Australian Army Journal

OPINION
On the Culture of the Australian Army
THE AUTHOR
Richard Hughes was born in Brisbane and educated at Ipswich Grammar School
and the University of Queensland, where he was awarded a BSc (Hons) in 1994.
He served in the Australian Regular Army from 1995 to 2012. Richard graduated
from RMC Duntroon in 1996 and was allocated to the Royal Australian Corps of
Signals. His regimental appointments include adjutant of the 1 st Joint Support
Unit, regimental signals officer of the 2 nd /14 th Light Horse Regiment (QMI) and
command of the 72 nd Electronic Warfare Squadron, 7 th Signals Regiment. Richard
also instructed at the Defence Force School of Signals and served in a number
of staff appointments. Pirates were often involved. His operational service was in
East Timor (1999-2000) and Afghanistan (2008), as a counter-improvised explosive
device electronic warfare specialist. Since leaving the Army, Richard has written
and published several works, including his first novel, Days of Vengeance (under
the pen-name Corvus Coronoides). Richard lives near Canberra with his family, in
the foothills of the Brindabellas.
ENDNOTES
1 Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Macmillan, UK, 1865 — not such a bad
metaphor for the divide between the Army and the rest of society.
2 The author served from 1995 to 2012 and has retained some contact with the Army since then.
3 Be under no illusion: some things are unacceptable. I have no time for those soldiers who
harm their comrades. Sometimes the wrong people slip into service, or good people turn
bad. They should be dealt with harshly, but not to shield their superiors from embarrassment
or to preserve Army’s good name. They should be punished and drummed out because their
comrades deserve better than serving alongside criminals. And the Army and the nation need
real soldiers who serve with honour.
4 The publicly-accessible Defence web page lists seven recent or current reviews and a number
of other documents under the heading ‘Pathway to Change’. The premise is that military culture
is flawed and must change.
5 See, for example, Minister Smith’s interview with Chris Uhlmann on ABC’s 7.30, 7 March 2012
at: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2012/s3448185.htm This is not so hard to understand
if we consider Major General Cantwell’s column published in the Sydney Morning Herald on 10
March 2012. See http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/lack-of-respect-cuts-both-wayswith-minister-20120309-1upmu.html
The General’s assessment is that the Minister does not
respect Australian military people. If he is correct — and he certainly had enough exposure to
the Minister and the capacity to make such judgements — then it would be unsurprising to find
changing military culture high on this Minister’s list of priorities.
6 The Royal Marines I really don’t know; my guess is that they fit here too. Readers familiar with
that service will draw their own conclusions.
Australian Army Journal
Culture edition 2013, Volume X, Number 3 Page 240