Cpl Jason Mackay, School of Armour, instructs two trainees on the Crewman Specialist 105mm Gunnery Course. Cpl Mackay says the aim of the course is to ensure trainees can load the main armament onto the APC. Photo by Cpl Alisha Carr, Army newspaper An IET at the School of Armour familiarises himself with the vehicle that will eventually become his bread and butter. Photo by Cpl Alisha Carr, Army newspaper

Think tanks

Training Command Reporter Cpl Alisha Carr discovers how the School of Armour serves the Army.
THE trend in arms-corps training is moving away from corps-specific training and leaning towards all soldiers with specific combat requirements – this is the message from the School of Armour’s 2IC Maj Robert McLaren during a recent interview with Army.

Maj McLaren says the role of the Puckapunyal-based school is to provide individual mounted training in order to meet the current and emerging needs of the mounted force in combat.

“Our instructors are specifically trained in the area they are involved in,” he says.

“If our NCOs are trained in specific areas like communications, driving and servicing or gunnery, they progress through that stream and then are rotated back into the Land Army, which ensures our instructors have broad experience in all areas.”

He says the school provides the training requirements for soldiers with a variety of needs, including IET or ROBC training, instructor courses for sergeants and warrant officers and crew commanders courses for the M113, Aslav and Leopard APCs.

“We train about 900 people each year and we are expecting more this year because of the mechanisation of 1 Bde.

“We train men and women from HQ 1 Bde, 1CER, 8/12 Mdm Regt and 1CSR. All of these units use the M113 so they have a desperate need to get people trained – especially considering Exercise Croc 03 is rapidly approaching.

“Many people also need to upgrade their skills because of equipment changes, so we cater for these needs.”

He says because of the current high operational tempo, the school is down in its number of instructors.

“Everyone has to work twice as hard to achieve the requirements.”

He says in order to meet the needs of the Army, the School of Armour has instructors from a number of different corps, including Infantry and Artillery.

“Similarily, we have Armoured instructors at the School of Artillery’s Surveillance and Target Acquisition Wing.

“This is a good system because soldiers who belong to other corps can actually see a role model from their corps. An infantryman pulling apart and putting together an M113 inspires them and the system works very well.

“Armoured corps has always been an all-corps kind of place with lots of medics, ordnance and RAEME soldiers working in our combat regiments – it adds a lot of colour to our messes!”

Maj McLaren says the school prides itself on the capacity of course evaluation.

“We generally receive positive feedback from trainees. Training Development is quite strict on our instructional cells regarding finding out the thoughts of trainees and instructional staff.

“People are always working towards improving courses and meeting the needs of trainees.

“Our reputation can be marred by silly things so we make sure our instructors are fully supported and trained and that their families are looked after. We want to make sure they are happy in their work, therefore, giving their best to the trainees.

“That way trainees leave the establishment not only having gained a lot of skills, but so they are inspired to reach the same high standard as the instructors.”

The School of Armour was established during WW2 in 1941 at Puckapunyal.

“We have just celebrated our 62nd anniversary where about 300 veterans who served between 1926 and 1948 joined us.

“The school was formed because of the conflict in the desert but the focus turned towards the defence of Australia as the threat intensified.

“The school has been here ever since. It has been renovated significantly, however, the officers and sergeants mess is one of the original buildings. It has been renovated, too, but it still has the same creaky floorboards!

“The new buildings were officially opened by Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1985 and we even have a tier of their wedding cake in our museum.”

He says harnessing power with the School of Military Engineering, School of Artillery and School of Infantry, under the Combat Arms Training Centre is showing great dividends.

Cpl Jason Mackay is an instructor from the school’s Gunnery Wing and has been in the position since the beginning of the year.

“Before this I was a crew commander at 1 Armd Regt in Darwin,” he says.

“The course I am instructing on at the moment is the Crewman Specialist 105mm Gunnery Course, which enables trainees to load the main armament onto the APC.

“They must know all of the equipment inside the turret, observation equipment, ammunition and individual weapons fitted to the vehicle.”

Tpr Mark Turner is an IET on course at the school and says he is being posted to 1 Armd Regt on completion of his training.

“The course is about 10 weeks long,” he says.

“We have to complete a number of phases, including communications, loaders phase and driving and servicing.

“I didn’t really know much about the corps until I got here but the impression I get is that Armour is a very proud corps with a lot of tradition – I’m happy to be a part of it.

“The course has given me the basic skills but I’ll think I’ll learn a lot more on the job.”

.