Also, (sounds like an afterthought already), I'd like to urge anyone who reads this blog to make a contribution - tell your own story here. Email me at wahe@dodo.com.au

MORE ON THE DLAPIPER REVIEW AND RELATED ISSUES

Summed up, the foreword to Volume One of the DLA Piper Review speaks of history, tradition, pride, honour, bravery and unselfishness in the Defence forces. Then, just in case you didn’t get the message, loyalty and broad community confidence are added to the mix. We’re then told there have been enquiries in the past and that Defence supplied DLAPiper with details of these…And there’s the suggestion that it’s perfectly understandable that Defence was obstructive, hindering the process, apparently because it might – and it gets a touch vague on this point – ‘affect operational capability.’ You can bet your left bollock that it might also affect recruiting numbers if today’s young people are made aware of the presence of rapists among the higher ranks of the respective armed forces.

A couple of paragraphs in, we’re reminded that there were, are, victims involved in this process. There’s some genuine substance to follow, with the statement that the Defence Forces belong to the people and not to present or former members. Cool. I’m not sure, however, what operational excellence and ownership have to do with what was actually being investigated. I am reminded of one of  the major flaws in the RAPKE INQUIRY of 1971 which was that a basically phantom question was raised and, incredibly,  answered in the negative. That was: Did Leeuwin, JRTE, have some kind of initiation ceremony? I have no idea where that one sprang from but it seems to have been through a comparison with the Naval College. Shane Connolly was bashed by a gang of senior boys. In my understanding, no-one was questioning behaviour at the Naval College or the presence or otherwise, of initiation ceremonies at Leeuwin, but, it made for a nice, reassuring, judicial conclusion and subsequent headline. Rapke, when one reads the testimony of OD John White,  basically accuses White of bad-mouthing the navy through an accusation raised, purportedly by White, of ‘sadism’ on board HMAS Sydney. Okay, here we had a 16 year-old being questioned by a man experienced in both the navy and the law and Rapke lines White up, flooring him in the 8^th Round with a question about the meaning of sadism – not in its popular usage but its dictionary definition. Understandably, White struggles and Rapke almost taunts the young man, saying, not in as many words but in effect: ’You used a word you don’t know the meaning of  to blacken to reputation of the entire RAN.’ As I’ve said, this isn’t a precise reading of Rapke but it is fucking close.

Whatever else happens from now on, it is to be hoped that people aren’t subjected to cross-examination of the kind I’ve decribed above. I’d also like to remind the relevant powers-that-be that, in some of us, they are not dealing with children and young people any more. Some of us, at least, have grown up.

I’ll be working through  relevant detail from Volume One in the ensuing weeks.

I’m back. The more discerning among my handful of followers will probably have noticed this as soon as I began to write. Anyway…I’ll be dealing with the somewhat under-publicised release, a few months ago, of the DLAPiper Review Of, ‘Allegations of Sexual and other Abuse in Defence’. There are 1500+ pages to this document and I doubt that anyone has read all of them; I’ve perused a couple of hundred, including some of the appendices. One or two of these legal/literary afterthoughts merit some attention. The first of these is Appendix 15: LEGOLINGO –The Cadet’s Language. This vile document reveals the level of intellect and emotional maturity of our nation’s current and future military leaders. I won’t dwell on it because that would be a little like turning your car around on the highway to watch emergency personnel dealing with a fatal road accident…and take photos.

Second among the appendices I want to draw to your attention, is below: 

And so the redaction continues over several pages, blocking out the whole of Defence’s response. Does this look familiar to those of you who’ve read my piece on the events of 1971 – the excerpts from transcriptions of The Rapke Inquiry in particular? Only, this time we’re left entirely in the dark. You can read the transcript of the ABC’s programme on their 4 Corners website.

 As of the 10th of this month, due to the efforts of South Australian senator, Nick Xenophon, there’s to be an inquiry into the DLAPiper Review. A source trusted by me has described Piper as ‘a legal arm of Defence’. Apparently, several millions of dollars were paid to conduct the Review. Several hundred complainants have been left in the dark regarding their issues, with only generalised statements – not much more than hints -  being included in Stage One of the Review’s findings and broadcast publicly. Remember that a number of these complainants don’t have the comfort and support offered by family and friends. Some of these individuals have suffered, and go on suffering, as a direct result of their experiences in the various arms of the military. Some suffer to the extent that they’ve never been able to form lasting relationships or to hold down jobs; their capacity to trust has been effectively destroyed. Many have turned to hard drugs or the booze to ease the pain of isolation and alienation, to escape memories of what happened to them or to cope with semi-continuous anguish. What’s happening to them right now, today, isn’t helping. Personally, I doubt the effectiveness of the counselling services offered by the Dept. Of Defence, not because of what they have to offer professionally but because many people who need help don’t trust help from such a source.

DLAPiper’s Review did use Adams’ PIAMA 29 and the Rapke Inquiry transcriptions. I’ve already made my feelings on those documents clear. I don’t know whether the Review referred to any ex-JRs websites; I see none listed in the Review appendices however. If anyone out there has anything to say about their own treatment, or the treatment of other people that you feel might help restore balance to the image of  JRs life, email Senator Xenophon: senator.xenophon@aph.gov.au or Barry Heffernan of the Sth Australian branch of the Vietnam Veterans Welfare Assoc.: bhe60800@bigpond.net.au. Otherwise, contact the 7.30 Report.