| Australian Army | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1 March 1901 – Present |
| Country | Australia |
| Allegiance | HM The Queen |
| Type | Army |
| Size | 30,235 (Regular) 16,900 (Active Reserve) 12,496 (Standby Reserve) |
| Part of | Australian Defence Force |
| Engagements | Second Boer War World War I World War II Korean War Malayan Emergency Indonesian Confrontation Vietnam War War in Somalia East Timor Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands War in Afghanistan Iraq War |
| Commanders | |
| Chief of the Defence Force | GEN David Hurley AC, DSC |
| Chief of Army | LTGEN David Morrison AO |
| Deputy Chief of Army | MAJGEN Paul Symon AO |
| Commander Forces Command | MAJGEN Jeffrey Sengleman DSC, AM, CSC |
| Notable commanders |
FM William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood GEN Sir John Monash GEN Sir Henry Chauvel GEN Sir Brudenell White FM Sir Thomas Blamey GEN Peter Cosgrove |
| Insignia | |
| Australian Army badge | |
| Army Roundel | |
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence (CDF) commands the Australian Defence Force (ADF), the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA). The CA is therefore subordinate to the CDF, but is also directly responsible to the Minister for Defence.[1] Although Australian soldiers have been involved in a number of minor and major conflicts throughout its history, only in World War II has Australian territory come under direct attack.
The Australian Army's mission is to provide a potent, versatile, and updated Army to promote the security of Australia and protect its people.[2][3][4] Further, the Army's key doctrine publication, The Fundamentals of Land Warfare, states that "the Army’s mission is to win the land battle".[5]
Contents |
The history of the Australian Army can be divided into two periods:
During its history the Australian Army has fought a large number of major wars, including: Second Boer War (1899–1902), First World War (1914–1918), the Second World War (1939–1945), Korea War (1950–1953), Malayan Emergency (1950–1960), Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation (1962–1966), Vietnam War (1962–1973) and more recently in Afghanistan (2001 – Present) and Iraq (2003 – Present). However, since 1947 it has also been involved in many peacekeeping operations, usually under the auspices of the United Nations. The largest one began in 1999 in East Timor. Other notable operations include peacekeeping on Bougainville and in the Solomon Islands, which are still ongoing to this day. Humanitarian relief after 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake in Aceh Province, Indonesia, Operation Sumatra Assist, ended on 24 March 2005.[6]
The Australian Army currently has significant forces deployed on three major operations:[7]
The 1st Division takes responsibility for the majority of the regular army, while 2nd Division under the command of Forces Command is the main home defence formation, containing Army Reserve units. Only the 1st Division's headquarters is deployable, however, as the 2nd Division's headquarters only performs administrative functions. The Australian Army has not deployed a divisional sized formation since 1945 and does not expect to do so in the future.[8]
1st Division is currently based on regular Army Brigades containing a total of 10 deployable Battlegroups
Special Operations Command is a command formation of equal status to the other commands in the ADF. It is a brigade sized formation responsible for all of Australia's special forces assets.
2nd Division is the main home defence formation, consisting mainly of reserve forces, with its HQ located in Sydney. It is divided into 6 brigades.
Under a restructuring program known as Plan Beersheba announced in late 2011, the 1st, 3rd and 7th Brigades will be reformed as combined arms multi-role manoeuvre brigades with the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (part of the 3rd Brigade) as the core of a future amphibious force[9] similar to the U.S. Marine Corps.[10]
Infantry, and some other combat units of the Australian Army carry flags called the Queen's colour and the Regimental Colour, known as 'the Colours'. Armoured units carry Guidons – flags smaller than Colours traditionally carried by Cavalry, Lancer, Light Horse and Mounted Infantry units. Artillery units' Guns are considered to be their Colours, and on parade are provided with the same respect. Non-combat units (combat service support corps) do not have Colours, as Colours are battle flags and so are only available to combat units. As a substitute, many have Standards or Banners.[11] Units awarded battle honours have them emblazoned on their Colours, Standards and Guidons. They are a link to the Unit's past and a memorial to the fallen. Artillery do not have Battle Honours; their single Honour is "Ubique" which means "Everywhere".
The Army is the guardian of the National Flag and as such, unlike the Royal Australian Air Force, does not have a flag or Colours. The Army, instead, has a banner, known as the Army Banner. To commemorate the centenary of the Army, the Governor General Sir William Deane, presented the Army with a new Banner at a parade in front of the Australian War Memorial on 10 March 2001. The Banner was presented to the Regimental Sergeant Major of the Army, WO1 Peter Rosemond.
