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
______________________________________________________________________________

The Hon Warren Snowdon places his head firmly in the sand, while Australian troops go into combat without appropriate health support

Below is the letter I have just received from Warren Snowdon, the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel. The Minister has been advised that the Department of Defence has conducted a full assessment of my concerns and has found no evidence of harassment or discrimination directed towards me, or other Specialist Service Officers.

This is passing strange, as Defence has consistently refused to abide by their own directives and investigate any of my strongly expressed concerns about the treatment of SSOs since 2008. In fact, they have done everything they can to stop me exposing the critical shortage of Medical Officers they have created through their misbehaviour. So it is certainly not possible for Defence to be advising the Minister they have conducted a full assessment of this matter. This is simply more of a cover-up of serious misbehaviour amongst senior officers in Defence.

Apparently, my written concerns, expressed consistently over the past four years, don't constitute evidence. Nor does the fact that the ADF is unable to provide health support to any of our deployed forces, and much of our garrisoned forces, provide any evidence of a problem.

The Minister goes on to say he is confident that these matters have been appropriately considered, while Australian troops on operations receive inadequate health support from civilians or other countries.

In my opinion, the Minister Snowdon must be grossly negligent or completely incompetent if he thinks these matters have been appropriately considered. At the very least, there is overwhelming evidence of a critical shortage of Medical Officers that has crippled the ADF. For an independent view, see my post publishing the Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal's Reasons for Decision published earlier.

This letter nicely illustrates the whole problem, and how dysfunctional the senior leadership of the ADF has become: A Medical Officer (me) tries very hard to bring these facts to them and help them fix the problem. They charge me with insubordination, lie to the Australian Government, and rely on a dim Minister to accept their false reassurances.

Don't they know truth will out?
_________________________________________________________________________