8 REASONS NOT TO JOIN THE AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE
As a former member of the Australian Regular Army (SASR) I believe that military affairs are NOT discussed truthfully in public. There are a number of reasons why anyone should think very carefully before signing on for military service. I believe we need a national defence network, yet I also believe the current system is being exploited for reasons that have little to do with the defence of the Australian homeland.
The following reasons have helped me form this opinion:
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is too small in size to safeguard our vast island continent against invasion by many of our near neighbours. Although well equipped with the latest technology, the ADF has neither the manpower nor the logistical wherewithal to defend such a large area against even a limited incursion.
Many nations in our region have a population base far in excess of Australia’s and have far more resources available to them for military purposes. Any nation with the logistical wherewithal to mount an incursion of the Australian mainland is (highly) unlikely to be threatened by our small reserves of manpower and equipment.
Despite this fact, Australia still spends approx. 25 billion dollars worth of tax payers money (2008 – 2009 Federal budget) every year to maintain an inadequate safeguard.
Rather than trying to maintain an inadequate defence force, the long-term security of Australia would be better served by declaring ourselves a neutral country. This would send a clear, non-threatening message to our neighbours and establish a peaceful culture of understanding within our region. Becoming neutral would also negate us being seen as a base for military aggressors like the United States of America.
Neutrality would reduce the likelihood of Australia being threatened in the first instance and thereby remove the need for an expensive, yet inadequate defence force.
During times of hardship or armed conflict the most appropriate place for anyone is with family and loved ones. Leaving your family to partake in a war is abandoning your responsibility to those closest to you; it is a failure to distinguish between what is most important for you and your family and what is important to the State.
How can you care for those people closest to you if you are absent?
How is being killed or injured on foreign soil going to help you provide for your family into the future?
War is something which is organised and initiated by governments. In most cases, war is an argument over territory or resources (see Note No. 1). Throughout history many innocent lives have been lost not for practical reasons, but in defence of national pride or posturing over resources. Examples of such conflicts are World War I, the first Gulf war (1990) and the on-going occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Such conflicts have little to do with the welfare and freedom of individuals, but are generated by the ambitions of nation states and wealthy corporations which stand to profit from these events.
Military service is a means by which the State exploits its population to maintain its authority and safeguard the profits of the party-faithful. It is an occupation that requires you to subordinate yourself totally to the whim of politicians and corporate entities.
The job of all soldiers is to kill.
Whether you are trained as a frontline soldier who carries a gun or as a technician working behind the scenes you are part of an organisation designed to kill en masse.
Governments the world over use politically correct terms to disguise this fact by describing the military as, ‘defending parliamentary democracy’ or ‘acting as a deterrent’ or ‘fighting against terror’; yet these are newspeak terms intended to conceal the real purpose of military service.
Killing other human beings for any purpose is an immoral act. Whether you partake in killing directly, or provide support to someone who does, you are committing a crime against humanity.
During any armed conflict the majority of those killed or injured are innocent civilians. Women and children number amongst the most common casualties of any war. The majority of deaths during the Second World War, for example, were not combatants but civilians caught up in the fighting.
The killing of innocent civilians has nothing to do with courage or honour, but is a crime for which military personnel are often held accountable after hostilities have ceased. The lack of community support experienced by former Vietnam veterans is an example of how public opinion can change suddenly and unexpectedly.
Remember that politicians will support the military only while it benefits them!
Many service personnel are killed or permanently injured as a matter of course. Whether they are fighting in a theatre of war or partaking in peace-time exercises, accidents and mishaps occur on a regular basis.
The Australian Defence Forces have experienced hundreds of such deaths during peace-time operations. During the first eighteen months of my service with the Australian Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) for example, six individuals were killed and four seriously injured.
Aside from the obvious risk of being killed or permanently injured, service personnel are often exposed to large noises (explosions and gun fire). This exposure can cause permanent hearing loss which is NOT curable. Hearing problems come in many forms and can involve a variety of complaints: buzzing or constant ringing, inability to distinguish between sounds, nausea and lack of balance or co-ordination. These complaints can last the rest of a person’s life.
Few individuals escape military service without some form of injury or lasting compliant.
Military service does not just involve a risk to your physical health.
Some of the most common long-term problems faced by former service personnel are emotional or psychological in nature. Exposure to extreme circumstances such as violent deaths, torture and civilian suffering can cause permanent psychological damage to those taking part.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PSD) is a debilitating condition suffered by many former servicemen and women. Its effects are not necessarily obvious or easy to diagnose and practical treatments are difficult to come by.
PSD manifests in a wide variety of forms: memory loss, recurring nightmares, spontaneous crying or emotional outbursts, eating disorders and difficulty socialising. These problems can follow sufferers for the rest of their lives.
In many cases former service personnel receive no recognition or compensation for these problems.
Military service is a very particular job which does not equip you for functioning in the broader community.
The skills and training experienced by many servicemen and women are job specific; that is they are relevant only to military service. The equipment and methods used are often applicable only to a warfare scenario and are rarely used by outside organisations. This means that many former service personnel have acquired skills and qualifications that are useless or unrecognised once they re-enter larger society.
The qualifications obtained through military service, I believe, should be fully recognised and supported by workplace agreements.
