Australia’s soldiers won praise for their skills from the Boer War to Vietnam but now their exclusion from frontline conflicts has left many “ashamed of wearing their uniform”, a senior army official said.

The nation’s much vaunted reputation for battlefield courage has been cast into doubt by its own army officers, who have complained that troops are being deliberately kept out of combat roles in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Under the headline “We were soldiers once”, Major Jim Hammett, who has served in Iraq, East Timor and Somalia, launched a scathing critique of the restrictions placed on foot soldiers. He wrote, in the Australian Army Journal, that the infantry were trained to fight, equipped to fight and expected to fight — in short, to do everything but actually fight on the front line. This had fostered an international perception of institutional cowardice.

“Many within its ranks suspect that the role of the infantry has already been consigned to history . . . the on going inaction [in Iraq] . . . has resulted in collective disdain and at times near contempt by personnel from other contributing nations,” he said.

Australia’s infantry, which accounts for a third of the army’s combat forces, have not been assigned a frontline role since the Vietnam War. Only the special forces were sent on offensive operations, he said. In contrast the US, Britain and Canada, which contribute most of the foreign troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, are sending infantry troops on combat operations.

No Australian troops have been killed in combat in Iraq since the invasion but five, mainly special forces commandos, have been killed in Afghanistan. More than 4,000 US soldiers have died in Iraq.

“The restrictions placed on deployed elements as a result of force protection and national policies have, at times, made infantrymen ashamed of wearing their Australian uniform,” Major Hammett wrote.

His views were backed by another officer, who wrote in a separate article that “second-rate operational tasks” had deflated infantry morale over the past ten years. Captain Greg Colton, second-in-command of the Sydney-based 3rd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, said non-commissioned and junior officers were beginning to question their purpose.

“There is a growing sense of frustration,” Captain Colton wrote. “The Government and army hierarchy seem to favour special forces for deliberate offensive operations and tasks,” he said.

Under the former conservative Government of John Howard, Australia committed about 500 special forces troops to the US-led invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq. Kevin Rudd, his Labor successor, came to power last year promising to withdraw all 550 troops from the south of Iraq.

Lieutenant General Peter Leahy, the head of the Australian Army, staunchly defended its deployment policies, saying that missions were assigned to the best people for the task. He was aware that many infantrymen wanted “a bit more of a go”, but they had to accept that the nature of warfare had changed. “This is no longer infantry wearing red jackets and white cross straps and taking on the army of another king,” he said.

Neil James, the executive director of the Australia Defence Association think-tank, said he suspected that it was fear of casualties, rather than operational necessity, that has resulted in the increased use of special forces.

Iraq war: 2003-08 Involved in the in the invasion of Iraq from its beginning. 500 frontline troops, all due to withdraw this year

Afghanistan war: 2001-08 Troops were first deployed in lat 2001. 300 special forces currently stationed (source: www.globalcollab.org)

Vietnam War: 1962-73 More than 46,000 served in Vietnam. Battle casuallties were 424 killed and 2,369 wounded, of whom 43 per cent were National Servicemen

Korean War: 1950-53 Navy, Army and Air Force, still with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan, were committed to the war in Korea. The total Australian casualties were 1,584, with 339 killed and 29 taken prisoner of war

Second World War: 1939-45 More than 993,000 served in the armed forces. Of those on active service, 27,073 were killed in action or died, 23,477 were wounded, and 30,560 were taken prisoner of war. 8,296 died in captivity

First World War: 1914-18 More than 330,000 AUstralians served overseas. Of these, nearly 60,000 died, 152,000 were wounded, and more than 4,000 were taken prisoner, of whom 395 died in captivity

Boer War: 1899-1902 More than 10,000 Australian soldiers sailed for South Africa to support British troops engaged in the war against the Boer settlers

(source: www.naa.gov.au)

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