The Cove Podcast

‘The guys are firing in bursts, but you can put a significant rate of fire
down to allow us to extricate ourselves from a situation ...’ In this week’s
episode, we are joined by a CH-47 Chinook helicopter pilot from the 5th
Aviation Regiment in Townsville QLD. Recorded at the Avalon Air Show,
our guest this week – CAPT Mac Purbrick – runs us through the state of
play in Army aviation and how to fight rotary wing aircraft under all types of
threat.

C Squadron at the 5th Aviation Regiment is about to c...

‘Strategically, Kashmir offers high altitude military advantage and critical water sources. Emotionally, it invokes pride, pain and nationalism on both sides.’ In this week’s episode, we talk about the most recent tensions in Kashmir, a contested region between India and Pakistan. Our guest this week – Dr Ashok Sharma PhD – is a Visiting Fellow at the University of New South Wales – Canberra at the Australian Defence Force Academy. His research is in International Politics and he is an expert on South Asian geopolitics.

On 22 April 2025, a terrorist attack in Indian-Administered Kashmir which killed 26 civilians who were mostly H...

‘Morale in the face of steel doesn’t always work.’ In this week’s episode, we take off from where we left off with the Bombing of Darwin and the Sparrow Force’s work in Timor combating the Japanese advance through South-East Asia and the Pacific. Joined by my regular co-host LTCOL Steve Young, this episode is about the turning point in the Pacific, the Battle for Milne Bay.

Following the Bombing of Darwin and Sparrow Force’s deployment onto the island of Timor, the 7th Brigade was sent to Milne Bay to establish airfields using the US 43rd...

‘Mobilising the Reserve provides the Regular Army with a relatively quick solution for plugging manpower gaps and also the means to prime the pump.’ In this week’s episode, the creator of the popular Instagram page Tuesday Night Violence Co. joins us again to talk about his reserve battalion.  CPL Mitchell Clark is currently posted as the Training Sergeant at 2nd/17th Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment (2/17 RNSWR). He has bounced in-and-out of full-time and part-time service and today he talks us through what a typical reserve infantry battalion looks like, and the value that those who volunteer to be a...

‘So, a fistfight ensues a couple of meters inside East Timor and the situation deteriorates very quickly.’ In this week’s episode, we talk through what it is like to deploy with no notice and little preparation onto an island that is on-fire and in turmoil. Our guest – COL John Papalitsas – was a brand-new infantry Platoon Commander at the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment when he got word that he would deploy his platoon to East-Timor as part of International Force East Timor (INTERFET). Listen in as he describes what it was like as the boat arrived and throughout his six-mo...

‘You think your whole life is going to flash before your eyes but I couldn’t think of anything.’ In this week’s episode, we continue with the defence of the Dili Aerodrome, using 2/2 Independent Commando Company as a case study to examine a small Australian force going up against a large opposing military. Our guest – MAJ Guy Warnock – just returned from years in the Defence Cooperation Program (DCP) in Timor-Leste but this is not where his interest in the history of Timor first started. MAJ Warnock deployed to Timor as a Special Forces Operator from the Special Air Service Regi...

‘Tough men wanted for tough missions.’ In this week’s episode, we continue with the island of Timor but go back to WWII, using Sparrow Force as a case study to examine a small Australian force going up against a large opposing military. Our guest – MAJ Guy Warnock – just returned from years in the Defence Cooperation Program (DCP) in Timor-Leste but this is not where his interest in the history of Timor first started. MAJ Warnock deployed to Timor as a Special Forces Operator from the Special Air Service Regiment in the first few months of INTERFET. 

...

‘I taught 11,000 people how to put up a stretcher.’ In this week’s episode, the creator of the popular Instagram page Tuesday Night Violence Co. joins us to talk through equipment and gear setup. The creator – CPL Mitchell Clark – is currently posted as the Training Sergeant at 2nd/17th Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment (2/17 RNSWR) but spends his spare time providing ‘hot chips’ for diggers on fitness, gear and tactical planning activities. CPL Clark has bounced in-and-out of full-time and part-time service and today he takes us through his philosophy for gear selection and setup and what having his gear squar...

‘Language leads to culture and then culture leads to understanding.’ In this week’s episode, we talk through what it would be like to deploy to a pacific or southeast Asian nation using Timor as our case study. Our guest – MAJ Guy Warnock– just returned from years in the Defence Cooperation Program (DCP) in Timor-Leste but this is not where his interest in Timor first started. MAJ Warnock deployed to Timor as a Special Forces Operator from the Special Air Service Regiment in the first few months of INTERFET.

MAJ Warnock tells stories about diggers pr...

Serving in Special Operations Command (SOCOMD) is an aspiration for many and attainable for some. It is a popular choice for ADF members seeking to take their career to the next level and civilians wanting more out of life than a trade or corporate job can offer.