Throughout the history of white Australia the defence force has partaken in foreign conflicts, often on the other side of the globe. Most of these conflicts have had little to do with the defence of the Australian homeland, but have involved the interests of other nations. These conflicts have taken place in countries like Sudan, South Africa, Turkey, France, Greece, Crete, Palestine, North Africa, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq.
I believe Australia’s involvement in these conflicts is evidence of our lack of identity. It is proof of our willingness as a nation to subordinate ourselves to the interests of others. This cultural cringe manifests itself in numerous ways, quite often at the expense of many lives. During the First World War, for example, 60,000 young Australians were killed in places far from home.
Each year ANZAC Day remembrances give us an opportunity to learn from these events and to apply the lessons. They provide us a chance to establish a stronger sense of who we are and which values we wish to pursue as a nation.
A strong country, a proud country does not confuse its interests with those of other countries, but has the maturity and confidence to pursue its independence. The Australian Defence Force should be about the defence of Australia rather than the protection of multi-national interests abroad.
The Australian Defence Force should always be under the overall command of an Australian citizen.
In most cases, foreign service with the ADF involves fighting in places far from home for reasons that have nothing to do with safeguarding your family and friends.
Maintaining a standing army is a drain on a nation’s resources.
The money and resources wasted on the military could be used to provide a range of benefits to the wider community. Each year approx. 25 billion dollars are spent by the Australian Federal Government on maintaining a small, inadequate military system. Many of the weapon systems used by the ADF have never been used in a theatre of war, but have been used only for peacetime training purposes.
Some of these systems include: Leopard Tanks, F111 aircraft, Anzac Class Frigates and the SAS Counter-Terrorist Group (Gauntlet).
The money spent on weapons and maintaining current personnel numbers could easily fund a range of more urgent services such as health, education, child-care, research and development, and the environment. Spending more in these areas would make a tangible and lasting difference to the lives of ALL Australians.
Many key locations throughout Australia are also occupied by military establishments. The environmental significance and market value of these establishments, if realised, could contribute much to the wider Australian community. Much of the real-estate controlled by the military is located in environmentally sensitive areas or on ground adjacent to traditional Aboriginal land. These include Canungra (Qld), Evans Head (NSW) and Swanbourne (WA).
The environmental and cultural value of this land would be more effectively safeguarded by the National Parks and Wildlife Service or the traditional owners, namely the indigenous people of Australia. The money generated from a sell-off of these establishments would net billions of dollars for the community and provide funding for a range of vital services.
Military service is often portrayed by the government as an adventure. Television commercials and promotional brochures advertise the ADF as an honourable, adventure-filled service to the nation.
These attempts to recruit people fail to tell the truth.
The scale of terror (murder and destruction) carried out by national defence forces is far greater than any underground organisation or terrorist group. In thirty years of activity the Irish Republican Army (IRA) for example, murdered several thousand victims. This figure, although alarming, does not compare to the tens of thousands murdered by the United States military in Iraq or the 3.4 million (Robert McNamara) murdered during the Vietnam War!
Although killing someone under normal circumstances is regarded as murder and therefore a criminal offence, killing someone on the State’s behalf is an act of bravery for which honours (medals) are given.
This is a contradiction in terms; it assumes one set of rules for individuals and another for governments. If the Australian Government wants ordinary Australians to obey the law then it should be prepared to lead by example; State-sponsored murder is no less criminal than any other form of murder.
Portraying military service as a ‘fun’ adventure is a deliberate and reprehensible lie that disguises the real nature and purpose of the ADF.
Military service, as it currently stands, has little to do with honour. The Australian Defence Force is an institution which is exploited by the State. It is an institution that exploits young men and women to safeguard the economic resources of the wealthy (oil pipelines in Afghanistan, oil reserves in Iraq and in the Timor Sea) and to participate in wasteful and dangerous activities.
These activities (and their side-effects) are something for which service personnel are seldom compensated.
The money and resources wasted by the military could provide a range of alternate benefits to the Australian community. The ADF could be reduced in size to provide a leaner, better paid service dedicated solely to the protection of the Australian homeland.
The truth is that military service is far less attractive than portrayed by the Government. It is an occupation fraught with risks, exploitation and morally questionable activities.
Rather than safeguarding the assets of the wealthy the ADF, I believe should be used for the purpose for which it was intended, that is the defence of the Australian mainland in times of threat. As it currently stands, military service is one of the most unproductive, uncreative and unattractive career options a person can take.
My solemn advice to anyone thinking of entering military service with the ADF is simple – do something else with your life; do something peaceful and creative that benefits others. Do not waste your valuable time and effort in supporting a system built on hate and destruction!
’Lest we forget’ is a caution. It is a caution that challenges us to learn from the mistakes of our forebears. It is a warning that states – do not come this way, do not let my death pass in vain!
Note No. 1: The largest source of terror in the world is industrialised nation states. Nation states have far more resources available to them than any ‘underground’ terrorist organisation and are responsible for more death and destruction worldwide. Nation states can deploy more personal, larger and more powerful weapons and have far more logistical support available for armed conflict than any outside forces attempting to threaten their interests.
’Terrorism’ is a term used by governments to describe any attempt to challenge the hegemony of the state. When industrialised states use violence to protect their territory or resources however, this is described in very different ways. This obvious contradiction has been observed and detailed by many respectable writers including Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky.
Copyright R J Poole 2009
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