Too few Injuns

Brigadier Jim Wallace suggests sending the army’s 3^rd Brigade to restore peace in the Solomon Islands (Too little, too late... 1 July 2003). This may be is a fine idea, but the army does not actually have any brigades. The army does have nine brigade headquarters. It also has over thirty-five brigadiers. But there are simply too few trained troops to furnish anything but a modest ground force. There are only five full-time infantry battalions in the entire army; all under strength and lacking support elements. The solitary battalion that is deployed to East Timor is only sustained by stripping personal from other units and filling it out with reservists. The proposed contingent or 150 infantry for the Solomon Islands is about all the army could provide.

Published in the Age, 3 July 2003

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