‘SERVING THE REGIMENT’ BULLETIN OF THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN REGIMENT FOUNDATION ABN 31 055 902 433 Patron : Major General Michael Jeffery AC CVO MC (Retd) President : Major General B W Howard AO MC ESM (Retd) The Colonel Commandant of the Royal Australian Regiment GPO Box 3112 CANBERRA ACT 2601 Tel: 02 6265 9842 Fax: 02 6265 9842 Email: [email protected] www.rarfoundation.org.au Issue No. 27 , September 2009 Ptes Downey and Oyagawa with members of Timor-Leste National Police Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR) (photo courtesy 5RAR) RAR Foundation 1 CHAIRMAN ’S R EPORT Foundation has accepted the responsibility of inves t- ing and managing a percentage of 4RAR’s Regimen- In December last year the Foundation handed back to tal Funds. Likewise the Foundation is privileged to 8/9RAR the sum of $60,000, funds that had been be able to manage the ‘Colin East 4RAR Trust’ as the managed on behalf of the battalion since its disband- ‘Colin East Legacy.’ ment in 1997. During this period funds had increased, through interest, from $45,000 to $60,000. This sum Finally, we welcome Brigadier Mick Moon as Dep- was a large chunk out of our investments but I am uty Chairman of the Foundation while also recognis- pleased to report that through wise investment and a ing his other responsibilities as Regimental Colonel, recent mini-surge in new Life Governors we have Head of Corps and Commandant of the Royal Mili- recouped much of that decrease as reflected in the tary College of Australia. Financial Report. Nevertheless we need to keep this As always, Duty First mini-surge rolling to improve our capability to sup- port all of you serving in our Regiment and the ethos Adrian Clunies-Ross of the Regiment as a whole. Major General A Clunies-Ross, AO, MBE, (Retd) Chairman We have been accused by some of being an officers’ organisation. We are not but we do acknowledge that some officers and warrant officers, because of their previous leadership responsibilities and obligations plus their regimental pride, wish to remain useful to the Regiment and therefore volunteer to help admin- istratively where and when they can. One only needs to look at the list of our Life Governors/Regimental Supporters to see that now many are private soldiers, non commissioned officers and warrant officers. This year we have said farewell and good luck to David Clinch who has been our most helpful and wise Office-Manager for more than a decade and say 2RAR’s Ptes Glen Collins, Cameron Robinson and Nyugen ‘hello and welcome’ to Ms Angela Kirkland (the Ronald on patrol in Dili as part of Battle Group VI daughter of our inaugural honorary secretary Peter D’Arcy) as our new Office Manager. While David is BOARD OF D IRECTORS now officially an Office Volunteer his support in the SEPTEMBER 2009 transition period of handover is invaluable. Chairman: Maj Gen A Clunies-Ross, AO, MBE, The more support we get from the serving members (Retd); Deputy Chairman; Brig M J Moon, DSC, of the Regiment the more useful we can be to those AM; Secretary: Brig J Essex-Clark, DSM, (Retd); of the Regiment that need some modest financial help Treasurer: Capt I B Smith (Retd); Directors: Brig F K in a time of crisis caused by them serving the nation. Cole, AM, (Retd); Brig J A Sheldrick, OAM, (Retd); We, as a charitable and patriotic institution, have Mr K M Kipping, AM; WO S C Ward OAM, RSM government permission to allow your donations to be of the Army; Brig C G Appleton CSC; Col A G claimed as tax deductions. We have also, through the Findlay, AM; Lt Col C A Johnston; WO1 K J Woods, Defence Pay system, now made it easier for you to CSC OAM; Associate Director: Col D V Goldsmith, join us and donate electronically. The way in which ED, (Retd). this can be achieved is addressed later in the Bulletin. MANAGEMENT O RGANISATION Elsewhere in the Bulletin we describe the loss of 4RAR as a formed unit within the Regiment and the John Essex-Clark-Secretary creation of 2 Commando Regiment in its stead. Ian Smith-Treasurer Though we at the Foundation were disappointed at Angela Kirkland-Office Manager this loss we ask that 2 Commando Regiment accept Colin Swinbourn-Unit Liaison our warmest wishes in its vital role within Special David Clinch-Office Volunteer Forces Command. Bert Hoebee-Special Projects Michael Carroll-Bulletin Editor Against the possibility that 4RAR be again raised, the RAR Foundation 2 COLONEL C OMMANDANT ’S F UNDING mental music CD and the winner’s certificate. On APPEAL behalf of his Commanding Officer and his battalion he also accepted the Unit Perpetual Trophy. Last year, on becoming Colonel Commandant of the Regiment, I reviewed the objectives of the Founda- All the