Reservist finds a shortage of room

IT seems that one hears every day of the shortfall of personnel within the Army, and all sorts of schemes are thought up to retain and encourage soldiers to stay in.

I must say at this point I completed more than 21 years in the ARA.

I came back into the ARes in late 2005 and was employed in the actual job (TDWO) I left when I discharged from the Army in 1999.
I was amazed at how differently I was treated as a “choco”; it seems that if you are ARes you are less than an ARA soldier.

Since my return I have worked in several units, the latest being HQ 1 Div.

I normally do three days a week and, as I have to travel some 160km to get here, I have been allocated a room in the officers’ mess.

The accommodation is now to be demolished and I have been told that the only accommodation that can be offered is transit in “maybe the officers’ mess or maybe the ORs’ mess or not at all if not available”.

There is no allowance such as RA for ARes members.

I gave HQ 1 Div a commitment to do three days a week so I think the system could do better than offer “maybe accommodation”.
It appears ARes members do not count.
Capt Charles Clarke
HQ 1 Div
Gallipoli Barracks

Maj Pat Hay, SO2 Personnel Policy, DGPers-A
ADF service conditions are structured in such a way that entitlements applicable to those working full-time are, for various reasons, not always accessible to those working part time. This is the case with live-in accommodation.

ADF accommodation assistance is provided to offset the disability associated with the need to move location regularly or at short notice.

Such assistance is generally limited to the support of full-time personnel who are required, for service reasons, to move location on posting.

While accommodation assistance is also provided to part-time members who are required to live-in for operational or training reasons for short periods of time, extended access to accommodation assistance has not been provided for part-time workers because Reserve service has, historically, been regional in nature.

As a result, geographic stability rather than mobility has characterised most part-time service.

So it is not that ARes members do not count, but rather that your current circumstances are somewhat different to the majority of part-time workers for whom the service conditions were developed.

Clearly, as the nature of part-time work changes, the service conditions applicable to part-time work will also change.
But this cannot occur unless policy staff are advised of the requirement.

You appear to have been able to access accommodation up to this point, which demonstrates that a certain willingness to assist you exists at a local level.
It also appears from your letter that accommodation will be offered to you in accordance with the current priority system if it is available.

In the meantime, DGPers-A staff will contact the staff in the Personnel Executive with a view to re-examining the conditions of service as they currently apply to part-time members in the area of barracks accommodation.

The good old days

BACK in 1978 I was a brand new soldier in the ARA, my father-in-law at the time had just retired after 33 years service and he was full of stories of how we in the “new Army” had it so much easier than they did in his day.

I retired in 1998 because I felt that the Army had changed and things were not as I thought they should have been. Rather than complain I worked on the philosophy that their were no locks on the gate and if I wasn’t happy where I was it was time to move on.

I have just started to read Army again after nine years away and, guess what, there are still complaints about low pay, poor equipment, missed opportunities and the list goes on.

Well chaps and lassies, let me say that if you are enjoying your service stay in and make the most of it, if not, get out and experience what it is really like to be undervalued, work with second rate equipment and under second rate leaders.

I am too old now and my old body couldn’t handle the rigours of service life but how I wish I was young enough to get back into what is without doubt the most professional organisation in Australia.

It doesn’t matter how much you earn, it will never be enough, there will always be better equipment, you will always be smarter than your boss, but enjoy what you have – there will come a time you will remember these as the “good old days”, I assure you.
Ray Wombold
Ex-AACC, RACT and RAAOC
Brisbane, Queensland

TS07 thank you
WELL done to all participants in Exercise Talisman Saber 07 (TS07) for your outstanding effort and world-class performance.

TS07 was an excellent venue and train on high-end warfighting tasks while increasing our interoperability with the ADF.

Your commands did a superb job of maximising training at the Joint Task Force level down to the individual soldier, marine, sailor and airman.

We are very impressed with the professionalism your organisations demonstrated in the planning, coordination and execution of the largest Department of Defence exercise in 2007.
Well done and thank you.
Adm Timothy J Keating
Commander US Pacific Command