right royal visit p2 7 bde's grand send - Department of Defence

Army February 4, 2010
Fans keen
on green
machine
Army’s latest recruiting
attraction dazzles car
buffs at Summernats,
reports Sgt Andrew
Hetherington
A
LARGE crowd of eager,
sweating autophiles, hardly
able to contain twitching
camera shutter button
ingers, waits in 36C heat for the
overs to come off.
They are keen to see Armygeddon’s
high-powered replacement unveiled to
he revhead public at the Summernats
ar show in Canberra.
When the modified 1978 Ford LTD
taff car is revealed, the first thing that
ttracts admiring looks is the huge
ngine.
The chromed Ford V8 pumps out
n unbelievable 525kW of power.
hen it is fired up it sends a rumble
hough chests and, if listened to for
ny length of time, would induce hearng
loss.
The vehicle’s next most striking
eature is its paint job; the organic
reen paint scheme with a rising sun
blended into the rear panels looks
magnificent.
The paint work alone would turn
heads anywhere, even if the car was
under tow and didn’t have an engine.
The specially made chrome, fivespoke,
18-inch wheels boast a rising
sun badge and the words Team Army.
The car can carry a driver and three
lucky passengers. Rear passengers
enter through modified doors and are
seated in green-and-black racing seats,
complete with harnesses.
Absent is a stereo for obvious reasons,
as the only soundtrack to be
heard is the one thumping through the
ront fire wall.
The dash accommodates 12 gauges
et into carbon fibre, with a silver steel
inish. The RPM gauge would not be
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out of place in an Abrams tank. The
steering wheel and centrally mounted
gear stick are both finished in silver.
Designed to perform burnouts,
cruise around motorsport and recruiting
events, and to attract trade trainees
to the Army, the $240,000 LTD took
18 months to build.
Trainee mechanics at the Army
School of Electrical and Mechanical
Engineers at Albury-Wodonga worked
on the initiative, known as Project
Digger.
Cfn Jason Ralph put in more than
200 hours to get the vehicle ready for
Summernats.
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“It gives us the opportunity to work
on a car which is completely different
to anything we have in the Army,” he
says. “We learn skills working on this
vehicle which allows us to fix problems
on other vehicles.”
He describes the new vehicle as
“absolutely awesome”.
“You look around here (at
Summernats) and there is not another
car of that same type built to that high
standard.”
Even Summernats founder Chic
Henry was impressed. “He came up
and said, ‘You guys have really hit the
nail on the head with this car’,” Cfn
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Slick look: An impressive rendering of the rising sun badge adorns the side of the 1978 Ford LTD
staff car, while a more traditional image of the badge is cast in the wheels (above). Team Army
members (below) are justifiably proud of their handiwork. Photos by Sgt Andrew Hetherington
Ralph says. “I feel proud I’ve had a
hand in creating it.”
For the knockers who contend
Armygeddon and Project Digger are
a waste of money, Cfn Ralph is proof
the Team Army concept works.
“Armygeddon was one of the reasons
I joined the Army. I saw it at
Queensland raceway a couple of years
ago,” he says. “I thought these guys
get to do a pretty awesome job and
they love what they are doing so much
and give up their own time to help put
together and maintain a car.”
Team Army boss Lt-Col Tom
Regener says Team Army and Project
FEATURES 31
Digger was money well spent. “The
project aligns with the Government’s
new Kickstart initiative to combat skill
shortages in technical trades,” he says.
“It costs around $120,000 a year
to operate the team and fits in with
the Kickstart program to invest $100
million to support 21,000 young
Australians to enter trades.”
The Project Digger vehicle will be
officially named soon and is due to
appear at Top Gear Live in Sydney this
month, Clipsal 500 in Adelaide and the
F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne in March,
and the Careers Expo in Melbourne in
late April.