{"id":3369,"date":"2013-01-14T05:00:35","date_gmt":"2013-01-13T19:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=3369"},"modified":"2013-01-15T13:27:37","modified_gmt":"2013-01-15T03:27:37","slug":"reader-response-reserves-force-structure-and-budget-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/reader-response-reserves-force-structure-and-budget-cuts\/","title":{"rendered":"Reader response: Reserves, force structure and budget cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/20100709army_8500215_033.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3378\" title=\"The sappers demonstrated that they are as good as their regular army counter-parts by constructing \u2018Patrol Base Panther\u2019 during a major military exercise.  More than 30 Reserve soldiers supported by graders and plant equipment built \u2018Patrol Base Panther\u2019 as a staging area for battle group operations during Exercise Morshead Renascent which was conducted during 3-18 July.  The construction of Patrol Base Panther, which is identical to Coalition fortifications in Iraq and Afghanistan, marks a major milestone for 5 CER\u2019s capability.  The Commanding Officer of 5 CER, Lieutenant Tara Bucknall said \u201cbuilding Patrol Base Panther was a golden opportunity to demonstrate that 5 CER is a highly-trained Reserve Engineer unit which has the same capacity as a regular army unit; albeit with longer planning time.\u201d\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/20100709army_8500215_033.jpeg\" alt=\"The sappers demonstrated that they are as good as their regular army counter-parts by constructing \u2018Patrol Base Panther\u2019 during a major military exercise.  More than 30 Reserve soldiers supported by graders and plant equipment built \u2018Patrol Base Panther\u2019 as a staging area for battle group operations during Exercise Morshead Renascent which was conducted during 3-18 July.  The construction of Patrol Base Panther, which is identical to Coalition fortifications in Iraq and Afghanistan, marks a major milestone for 5 CER\u2019s capability.  The Commanding Officer of 5 CER, Lieutenant Tara Bucknall said \u201cbuilding Patrol Base Panther was a golden opportunity to demonstrate that 5 CER is a highly-trained Reserve Engineer unit which has the same capacity as a regular army unit; albeit with longer planning time.\u201d\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/20100709army_8500215_033.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/20100709army_8500215_033-205x137.jpeg 205w, https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/20100709army_8500215_033-332x221.jpeg 332w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>In a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/force-structure-101\/\" target=\"_blank\">recent post on force structure<\/a>, Peter Layton dramatically highlighted the continuing tension between future capabilities and existing requirements. The problem is, of course, (as Andrew Davies likes to say) that there are a limited number of dollars, and each of them can only be spent once. This is a particular problem when it\u2019s necessary to decide what equipment should be purchased. Similar considerations are also relevant when considering personnel.<\/p>\n<p>It has been a long time (71 years) since Australia faced the prospect of being invaded, and this helps to go some way towards explaining the current structure of the forces.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s clear today that the prospect of Japanese invasion was more remote than was appreciated at the time\u2014the Japanese discussed the possibility but the Army wasn\u2019t at all keen on the idea. Nevertheless it was this \u2018total war\u2019 situation, together with the prospect of fighting island campaigns in the jungles of the Pacific, resulting in an enormous mobilisation. By 1943 the Army had swelled to more than a dozen divisions (11 infantry and 3 \u2018armoured\u2019); nearly 500,000 men, or more than ten times the size of today\u2019s Army. As it turned out, there were far more people in uniform than the country could support. Additionally, manpower was needed for other vital tasks, such as growing food and supporting the general Allied war effort. That\u2019s why, within a year, a decision was taken to significantly reduce the size of the armed forces in general and the Army in particular.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>It took the fear of the Cold War turning \u2018hot\u2019 to get Australia back into the \u2018big Army business\u2019. \u00a0In 1951 a three-month compulsory national service requirement was reintroduced. This continued to provide a very large Reserve force until a revised selective scheme (requiring 2 years continuous service) was implemented in 1964. The regular soldiers had wrested power away from the militia. Because there was general recognition the country no longer faced a direct threat, the Army was restructured to fight expeditionary operations overseas.<\/p>\n<p>The decision to send these conscripts to serve in Vietnam became, however, increasingly unpopular and in 1972, to considerable fanfare, Gough Whitlam scrapped this scheme the day after he was elected (even though by that time no nasho\u2019s were serving overseas). Despite the occasional call for some form of national service, since that date no government has ever seriously considered any form of compulsory military scheme. The focus of the Reserves has, similarly, gradually begun to shift from its earlier role of providing an expansion base to a new one of swelling out active units or, alternately, operating in less demanding roles.