTERS…