ASPEN Medical Group have a nice website outlining their provision of health support to our deployed forces.
It can be found here for East Timor and here for the Solomon Islands.
Providing civilian health support to armed troops on operations is clearly inappropriate and speaks volumes as to the lack of care by the senior leadership and the CDF of the ADF for Australian troops. Civilians are limited to working only in areas in which it is safe for them to do so.
The irony is that the civilian health support cannot provide health care when they most need to, at conflict sites. While Australian troops are taking injuries, civilian doctors and nurses who are not trained, armed or equipped for combat cannot be expected to enter a dangerous area to assess, treat and transport injured troops.
Uniformed Medical and Nursing Officers are trained, armed and equipped to provide health care in combat situations. It is a pity the ADF cannot address the toxic culture of discrimination directed towards their health professionals in order to retain their services.
Dr Julian Fidge
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Ordered to shut down this blog!
My Commanding Officer, LTCOL Laureen Grimes, has ordered me to shut down this blog. Her letter to me can be found here .
I have elected not to oblige LTCOL Grimes, as I remain convinced that despite the tensions that might arise, the publication of these documents are overwhelmingly in the public interest. And the best way to prove their veracity is to publish the signed document where it is available.
I accept that officers who have behaved poorly are embarassed by the publication of the these documents. But I am motived by protecting Australia, Australian troops and improving the capability of the ADF. I have no idea what motivates senior officers of the ADF, but it seems to be mainly the vested interests of their colleagues, not the defence of Australia.
As I write, officers like LTCOL Grimes continue to discriminate against Specialist Service Officers - the doctors, dentists and nurses, and these officers leave the ADF. We are all very busy professionals, we don't have time to waste on fools and we won't be treated like dirt.
The end result of LTCOL Grimes' actions, and the actions of other senior officers of the ADF is that Australian troops are not able to be provided with appropriate health support. No ADFpersonnel deployed on operations anywhere in the world are supported by ADF health units, as there are simply not enough doctors, nurses and dentists left in the ADF!
I note also that despite having been suspended and investigated since December 2010 for essentially the same behaviour, Brigadier Robert Marsh, the Commander of 4th Brigade, has not yet charged me with anything. I strongly doubt that I am committing any offence against the Defence Force Discipline Act or any other law by publishing this blog, otherwise I am sure that 8 months later I would have been charged.
I am quietly confident that any judge would accept that I have exhausted all ADF avenues, including the Inspector General ADF and the Commonwealth Ombudsman without having my concerns properly investigated and that a blog like this is the least any responsible citizen would provide in an effort to promote improvement in the ADF.
The ADF would, of course, like to conceal their lack of leadership. I was hoping the new CDF would be more concerned about Australian troops and Australian interests than looking after his mates. Disappointingly, it appears to be business as usual.
Julian
I have elected not to oblige LTCOL Grimes, as I remain convinced that despite the tensions that might arise, the publication of these documents are overwhelmingly in the public interest. And the best way to prove their veracity is to publish the signed document where it is available.
I accept that officers who have behaved poorly are embarassed by the publication of the these documents. But I am motived by protecting Australia, Australian troops and improving the capability of the ADF. I have no idea what motivates senior officers of the ADF, but it seems to be mainly the vested interests of their colleagues, not the defence of Australia.
As I write, officers like LTCOL Grimes continue to discriminate against Specialist Service Officers - the doctors, dentists and nurses, and these officers leave the ADF. We are all very busy professionals, we don't have time to waste on fools and we won't be treated like dirt.
The end result of LTCOL Grimes' actions, and the actions of other senior officers of the ADF is that Australian troops are not able to be provided with appropriate health support. No ADFpersonnel deployed on operations anywhere in the world are supported by ADF health units, as there are simply not enough doctors, nurses and dentists left in the ADF!
I note also that despite having been suspended and investigated since December 2010 for essentially the same behaviour, Brigadier Robert Marsh, the Commander of 4th Brigade, has not yet charged me with anything. I strongly doubt that I am committing any offence against the Defence Force Discipline Act or any other law by publishing this blog, otherwise I am sure that 8 months later I would have been charged.
I am quietly confident that any judge would accept that I have exhausted all ADF avenues, including the Inspector General ADF and the Commonwealth Ombudsman without having my concerns properly investigated and that a blog like this is the least any responsible citizen would provide in an effort to promote improvement in the ADF.
The ADF would, of course, like to conceal their lack of leadership. I was hoping the new CDF would be more concerned about Australian troops and Australian interests than looking after his mates. Disappointingly, it appears to be business as usual.
Julian
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Another failed court martial by the ADF
Below is the Notice of my directions hearing, where my court martial was vacated by the Judge Advocate.
Thank goodness someone has a clue in the Military Justice System. What was Colonel Cameron thinking when he convened a General Court Martial for insubordination?
As it turned out, 8 of the 12 charges were withdrawn, and the remaining 4 were changed anyway.
Your taxes at work...
Thank goodness someone has a clue in the Military Justice System. What was Colonel Cameron thinking when he convened a General Court Martial for insubordination?
As it turned out, 8 of the 12 charges were withdrawn, and the remaining 4 were changed anyway.
Your taxes at work...
The Australian Defence Force Investigative Service
You may remember this ADF version of the Keystone Cops from the recent ADFA Skypegate debacle, when the ADFIS "investigated" the cadets involved in broadcasting the intercourse between two ADFA cadets. Until it got away from the ADFIS, there was no case to answer, and it was the typical ADF response to these matters: the woman's behaviour was wrong and she was vilified by the hierarchy of the ADFA. In contrast, the boys who had committed several sins against a fellow officer cadet were simply told to get back to work.
As you know, ADFIS are clueless, and the boys were eventually charged with a number of offences.
Here is my personal experience with ADFIS:
After writing a formal and polite letter to Brigadier Michael Arnold he charged me with insubordination. He then set up a kangaroo court with one of his infantry commanders, Lieutenant Colonel Laidlow, who had the good sense not to proceed to hear the trial when I pointed out the complainent was his immediate superior. When I did eventually stand trial, an alternative CO tossed the whole thing out when he read the letter. His reasons were "There is nothing insubordinate, insulting or prejudicial to good discipline in the ADF in this letter".
But not ADFIS! This is what Warrant Officer Kealy-Bateman found:
As you know, ADFIS are clueless, and the boys were eventually charged with a number of offences.
Here is my personal experience with ADFIS:
After writing a formal and polite letter to Brigadier Michael Arnold he charged me with insubordination. He then set up a kangaroo court with one of his infantry commanders, Lieutenant Colonel Laidlow, who had the good sense not to proceed to hear the trial when I pointed out the complainent was his immediate superior. When I did eventually stand trial, an alternative CO tossed the whole thing out when he read the letter. His reasons were "There is nothing insubordinate, insulting or prejudicial to good discipline in the ADF in this letter".
But not ADFIS! This is what Warrant Officer Kealy-Bateman found:
The letter I wrote to Brigadier Arnold can be found here.
Meanwhile, Australian troops continue to have whatever health support anyone else can provide when Brigadier Arnold sends them overseas on operations.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
How Brigadier Arnold stopped the investigation of my complaint of unacceptable behaviour in the ADF
When the ADF or the Minister for Defence says they are going to have an inquiry, most people would expect they would gather as much information as possible in order to make the best decision.
But what actually happens is that the Terms of Reference for an inquiry of usually limited so that nothing will be uncovered that reflects badly on Defence or the Minister for Defence.
For example, read through the TOR for my complaint. There are more things excluded than included.
As a result of poor leadership like this, the ADF is now unable to provide health support for any of our forces serving overseas. In Afghanistan, medical support was provided by the Dutch and now the US. In East Timor and the Solomon Islands, it is provided by a civilian group, ASPEN Medical Services.
Civilian health support is not as good as uniformed health support. And when the situation becomes unstable, the civilians must leave. Then the troops have no health support.
Terms of Reference of the ADF inquiry into my complaint of unacceptable behaviour.
But what actually happens is that the Terms of Reference for an inquiry of usually limited so that nothing will be uncovered that reflects badly on Defence or the Minister for Defence.
For example, read through the TOR for my complaint. There are more things excluded than included.
As a result of poor leadership like this, the ADF is now unable to provide health support for any of our forces serving overseas. In Afghanistan, medical support was provided by the Dutch and now the US. In East Timor and the Solomon Islands, it is provided by a civilian group, ASPEN Medical Services.
Civilian health support is not as good as uniformed health support. And when the situation becomes unstable, the civilians must leave. Then the troops have no health support.
Terms of Reference of the ADF inquiry into my complaint of unacceptable behaviour.
2008 Redress of Grievance about Unacceptable Behaviour in the ADF
This is a slightly edited copy of the complaint I made about unacceptable behaviour in my unit, 4 Combat Service Support Battalion, in 2008.
Brigadier Arnold, then the Commander of 4 Brigade, refused to investigate most of this complaint. See his Terms of Reference in a later blog entry to see how the ADF sweeps matters under the carpet.
2008 Redress of Grievance about Unacceptable Behaviour in Defence
Brigadier Arnold, then the Commander of 4 Brigade, refused to investigate most of this complaint. See his Terms of Reference in a later blog entry to see how the ADF sweeps matters under the carpet.
2008 Redress of Grievance about Unacceptable Behaviour in Defence
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Colonel Commandant A.P. Adams discriminates against Specialist Service Officers
I was told yesterday that the officer hearing the charges against me is Colonel Adams, the fellow who is in charge of one of the army training institutions that fosters discrimination and actively discriminates against Specialist Service Officers. I have been on course there and been interviewed by the senior instructors, including the commanding officer, for protesting about the behaviour of the General Service Officers towards their Specialist Service Officer colleagues.
Let me give you an example.
On my last course, these particularly dim GSOs asked me about the siting of field hospitals. Having worked in the Rwandan emergency in 1994/94 and Baragwaneth Hospital in South Africa, I have a strong working knowledge of this sort of question. So I told them what was required, and they dismissed my opinion because I "hadn't worked on brigade staff". I told them to get stuffed.
Their arrogance and ignorance became apparent to all shortly afterwards. These halfwits went on to present to our supervisor, on behalf of our group, without consultation with any of the subject matter experts (doctors or nurses), that they needed 834 (yes, eight hundred and thirty four) emergency medical teams for a medium sized operation in a relatively quite area. In fact, we only needed three.
Despite obvious proof that these GSOs were performing very poorly and not taking any notice of the subject matter experts in their group, I was interviewed by the Senior Instructor, a Major and then by the Chief Instructor, a Lieutenant Colonel, for arguing with these very sensitive GSOs. Both the SI and the CI failed to appreciate the dysfunctional environment of their school, and I was unfairly criticised in my course report.
Finally, ALTC and Colonel Adams have a policy of not using Specialist Service Officers as instructors, only General Service Officers. Obviously this is discriminatory. But more than that, it means that our officers are deliberately being trained by second-rate instructors. The Specialist Service Officers are, by virtue of their appointment, very highly educated and trained. I do not mean to infer that SSOs can teach everything, but to have a policy which excludes them means our army is not as well trained as it could be. We should always use our best instructors wherever and whenever possible, not deliberately exclude them!
Colonel Adams discriminates against Specialist Service Officer and fosters an environment in which we are undermined, belittled and harassed. His is obviously biased and cannot be impartial in a matter like this, where my complaints about discrimination against SSOs are being treated as insubordination.
This is merely futher abuse of the Military Justice System and another kangaroo court set up to stop me drawing attention to the lack of health support for our troops. I have no doubt Colonel Adams will find me guilty of everything, regardless of the evidence put to him, and that these proceedings will be used to discharge me from the ADF.
_________________________________________________________________________
Hello Sir,
FYI, the Superior Summary Authority (SUPSA) for the proceedings is COL A.P. Adams CSM, Commandant. Mailing address is:
Colonel A.P. Adams
Commandant
Army Logistics Training Centre
Gaza Ridge Barracks - South
MILPO
BANDIANA VIC 3694
Legal Representation: When you request approval to use a legal officer as your defending officer, I request you provide me with a copy of your request. To assist with the process please see attached and extract below from DLM:
Legal officers as defending officers
7.313 An accused person may wish to have a legal officer as a defending officer. In such circumstances, the accused person should be made aware that additional limitations will apply. Importantly, there is no entitlement to be represented by a legal officer at proceedings before a SUBSA. A legal officer may only appear as a defending officer before a CO or SUPSA if the requested officer is ‘reasonably available’ and leave is granted by the summary authority.295
7.314
Guidance on applications for legal representation and the factors that may be considered by a summary authority in deciding whether or not to grant leave for legal representation is provided above. [End extract]
Dates: The dates for the proceedings will be 30 Apr and 01 May 11.
Location: Simpson Barracks.
Further details: An instruction outlining key administrative, rations, accommodation details will be released in due course.
Sir, request you ack receipt of this email please.
Kind regards
RSM
______________________________________________________________________________
Let me give you an example.
On my last course, these particularly dim GSOs asked me about the siting of field hospitals. Having worked in the Rwandan emergency in 1994/94 and Baragwaneth Hospital in South Africa, I have a strong working knowledge of this sort of question. So I told them what was required, and they dismissed my opinion because I "hadn't worked on brigade staff". I told them to get stuffed.
Their arrogance and ignorance became apparent to all shortly afterwards. These halfwits went on to present to our supervisor, on behalf of our group, without consultation with any of the subject matter experts (doctors or nurses), that they needed 834 (yes, eight hundred and thirty four) emergency medical teams for a medium sized operation in a relatively quite area. In fact, we only needed three.
Despite obvious proof that these GSOs were performing very poorly and not taking any notice of the subject matter experts in their group, I was interviewed by the Senior Instructor, a Major and then by the Chief Instructor, a Lieutenant Colonel, for arguing with these very sensitive GSOs. Both the SI and the CI failed to appreciate the dysfunctional environment of their school, and I was unfairly criticised in my course report.
Finally, ALTC and Colonel Adams have a policy of not using Specialist Service Officers as instructors, only General Service Officers. Obviously this is discriminatory. But more than that, it means that our officers are deliberately being trained by second-rate instructors. The Specialist Service Officers are, by virtue of their appointment, very highly educated and trained. I do not mean to infer that SSOs can teach everything, but to have a policy which excludes them means our army is not as well trained as it could be. We should always use our best instructors wherever and whenever possible, not deliberately exclude them!
Colonel Adams discriminates against Specialist Service Officer and fosters an environment in which we are undermined, belittled and harassed. His is obviously biased and cannot be impartial in a matter like this, where my complaints about discrimination against SSOs are being treated as insubordination.
This is merely futher abuse of the Military Justice System and another kangaroo court set up to stop me drawing attention to the lack of health support for our troops. I have no doubt Colonel Adams will find me guilty of everything, regardless of the evidence put to him, and that these proceedings will be used to discharge me from the ADF.
_________________________________________________________________________
Hello Sir,
FYI, the Superior Summary Authority (SUPSA) for the proceedings is COL A.P. Adams CSM, Commandant. Mailing address is:
Colonel A.P. Adams
Commandant
Army Logistics Training Centre
Gaza Ridge Barracks - South
MILPO
BANDIANA VIC 3694
Legal Representation: When you request approval to use a legal officer as your defending officer, I request you provide me with a copy of your request. To assist with the process please see attached and extract below from DLM:
Legal officers as defending officers
7.313 An accused person may wish to have a legal officer as a defending officer. In such circumstances, the accused person should be made aware that additional limitations will apply. Importantly, there is no entitlement to be represented by a legal officer at proceedings before a SUBSA. A legal officer may only appear as a defending officer before a CO or SUPSA if the requested officer is ‘reasonably available’ and leave is granted by the summary authority.295
7.314
Guidance on applications for legal representation and the factors that may be considered by a summary authority in deciding whether or not to grant leave for legal representation is provided above. [End extract]
Dates: The dates for the proceedings will be 30 Apr and 01 May 11.
Location: Simpson Barracks.
Further details: An instruction outlining key administrative, rations, accommodation details will be released in due course.
Sir, request you ack receipt of this email please.
Kind regards
RSM
______________________________________________________________________________
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