Dear Fellow Infantrymen,
A major issue for some time now has been the recognition of service at Rifle Company Butterworth (RCB) as “War Like” service. This has been an ongoing issue since 2006 with a small group, RCB Review Group and some individuals fighting to get the proper recognition.
I know some senior officers (mainly from ones that did not serve in RCB) think it was a bit of a jolly and not comparable to their war, Vietnam. We do not make the rules and regulations on the “War Like” situation, but following obtaining some SECRET AUSTEO documentation, it was quite clear RCB was deployed to protect Australian assets in Malaysia against a Communist Terrorist threat. They decided to hide the facts of the deployment under a ruse of calling it a “training activity”.
This training ruse is still accepted by Defence and DHAAT despite much evidence from Senior Defence Officials and Officers, which state otherwise.
Quite clearly Defence and Government officials do not want another 9000 veterans getting access to Repatriation Benefits or publicly acknowledging their deceptive behavior in 1973.
What can we do? We have been working through the normal administrative chain with no successful result. Defence continues with its well-known stonewalling approach to these things by acknowledging your communications, never discussing the content and finally not answering letters or returning phone calls.
The DHAAT approach was totally flawed by receiving coloured evidence from Defence and not even acknowledging evidence provided by the RCB Group, to come up with their desired result.
Where to now? Now we have to take to the legal approach with appeals to the Defence and Commonwealth Ombudsman. Take the case to the Court of Public Opinion with a feature article planned for publication in The Australian. Take the case to sympathetic journalists like Alan Jones and the Bolt Report. They all love stories about Defence’s continuing deceptive behavior. Next all ex members write to your Liberal members or candidates requesting assistance in solving the problem. If you wish write to your Labor member or candidate or the current Minister responsible Senator Feeney who has only just started to talk to us.
The last legal avenue open is to appeal to the Federal Court but with Defence’s legal firepower and prior history of financially persecuting unsuccessful claimants most of us do not want to loose our house or super, so this is an unlikely approach.
How can you help firstly if you have evidence supported by documents or a statutory declaration please send it to Mike Dennis at [email protected] or if you wish to add your name to the RCB Review Supporters Group please send your details to Robert Cross at [email protected]
Attached to this portal are the following submissions, letters and evidence provided by the RCB Supporters Group. We have the support of the RARC, which we appreciate, but only those who made submissions can take the next step under law.
Duty First
LtCol Mike Dennis, MBE
RCB 1977
Chronology of Events
1. 1970 – 1989 Service of RCB in Malaysia
2. 18 Aug 2006 RCB Review Group Submission to Defence Honours and Awards Directorate, DOD (Plus 2.5 inch dossier of attached written evidence).
3. 25 May 2010 LtCol M Dennis, MBE (Rtd) submission to Defence Honours and Awards Tribunal Inquiry into RCB service.
4. 10 Jun 2010 RCB Review Group Submission of 2006 to Defence Honours and Awards Tribunal Inquiry into RCB service (Plus a 2.5 inch dossier of attached written evidence). (Same as Serial 2)
5. 10 Jun 2010 RCB Review Group Addendum Submission to
Defence Honours and Awards Tribunal Inquiry into RCB service.
6. 18 Feb 2011 Defence Honours and Awards Appeal Tribunal Report into the Inquiry for Members of Rifle Company Butterworth for Service in Malaysia between 1970 and 1989.
7. 7 Jun 2011 Successful FOI request for Defence Submission to the Defence Honours and Awards Tribunal VCDF/OUT/2010 dated 23 Jun 2010.
8. 14 Aug 2011 Letter from LtCol M Dennis, MBE (Rtd) to the VCDF and Director Defence Honours and Awards Directorate, DOD highlighting the flaws in the Defence Submission.
9. 25 Aug 2011 Letter from LtCol M Dennis, MBE (Rtd) to the Acting Chair Defence Honours and Awards Appeal Tribunal on the flaws and inconsistencies in the RCB Service Inquiry Report.
10. 6 Sep 2011 Letter From Director Honours and Awards DOD on behalf of the CDF with a non descript negative answer and not addressing any of the issues I raised.
11. 18 Sep 2011 Letter from the Acting Chair Defence Honours and Awards Appeal Tribunal acknowledging my letter and referring it to the new Chairman DHAAT. (No further response received)
12. 30 Sep 2011 Letter from LtCol M Dennis, MBE (Rtd) to Director Honours and Awards DOD on behalf of CDF response questioning and requiring simple Yes/No answers to his response on behalf CDF. No response or returned telephone calls!
