Disquiet on the home front: Is Defence stretched too thin?

If you asked any Australian in a bushfire-hit or flood-ravaged town what they felt when soldiers in uniform turned up to help them, they would usually say relief and reassurance.More than 10,000 troops have been deployed to help with this year's bushfire and COVID-19 crisesOver the past year, images of soldiers clearing felled trees, sandbagging homes, feeding burnt and injured wildlife, and guiding airport arrivals into hotel quarantine have become routine on our televisions.

But every time troops are sent in to aid state agencies dealing with disasters, that's time not spent training for what they are meant to do — fight wars. "People ... miss out on the opportunities to have their skills honed, have their experience improved, and have their skills tested."The 3rd Combat Brigade, for example, is engaged in fighting drills this month, but the exercise is scaled down and only involves local troops.

"Also the 6th Brigade, which is dispersed around Australia but predominantly in south-east Queensland, have some specialist, niche capabilities which we love to work with whenever we can, and we've been unable to do that on this exercise."More work but no more funding Marcus Hellyer, senior analyst in military capability and economics at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute , said Defence did need to plan to support civil authorities in providing disaster relief — both in Australia and in the region.

Yuck

'There is growing disquiet in Defence circles about ever-increasing demands on the military to help when domestic disasters strike.' Whats the source? Because Dr Blaxland is not in the ADF.

Defence All we seem to do is attack...

soldiers just patrolling along with Melb cops What is the point having 4 to 6 men on the same patrol? they r supposed to check people in home quarantine Vic was glad d help as Fed is paying the army Free labor

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