Sitting in Lang Park, watching the cream of the pipe and drums crop skirl their way around the grounds, Private Harmiora Rei was living out a childhood dream.

The visit to the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo finished a week‑long activity for Townsville-based soldiers from Lavarack Barracks' 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), Pipes and Drums as part of Exercise Itchy Fingers, from February 9 to 14.

Private Rei, a rifleman now posted to the 3RAR Pipes and Drums, grew up surrounded by music. 

Family members played in the Hornsby Pipe Band in Sydney, and his uncle served as a drummer in the 3RAR Pipes and Drums during the 1980s.

Private Rei performed as a heavy-metal guitarist before joining the Army in 2023, following a long line of family service, and revelled in his infantry role.

“Banging it in, in the back of M113s and doing stop drops in a live-fire scenario, letting off HE at tank targets is an absolute blast and you will not find that anywhere else,” Private Rei said.

After two years in rifle companies, he moved into the pipes and drums section, encouraged by drum major Sergeant Connor Dawson, who had worked with Private Rei’s brother. 

Sergeant Dawson has led 3RAR’s Pipes and Drums since 2021 and said the exercise was an opportunity to work with other unit bands and attend the Tattoo.

'As an old Scot veteran once said to me, "What good is an infantry unit if it doesn't have its pipes?" You can't just have warfighters. You need to have a culture behind it as well.'

The group stopped at the Rockhampton RSL to play for about 30 veterans, including Korean War and Vietnam-era 3RAR members.

The workshops at Gallipoli Barracks focused on upskilling junior 8th/9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, players, as many of their senior members were away. 

Bands shared methods, including sight reading, pipe flourishes and full song performances over two days.

Attending the Tattoo as a spectator, Private Rei said seeing the performers he had grown up watching, including the Black Watch and Top Secret Drum Corps, left an impression. 

“I'm still in awe that I got to witness it. It left me speechless. It makes you want to go and play,” Private Rei said.

As a Maori soldier, he was also proud to see New Zealand cultural performers and the New Zealand Defence Force Band.

He said collaboration between military bands should happen more often and believed activities such as Exercise Itchy Fingers helped strengthen connections across units.

A highlight was meeting the world-renowned Scots Guard pipe band from 3RAR’s sister battalion in the British Army.

According to Sergeant Dawson, who was born in Scotland and moved to Australia as a child, the pipes and drums in the Royal Australian Regiment bring unit cohesion and morale. 

“As an old Scot veteran once said to me, ‘What good is an infantry unit if it doesn't have its pipes?’ You can't just have warfighters. You need to have a culture behind it as well,” Sergeant Dawson said.

“I think if we lose things like that, we start to lose our identity, and when we lose our identity, we move away from being soldiers to just being workers.”