Three C's
New CDF says: ‘We need to treat our people with consideration, withcompassion and with care.’

By David Sibley

CDF ACM Angus Houston talks to Air Force newspaper.

Photo by LACW Kim Eager

AIR Chief Marshal Angus Houston has made looking after “our people” his top priority on becoming Chief of the Defence Force (CDF).

In his first interview with Air Force newspaper, Air Chief Marshal Houston, who assumed command on July 4, taking over from General Peter Cosgrove, repeated what he said to the media about the recent Senate inquiry into military justice.

“The Service Chiefs and I will not tolerate any form of abuse against our people,” he said.
The CDF said he held all ADF personnel in high regard.

“One of the things that has uplifted me in my time as a senior commander in the ADF is the sheer quality of our people,” he said.

“I go out and see people on operations from all three Services – the most recent example being the tsunami relief operations.

“What I saw were sailors, soldiers and airmen and women doing an absolutely magnificent job for Australia.

“I was really taken by their professionalism, their dedication and their compassion in very challenging circumstances.”

He said to maintain that level of performance Defence had to continue to look after all “our people”.

“I think we need to treat our people with consideration, with compassion and with care,” he said.

“Ninety-nine per cent of our people do that but occasionally we get circumstances where, for whatever reason, things go off the rails.”

He said that one of his earliest challenges, as CDF, would be to analyse the recommendations of the report into military justice.

“The Government will have to respond to the Senate on that and we need to provide the advice to inform how Government might respond,” he said.

All star-ranked officers had been directed to read the inquiry’s report and provide comments to himself and Rear Admiral Bonser, however, Defence had already responded to many issues raised by the Senate inquiry.

The CDF said he appreciated the efforts of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee and
remained open to suggestions to improve the military justice system.

He made a commitment to “work tirelessly” for the welfare of ADF personnel.

“I think it is very important to empower our people,” he said.

“One of the reasons we have done well on operations is because we’ve given the commander who’s been sent away to do the job the freedom to command and control in a very individual way ... that produces much better results than any other way of doing it.”

“... Everybody in the ADF deserves a fair go, everybody in the ADF deserves to be treated with respect and everybody in the ADF deserves the opportunity to go on to bigger and better things.”

Other key priorities for the CDF would be:

• continued excellence on operations;
  
• delivering the Defence Capability Plan, which is critical to our ability to sustain a balanced defence force by providing the right equipment, doctrine, training and support to our people;
  
• working with the Secretary of Defence, Ric Smith, to improve financial management by all Defence staff; and
  
• conducting a strategic review which will result in another Strategic Update. As with the 2003 Defence Update, this would complement the Defence 2000 White Paper.
  

Next issue: The full CDF interview

 

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