The Army banner bears the Australian Coat of Arms on the obverse, with the dates "1901–2001" in gold in the upper hoist. The reverse bears the 'rising sun' badge of the Australian Army, flanked by seven campaign honours on small gold-edged scrolls: South Africa, World War I, World War II, Korea, Malaya-Borneo, South Vietnam, and Peacekeeping. The banner is trimmed with gold fringe, has gold and crimson cords and tassels, and is mounted on a pike with the usual British royal crest finial.[12]
In the 2010–11 financial year the Army had an average strength of 47,135 personnel: 30,235 permanent (regular) and 16,900 active reservists (part-time).[13] In addition there are another 12,496 members of the Standby Reserve.[14] The regular Army is targeted to expand to 31,000 personnel by 2014–15.[13]
The ranks of the Australian Army are based on the ranks of the British Army, and carry mostly the same actual insignia. For officers the ranks are identical except for the shoulder title "Australia". The Non-Commissioned Officer insignia are the same up until Warrant Officer ranks, where they are stylised for Australia (for example, using the Australian, rather than the British coat of arms).
| Small arms | F88 Austeyr (service rifle), F89 Minimi (support weapon), Browning Hi-Power (sidearm), MAG-58 (general purpose machine gun), SR-25 (sniper rifle), SR-98 (sniper rifle) |
| Special forces | M4 carbine, Heckler & Koch USP, SR-25, F89 Minimi, MP5, SR-98 |
| Main battle tanks | 59 M1A1 Abrams AIM (TUSK under acquisition) |
| Infantry fighting vehicles | 257 ASLAV |
| Armoured Personnel Carriers | 766 M113 (431 being upgraded to M113AS3/4 standard, balance to be mothballed and used to support upgrade program) |
| Infantry Mobility Vehicles | 838 Bushmaster IMVs[15][16] |
| Light Utility Vehicles | 1,200 G-Wagon 4x4 and 6x6, 10,000 Land Rover FFR and GS, 1,295 Unimog 1700L |
| Artillery | 112 L118/L119 105 mm Hamel Guns, 120 M2A2 105 mm Howitzer, 36 M198 155 mm Howitzer, 35 M777A2 155 mm Howitzer, 36 RBS-70 ground to air missile launchers.[17][18] |
| Radar | AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder radar, AMSTAR Ground Surveliance RADAR |
| Unmanned Aerial Vehicles | Insitu Aerosonde, Elbit Systems Skylark and Boeing ScanEagle[19] |
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Versions | Number in service[20] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helicopters | ||||||
| OH-58 Kiowa | United States | OH-58A Scout helicopter | 206B | 27 of 56 still in service | To be replaced by the Eurocopter Tiger. | |
| Boeing CH-47 Chinook | United States | Transport helicopter | CH-47D | 5(2) | One lost in Afghanistan on 30 May 2011. Two additional CH-47Ds ordered in December 2011 as attrition replacement and to boost heavy lift capability until the delivery of 7 CH-47F which will replace all the CH-47Ds.[21] | |
| Eurocopter Tiger | European Union | Attack helicopter | Tiger ARH | 22 | Delivery completed early July 2011 | |
| Sikorsky S-70 Blackhawk | United States | Utility helicopter | S-70A-9 | 35 | To be eventually replaced by the MRH 90 | |
| MRH 90 | European Union | Utility helicopter | TTH: Tactical Transport Helicopter | 15(40) | As of 2011, used for testing and training purposes. Total of 46 on order (including 6 for Royal Australian Navy) | |
|
The Army's operational headquarters, Land Command, is located at Victoria Barracks in Sydney. The Australian Army's three regular brigades are based at Robertson Barracks near Darwin, Lavarack Barracks in Townsville and Gallipoli Barracks in Brisbane. The Deployable Joint Force Headquarters is also located at Gallipoli Barracks.
Other important Army bases include the Army Aviation Centre near Oakey, Queensland, Holsworthy Barracks near Sydney, Lone Pine Barracks in Singleton, New South Wales and Woodside Barracks near Adelaide, South Australia. The SASR is based at Campbell Barracks Swanbourne, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Puckapunyal north of Melbourne, Victoria houses the Australian Army's Combined Arms Training Centre, Land Warfare Development Centre, and three of the five principal Combat Arms schools. Further barracks include Steele Barracks in Sydney, Keswick Barracks in Adelaide, and Irwin Barracks at Karrakatta in Perth. Dozens of Army Reserve depots are located across Australia.
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Australian_Army Australian Army] at Wikimedia Commons
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| Australia-United States Rank Code | Officer Cadet | O-1 | O-2 | O-3 | O-4 | O-5 | O-6 | O-7 * |
O-8 ** |
O-9 *** |
O-10 **** |
O-11 ***** |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Australian Navy | MIDN | ASLT | SBLT | LEUT | LCDR | CMDR | CAPT | CDRE | RADM | VADM | ADML | AF | |
| Australian Army | OCDT | 2LT | LT | CAPT | MAJ | LTCOL | COL | BRIG | MAJGEN | LTGEN | GEN | FM | |
| Royal Australian Air Force | OFFCDT | PLTOFF | FLGOFF | FLTLT | SQNLDR | WGCDR | GPCAPT | AIRCDRE | AVM | AIRSMHL | ACM | MRAAF | |
| Australia-United States Rank Code | E-1 | E-2 | E-3 | E-4 | E-5 | E-6 | E-7 | E-8 | E-9 | E-9 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Australian Navy | RCT | SMN | AB | - | LS | PO | - | CPO | WO | WO-N | |||
| Australian Army | REC | PTE | - | LCPL | CPL | SGT | SSGT | WO2 | WO1 | RSM-A | |||
| Royal Australian Air Force | RCT | AC/ACW | LAC/LACW | - | CPL | SGT | - | FSGT | WOFF | WOFF-AF | |||