| Officer Cadet School, Portsea | |
|---|---|
The OCS Portsea Badge |
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| Motto | Loyalty and Service |
| Established | 1951–1985 |
| Type | former Military college |
| Location | Portsea, Victoria, Australia |
| Website | OCS Alumni website |
The Officer Cadet School, Portsea (sometimes referred to as OCS Portsea) was an officer training establishment of the Australian Army. Established at Portsea in Victoria, Australia, in 1951 to provide training to officer cadets prior to commissioning, for many years OCS provided the Australian Regular Army with the bulk of its junior officers. However, following a review of military training establishments in Australia in the mid-1980s, the school was eventually closed in 1985.
The motto of OCS Portsea was Loyalty and Service, which was chosen by Colonel (later Major General Sir) James Harrison during his time serving as OCS's first Commandant (1952–54).
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OCS Portsea was located at Point Nepean near the mouth of Port Phillip Bay in Victoria, Australia.[1] The land occupied by OCS was originally used as a quarantine station for many years, where newly arrived immigrants were housed before they could be screened for infectious diseases. When the quarantine station closed, the OCS took up the remainder of the land, although upon closure the land was re-allocated to the Army School of Health.
Since 2002, however, when the Army School of Health vacated the land, there has been much debate surrounding the future of the site. Many of the old buildings were retained and some still stand today, having been protected under law. One of the buildings, which was used as a hospital, remains as a museum. OCS Cadets conducted lessons in a building previously used as a mortuary during the operation of the quarantine station. The Regimental Sergeant Major's hut is believed to be one of the oldest buildings in Victoria.
In June 2009 the land was transferred to the Victorian government and has been incorporated into the Point Nepean National Park. In December 2009 the site was opened to the community as a public park.
The Officer Cadet School, Portsea began training officers for the Australian Army in January 1952. During its 33 years of operation until closure in 1985 3,544 cadets graduated, including 2,826 Australian Regular Army, 30 RAAF and 688 foreign students from the School until it closed in 1985. In this period Portsea was responsible for turning out 40 percent of general service officers for the Regular Army, as opposed to RMC which provided 28 percent in the same time.[2]
The school was set up amidst the backdrop of the post-war period, when commitments to Korea and Japan and to the national service scheme required an increase in the number of junior officers in the Army. The four year course at the Royal Military College, Duntroon was not flexible enough to enable this increase in junior officers, so the decision was made to establish the Officer Cadet School at Portsea. Unlike Duntroon OCS did not provide a degree course and trained would be junior officers over a six month course.[1]
The course later ran for 44 weeks. Entry criteria differed to Duntroon, with broader age ranges and lower educational requirements; consequently a high proportion of Portsea's officer cadets were serving soldiers deemed suitable for commissioning.[1] A significant number of OCS cadets were direct entry civilians. Additionally, OCS trained servicemen from other nations including The Philippines, South Vietnam, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Kenyan, Uganda, Fiji and New Zealand and those graduated were commissioned into their respective services. A number of graduates were also RAAF personnel.
Following the Vietnam War, when the national service scheme ended and the OTU Scheyville closed (1973), OCS Portsea trained half of the new officers commissioned into the Regular Army, compared with Duntroon's 39%. The remaining 11% was provided by the Officer Training Wing of the Womens Royal Australian Army Corps School at George's Heights, Sydney.
In the mid 1980s, a review of military training establishments in Australia occurred. As a result, a decision created a tri-service military academy offering tertiary education to officer trainees of all three services (Army, Air Force and Navy). This academy became known as the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA). Due to the formation of ADFA, the Royal Military College, Duntroon stopped providing degrees to its graduates and reduced its course from four years to eighteen months. This essentially meant that RMC-D and OCS were providing the same training and, perhaps somewhat controversially given that OCS Portsea was currently providing the bulk of new officers to the Army at the time, the decision was made to close down Portsea.[3]
The final OCS graduating class was the class of December 1985, which included female cadets for the first time, following the closure of the Women's Officer Training Wing in December 1984.[4] The Royal Military College, Duntroon then became the sole training establishment for General Service Officers in the Australian Regular Army.[5]
Major Peter Badcoe, a graduate of Portsea, was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry whilst serving as a member of the Australian Army Training Team - Vietnam (AATTV) in 1967. He was one of four members of the AATV to receive the award during the Vietnam War.[6] The award was made posthumously and (as of 2009) the medal will be put on display at the Australian War Memorial.
The main hall at Portsea was named in his honour, as is a lecture theatre at the Royal Military College, Duntroon.
OCS Portsea's colours were approved on 6 September 1960. The main colour was garter blue, with the OCS badge superimposed with a saffron lion, a cherry garter and scroll and buttercup edges.
With the closure of OCS Portsea in December 1985, the school's Colours were laid up. On 23 March 1986, the Colours were paraded for the last time and were then laid up in the Anzac Memorial Chapel of St Paul at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in the Australian Capital Territory.[7]
A memorial to all OCS Portsea graduates who lost their lives on active service is currently maintained in the grounds of the Royal Military College at Duntroon, where it is maintained by the cadets. Originally this memorial was located outside the Commandant's house, however, in 2004 it was moved to its present location in Stakey Park, opposite the Military Instruction Block, where the cadets have most of their lessons during their time in barracks. As a mark of respect, all service personnel are required to salute the memorial tablet as they pass by.[8]
The training institution of Portsea had a number of graduates that were both notable soldiers and colourful or successful in civilian life.
As outstanding soldiers
Notables after military service