The mountaineer
Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston defines his career as taking challenges head-on, one step at a time. In his first interview since taking command as CDF, he spoke with David Sibley about what drives him and what he faces over the next three years.

‘I will work tirelessly for the welfare of the people.’

On top of Mt Wilhelm, Papua New Guinea’s highest point, 4509m,in 1984.

Photo by LAC Mark McConnell

Soaked to the skin but happy after cross-country skiing to Mt Jagungal in the Snowy Mountains in 1991.

During a cross-country skiing tour in the High Rockies, in 1982.

Running in the 1983 Inter-Service Triathlon championship at Lake Mogerah. The Air Force team won.

Photos provided by Liz Houston

Interview photos by LACWKim Eager

The Tidbinbilla and Brindabella mountains crouch on the western horizon of Canberra; a tangle of ridges and valleys in clear view from the windows in Defence Headquarters’ top floors.

From his office, the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) can see and name the peaks that mark the border of the ACT and NSW.

It’s a sight that gives Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston a measure of relaxation and reflection as he gets to grips with the demands of commanding the ADF.

For the CDF cannot only name the peaks but has climbed to the summit of each one.
Out of uniform and out of the office, there’s nothing he loves more than to lace up his hiking boots, pack a rucksack and head for the hills.

In another life, the CDF could possibly have been a mountaineer – like the conqueror of Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary, he’s a tall (196cm [6 feet, 5 inches]), rangy, outdoors man.

To continue the metaphor, he’s climbed many mountains since he enlisted in 1970 as a cadet pilot to fly helicopters.

“If there’s a mountain there, it’s a challenge and I like a challenge,” he says.

“... A lot of small steps eventually get you there and when you get there you get a sense of achievement and, with a bit of luck, a most spectacular view of the surrounding area.

“I’ve always enjoyed that and I still do.”

Not surprisingly, given a career of 35 years, which has taken him, his wife Liz and three sons around Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the US, the Air Chief Marshal has not had the time to join Defence’s premier climbing and mountaineering club, the Army Alpine Association.

“Although I used ropes very occasionally, I just like walking,” he says.

“I like tramping up or walking up a mountain – that means it does fill the requirement.”

The highest point to which he has tramped is Mt Wilhelm, Papua New Guinea’s highest point at 4509m (14,793 feet).
(For the record, given altitudes, the highest he has flown to is 15,240m [50,000 feet].)

The CDF doesn’t resile from his love of the challenge of climbing mountains, one step at a time, being used as a metaphor for his career.

“Certainly every job that I’ve ever had had its challenges and the best way to confront those challenges is to take them head on,’ he says.

“Usually they take a period of time to resolve and it’s really taking one step at a time, one day at a time, one week at a time.

“That’s the best way to confront any challenge and if you do that, you’ll always get there.”

Having reached his latest career peak, the CDF could relax and enjoy the view until 2008 – but that’s not going to happen.

Unlike his charismatic predecessor, General Peter Cosgrove, who could seemingly produce appropriate sound bites for interviews without pause, the CDF weighs his words with thought and care.

During this interview, he often paused at the beginning of each question and, while answering, would turn and look out on the distant mountains while he put his thoughts into formation.

“I see myself as still climbing,” he says. “... I think the analogy is I’ve got three years and there will be challenges and I’ll take it all one day at a time.”

So what are the new heights to be surmounted by the CDF?

An obvious challenge is to maintain the ADF’s operational excellence and responsiveness to the Government’s requirements while acknowledging the human dimension to several years of high operational tempo.

“Look at the performance of the ADF over the last three years – I think it’s a great testimony to the people of the ADF and to General Cosgrove in terms of how well we’ve done,” he says.

“I think there are parts of the ADF ... who’ve been stretched, capabilities that have perhaps been stretched.

“Our health professionals, our communicators, our air transport people specifically, and a number of other areas have basically been going to deployments almost continuously now for a number of years.

“So, we can handle it but we are asking a lot of those people. I must say they’ve done a great job, they’re very dedicated and they continue to meet the requirements.

During the interview, the word “people” is a key element, especially when linked with “our” – already the first major issue before the CDF is to provide advice to the Government on its response to the recent Senate military justice inquiry.

Given the expectations of the inquiry that its recommendations should result in significant cultural change inside the ADF, the CDF directed that all star-ranked officers read the inquiry’s report and respond directly to him.

“In terms of the next thing that is vitally important – I’ve spoken a fair bit about our people, how much they’ve impressed me, well, if you want that sort of performance, you’ve got to continue to look after the people,” he says.

“So I will work tirelessly for the welfare of the people. I think it’s very important that we empower our people.”
As an example, he uses directive control where the commander of an operation is given the freedom to command and control in a very individual way.

“You give him or her a broad directive and then he or she gets on with it. That produces much better results than any other way of doing it,” he says.

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

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

At this point during the interview, the CDF paused and then, with a direct gaze, continued:

“I just want to indicate I have a low tolerance level for any form of abuse against our people. Everybody in the ADF deserves a fair go, everybody needs to be treated with respect and everybody deserves the opportunity to basically go and do bigger and better things.”

Another challenge is to ensure that new capabilities to be introduced, such as the Air Warfare Destroyer and the Abrams tank, will take into account the human factor.

“Of course, the equipment is not as important as our people are in making that equipment work to its best effect,” he says.

“The emphasis must always be on the people to make sure they get the right training and be at the capacity to be able to develop the equipment to give us the best capability effect.”

This is where the Air Chief Marshal’s reputation for deep strategic thinking comes to the fore.

He is passionate about the personnel issues confronting Defence, speaking publicly as Chief of Air Force and as CDF-designate about the challenges facing Australia because of an ageing population and a declining skill base.

“We’ve got challenges in terms of recruitment, retention,” he says.

“...We are not isolated from the Australian community and it’s clear out there at the moment there’s a skills shortage in Australia and the demographics of an ageing population will come into play in the future.”

With these challenges confronting him, the CDF is serious and focused but there’s an understated, dry sense of humour lurking behind the gravitas and the celebrity now associated with being General Cosgrove’s successor.
Not surprisingly, he doesn’t see himself and nor does he expect to be treated as a “celebrity”.

“I would like to be seen as somebody who is professional, caring, compassionate and focused on delivering the outcomes required of the ADF and as somebody who always really cared about the people of the ADF,” he says.

During the interview, one thing is clear; the Air Chief Marshal is passionate about “our” people and the country they represent and defend, returning to the two metaphors – challenges and mountains – which may well define his term as CDF.

“I am passionate about this wonderful land called Australia; I am passionate about the wonderful nation called Australia,” he says.

“I’m very passionate about Australian people. I never ceased to be amazed about the way Australian people find a challenge, either individually or collectively, and it doesn’t matter how big the mountain, they get in there, they meet the challenge.”

Playing ruck or lock at pace
The CDF talks about...

"Three C's" (from Air Force News' previous edition on Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston)

TOP

 

 

 

 

.