 |
|
GOODBYE:
GEN Cosgrove made a dignified exit after 40 years service
to the nation, as he laid a wreath at the Australian War
Memorial.
|
|
Photo:
ABPH Kade Rogers
|
By
CPL Damian Shovell
In silence at the Australian War Memorial’s tomb of the Unknown
Soldier, outgoing CDF GEN Peter Cosgrove ended more than 40 years
of service to the nation by honouring those Australians who have
paid the supreme sacrifice during their service to Australia.
He stood beneath the domed ceiling in the Hall of Memory on July
1, and in one of his last acts as CDF, laid a wreath at the foot
of the Unknown Soldier’s grave.
Earlier that morning on the steps of Russell Offices, several
hundred ADF members had gathered in Canberra’s cold winter rain
to witness GEN Cosgrove pass the CDF ensign to ACM Angus Houston
– a symbolic gesture of the passage of command – and to listen
to his final public address.
“Forgive me today if from time to time I have to collect myself
before I speak,” he said.
“Because 40 years and five months of a remarkable adventure draws
to a close at midnight on Sunday, but in terms of wearing a uniform
and my attendance here at Russell, [it ends] effectively now.”
As the drizzle steadily soaked the assembly, GEN Cosgrove rained
his own thanks on to those who had supported him during his term
as CDF, and remarked on the amazing sense of teamwork within the
ADF. He thanked his team from the office of the CDF, and the senior
leadership team of the ADF.
“The team is second to none ... a matchless team that’s world
class. The ADF and the Australian people are extraordinarily lucky,”
he said. He also said ACM Houston “is a tremendous choice as CDF,”
and that he would take the ADF forward.
But he saved special praise for his family and gave credence to
the old saying that behind every great leader stands a great woman
when he thanked his wife, Lynne.
