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| RACO BDC 2017 |

Lt Tom Quigley – Air cancies now exist throughout the organisation. The con-
Corps Committee.
tinued failure by the Department of Defence to recognise
full time appointments of Lieutenants and Captains Over-
seas and Commandant’s on full time professional devel-
opment courses denies operational units these essential
and experienced staff on a permanent basis. Failure by the
Department of Defence to sanction the filling of vacancies
through promotion, where officers are on secondment or
leave of absence, in contrast to other Public Sectors, ad-
ditionally constrains the Defence Forces from the effective
HR manning of operational units.
Most significantly, there was a widespread concern among
the focus groups that the loss of experience/corporate
knowledge is reaching a critical point and is already af-
fecting operational readiness/capability,” added Lt Col
Naughton.

He then highlighted some examples of this:
The positives reflect the continued and strong commitment Battalion Staffing Level: One of our delegates, a recently
of personnel to what the Defence Forces stand for, pride commissioned Second Lieutenant noted that in his bat-
in the uniform and the unique comradery of the soldiering talion which should have a staff of 25 officers, the cur-
profession. Where ability to focus on fitness was seen as rent strength is five, the unit commander, a Lt Col, 1 Com-
a positive in addition to the opportunity to serve overseas, mandant and three Second Lieutenants. Risk, effective
family friendly policies and work life balance emerged neg- governance and operational capability are unquestionably
atively. Disappointingly, the researchers noted the sepa- compromised not to mention the stress, workload and
ration of newer entrants, noting their struggle to identify wellbeing of these unit personnel, the Focus Group Report
workplace positives. As referenced in the report, feedback 2017 stated.
from the focus groups has indicated that “individual conse- Corps of Engineers: Current trained manning levels in
quences of the manning level gaps for officers as being the the Corps are at 60% of the designed establishment of
increased workload decreased job satisfaction, a diminu- commissioned officers. Regional unit manning levels are at
tion of mental and physical wellbeing and decreased en- 30% of commissioned officers. Credible response capa-
gagement. This in turn is contributing to turnover among bilities and engineer governance of Defence Force training
the officer ranks- representing a loss of human capital and and infrastructure cannot be at full capacity.
expertise and further frustration for remaining officers and A Direct Fire Weapons Course was conducted recently
troops,” said Lt Col Naughton in his address. and NO officers were nominated from Formation or Ser-
vice units. The failure to nominate officers was as a conse-
The Focus Group highlighted a dysfunctional cycle of quence of the crisis in shortage of junior officers in units.
turnover developing, creating a situation where a valued The result is that high end operational capabilities are now
employee quits and takes with them their experience and diluted potentially posing a greater risk to those serving in
corporate knowledge. From an organisational perspective, the Defence Forces.
participants in the focus group also expressed fears for LFTT: Live Fire Tactical Training is the culminating bench-
the capability of the units and the safety of personnel if the mark of professional soldiering weapon skills. This tacti-
situation continues. Also noted in the Focus Group Report cal live fire typifies real life operational environments while
was the common identification of the weakness of Rep- preparing and evaluating a soldier’s responses during high
resentative Association Status relative to Trade Unions. In intensity training. The current absence of trained and ex-
addition, it was also identified that Military Management’s perienced instructors (all ranks) has reduced the Defence
position on terms and conditions of service means that Forces capability and preparedness of our troops for op-
time is often not factored in or acknowledged when the erational deployment.
‘Official Side’ are making policy decisions.
External Inputs
Establishment Strength
This impact upon operational outputs, and the importance
“The report referenced the obvious inadequacies in the of those outputs since that is how military capability is
organisation’s establishment that is forcing additional de- measured, was also touched upon by one of the confer-
mands on those who continue to serve as numerous va- ence guests on the first day of the event.

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