<\/p>\n<p>This system has evolved to suit almost everybody. The electorate isn\u2019t agitated over national service; the regular military has been able to ensure that pay and conditions are attractive enough for volunteers; and there\u2019s been increased incorporation of reservists. But that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s sacrosanct. One of the key reasons the system has been working is that in the past there\u2019s been (although only just) enough money to keep the structure working soundly.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s no longer the case. Just as with equipment dollars, each personnel dollar can only be spent once. There isn\u2019t enough to go around. Something has to give, and it\u2019s not going to be the politicians. They\u2019ve decided other priorities well and truly trump Defence.<\/p>\n<p>In November last year Lieutenant General David Morrison, the Chief of Army, gave a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.army.gov.au\/Our-work\/Speeches-and-transcripts\/National-Security-Lecture\" target=\"_blank\">speech at the University of Canberra<\/a>. He emphasised that the current structure of three regular brigades (plus special forces) is already verging on the edge of the capability envelope. Additional cuts would be, he indicated, unsustainable. Unfortunately though, at an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/events\/recentEventDetail.aspx?eid=485\" target=\"_blank\">ASPI address<\/a> a couple of months earlier, Air Marshal Geoff Brown had made it equally clear that he doesn\u2019t believe the RAAF could absorb further cuts either. Indeed, with the likely increase in the cost of the Joint Strike Fighter it appears as if, rather then being the source of extra savings, the Air Force is likely to be demanding more money. And although the Navy (under Vice Admiral Ray Griggs) will soon set sail in their new surface combatants, the replacement submarine has already developed all the characteristics of a seriously problematic acquisition program. And that\u2019s even before a decision has been made on which option is to be pursued.<\/p>\n<p>What makes it more unlikely such competing demands will be resolved amicably is the current economic and political situation. Neither the government nor opposition are going to find any way of funding these compelling demands.<\/p>\n<p>In this environment, where hard choices have to be made, it seems likely that the key decisions will not simply be about equipment choices. Cutting personnel costs will be vital. Because they\u2019re sensible, the drafters of the new White Paper are going to steer well clear of any prescriptions about exactly which capabilities should be dropped from the order of battle. Nevertheless, increased reliance on some form of part-time force would appear to be the only way in which the military will be able to match the conundrum of decreasing resources at a time of increased ambition.<\/p>\n<p><em>Nic Stuart is a columnist with the Canberra Times. Image courtesy of <a href=\"http:\/\/images.defence.gov.au\/20100709army_8500215_033.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">Department of Defence<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a recent post on force structure, Peter Layton dramatically highlighted the continuing tension between future capabilities and existing requirements. The problem is, of course, (as Andrew Davies likes to say) that there are a &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":3378,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[44,120,279,66],"class_list":["post-3369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australian-defence-force","tag-budget","tag-force-structure","tag-history"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Reader response: Reserves, force structure and budget cuts | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/reader-response-reserves-force-structure-and-budget-cuts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reader response: Reserves, force structure and budget cuts | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a recent post on force structure, Peter Layton dramatically highlighted the continuing tension between future capabilities and existing requirements. The problem is, of course, (as Andrew Davies likes to say) that there are a ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/reader-response-reserves-force-structure-and-budget-cuts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-13T19:00:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-01-15T03:27:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/20100709army_8500215_033.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"534\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nic Stuart\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nic Stuart\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI&#039;s analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/reader-response-reserves-force-structure-and-budget-cuts\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/20100709army_8500215_033.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/20100709army_8500215_033.jpeg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":534,\"caption\":\"The sappers demonstrated that they are as good as their regular army counter-parts by constructing \u2018Patrol Base Panther\u2019 during a major military exercise. 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