‘Match fit’: army recruit and officer training change
Australia’s chief of staff has announced changes will be made to the length of recruitment and officer training courses to ensure the service is “combat fit”.
In a speech about the state of the army profession at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on Wednesday evening, Lieutenant General Simon Stuart presented the findings of the review to the service commissioned in 2024.
Highlighting the challenges facing the Australian Army, he said “arbitrary time constraints” on training courses would be removed.
Lieutenant General Stuart said the recruitment course, which turns civilians into soldiers, currently lasts 13 weeks but will continue to expand in length and depth.
Following a trial, officer training at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, will be extended by a third with the next intake.
The Chief of Staff said the foundations being built “are not yet strong enough to bear the full weight of our profession.”
“We expect Australians to make the significant transition from citizenship to military service too quickly and without sufficient investment,” he said.
“I have instructed that these courses should be as numerous as necessary in order to establish the correct foundations of a profession fit for war.”
Lieutenant General Stuart said the change was neither a return to the past nor a step back.
“It is recognized that our young leaders must invest more time in the fundamentals of military command and leadership if they are to fulfill their obligations and duties to our mission and those they are privileged to lead,” he said.
Lieutenant General Stuart will soon resign as chief of staff and will be replaced by Joint Capabilities Chief Lt. Gen. Susan Coyle in July.
Announcing his appointment to senior ADF leadership positions, the federal government thanked Lieutenant General Stuart for his distinguished service and noted that he was the first chief of staff to begin his career as a soldier.