other nominees were sent a special certificate tion and its financial position. In last year’s Bulletin to be presented to them by their Commanding Offi- I encouraged those serving within the Regiment and cers. those who had retired, particularly Life Governors, to consider making a special donation in order that A synopsis of Cpl Majewski’s citation reads: we could maintain financial viability, strength and value to the Regiment. ‘Cpl Majewski as a section commander of C Coy 2RAR deployed to Afghanistan late 2007 to early 2008 as part of That appeal met with limited success. I therefore Reconstruction Tank Force 3. His physical toughness and reiterate my appeal to you to consider a contribution, mental resilience were evident in the manner in which he again tax deductible, beyond that which you have conducted himself and imparted his knowledge, drive and already made. I also ask that those in authority self confidence to his subordinates, attributes that would normally come only after years of experience, both in pre- spread the word regarding the existence of the Foun- paratory training in Australia and once overseas. dation and encourage those under your command to seriously consider joining the Foundation. In operations Cpl Majewski continued to lead by example while ably assisting in mission planning at section, and With many thanks, platoon level. On one occasion when the enemy situation BW Howard was far from clear, he was tasked to move ahead of the Major General B. W. Howard AO, MC, ESM (Retd) platoon in an effort to cut off potentially advancing Tali- Colonel Commandant RAR ban forces in order to clear, occupy and defend a building of tactical importance. He successfully led the assault of several key locations allowing the platoon to manoeuvre HASSETT A WARD FOR L EADERSHIP behind him. The nominees for the Hassett Award for the best jun- The following evening while under fire Cpl Majewski dis- ior leader in the Regiment in 2008 were: played excellent presence of mind as well as decisive com- 1RAR-Cpl T T Toon mand enabling his section to accurately return fire, relay 2RAR-Cpl P J Majewski information to higher command and allow accurate indi- 3RAR-Cpl S E Volkofsky rect fire support to suppress the enemy. During the subse- 4RAR-Cpl R B Dubbels quent battlefield clearance Cpl Majewski’s section led the 5RAR-Cpl A Collins platoon on a silent approach to the target buildings where subsequent searches recovered Taliban weapons . 6RAR–Cpl M J Randall 7 RAR-Cpl S L Majewski While deployed on operations in Afghanistan 8/9RAR-Cpl S J Hart, and from Cpl Majewski devoted much of his free time to assisting School of Infantry-Cpl B N Foster his soldiers to improve their understanding of minor tac- tics, the operational environment and its cultural nuances. The assessors were: our Colonel Commandant, Ma- He markedly encouraged his section to use their initiative jor General Hori Howard; Chairman of the Founda- and continually improve their application of infantry tac- tion, Major General Adrian Clunies-Ross; the Regi- tics. His leadership qualities were such that that he was mental Colonel, then Brigadier Mark Bornholt; and the natural choice as platoon sergeant when the incum- the Foundation Secretary, Brigadier John Essex- bent filled the CSM role. Clark. All eight citations were again outstanding as Cpl Majewski has proven himself to be an outstanding they have been for the previous years. It was difficult junior leader during mission rehearsals training, on com- selecting the best but finally the most outstanding bat operations and in training 2RAR soldiers as recon- was agreed to be Cpl Peter J Majewski of 2RAR. naissance patrolmen over the past 18 months. He shows tremendous potential for the future and he would compete He, as a guest, attended the Foundation Annual Din- with the very best of his peers.’ ner at the Royal Military College Officers’ Mess, Canberra where he was presented with the Award by FINANCIAL R EPORT the Hon Dr Mike Kelly, AM MP the Federal Parlia- mentary Secretary for Defence Support (see photo- We have again this year decided to reduce the finan- graph page 4). The award comprised a copy of the cial detail normally provided in the interests of giv- biography of General Sir Frank Hassett; the Regi- ing as much space as possible to unit correspondents. RAR Foundation 3 In a nutshell the Foundation’s financial position is as The camaraderie and bonhomie between the old and follows: bold and the young and fresh, was magical and un- • Assets at the end of last year totalled $270,000 forgettable. We hope for the same at the Duntroon following the distribution of $60,000 to Officers’ Mess in 2009 . 8/9RAR; • Assets now stand at $309,000.