Recruiting is underway to identify the next generation of Special Forces Operators, Engineers, Signallers, Medics and Enablers. Depending on the role, some candidates participate in the Special Forces Selection Course (SFSC) – one of the longest and most gruelling selection courses in the world.

...

‘Nations that win wars are those that subjugate the individual for the team or more importantly the cause for which you are fighting.’ In this week’s episode, we sit down with the Deputy Chief of Army, MAJGEN Chris Smith to discuss warrior culture. Join us as we try to define the warrior culture that we ought to aspire to in the Australian Army.

Warrior culture, MAJGEN Chris Smith argues, needs to be a culture that wins battles, and by extension wins wars. It must sustain morale and a fighting spirit. It needs to imbue soldier...

‘You can’t discern where [the rockets were] actually landing and by night, the noise is enveloping.’ In this week’s episode, we talk about the conflict in Israel, Lebanon and Syria with two people that were on the ground on October 7th, 2023. Our guests – MAJ Mick Evans and CAPT Rhys Turner – talk us through their deployment on OPERATION PALADIN and what it was like being there when thousands of rockets started flying.

OPERATION PALADIN is the Australian Defence Force support to the UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO), whose activities are spread across Egypt, Israel, Jord...

‘You don’t need to be dead to sell life insurance.’ In this week’s episode, we talk about how to look after yourself and those that you command. Our guest this week is the Senior Medical Officer (SMO) for the Directorate of Army Health – LTCOL Gordon Wing MBBS – who was an infantry officer who deployed to East Timor as a Company Second-in-Command, to the Solomon Islands as an Adjutant and to Afghanistan as a Combat Team Commander and then chose to follow a life-long dream of becoming a doctor.

On this week’s episode, we sh...

‘The warning time that they thought they had completely evaporated in a moment.’ In this week’s episode, we take off from where we left off with Lark Force in Rabaul, New Guinea as the Allies continue to combat the Japanese advance through South-East Asia and the Pacific. Joined by my regular co-host LTCOL Steve Young, this episode is far closer to home, focused on the largest attack on home-soil being on Darwin, Northern Territory.

Following Pearl Harbour, the United States identified a need to establish bases that could be held against an initial Japanese onslaught and eventu...

Serving in Special Operations Command (SOCOMD) is an aspiration for many and attainable for some. It is a popular choice for ADF members seeking to take their career to the next level and civilians wanting more out of life than a trade or corporate job can offer. 

Recruiting is underway to identify the next generation of Special Forces Operators, Engineers, Signallers, Medics and Enablers. Depending on the role, some candidates participate in the Special Forces Selection Course (SFSC) – one of the longest and most gruelling selection courses in the world.

We’ve partnered with the ADF S...

'With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we can now expect Large Scale Combat in Future Warfare' CAPT Malcolm delves into what we might expect with LSC being one of the main strategies of integrated deterrence. This brings together Allies, Partners and Industry to achieve the desired effect; we must think beyond the land domain and even outside of Army or the military, as we are now working as part of an integrated force. He also explains that with new developments in technology (automated systems, AI and others) which also affect the way that we fight, each of these considerations br...

‘[A] recruit instructor is … the first point of contact really, for a soldier’s journey’. CPL Numans explains that your main role as an instructor is to train your section of recruits in all the basic soldierly skills, to be ready for Army. You are with them from the moment they step off the bus, through all the drills and lessons, culminating in the field phase where they conduct infantry minor tactics. These are the basic skills that all soldiers need to know. Finally, you are there for them when they March Out.

CPL Numans reflects on some of...

'Black Dagger is our activity that gives JTACs the exposure they need to drop live ordinance in close proximity to friendlies.' In the first joint podcast between The Cove Podcast and Hangar 46, we host CAPT Craig Hogendyk (OC JTAC Troop) and Pete (a Fighter Combat Instructor at 1 Squadron, RAAF) to discuss all things Close Air Support (CAS).

We discuss how to become a Weapon Systems Officer (WSO) or a Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC), explain the training pipeline and how each role is employed at the hyper tactical level. Black Dagger is the culminating exercise for...

‘It is really important to look at our defeats’. LTCOL Young explains that Rabaul is potentially one of the most shameful episodes of Australian marshal history. In 1942 The Australian War Cabinet decided not to provide any further reinforcements to the Malayan barrier, leaving the garrisons at Ambon, Timor and Rabaul totally alone with no evacuation plan. This set the conditions for command.

COL Scanlan was the commanding officer of Lark Force during the Battle of Rabaul. With limited resources at his disposal, and no plan to execute, he gives the order that it is ‘every man for himsel...

‘We need to have the ability [and] confidence in ourselves … that we are making ethical decisions’. Today’s episode is on Ethical Decision Making, and with this quote, WO2 Campbell explains that the decisions that our officers and leaders often must make are so far beyond the immediate realm and have the potential for far reaching consequences.

CHAP Bouzanquet deftly provides an explanation for the subtle differences between Ethics and Morality. Ethics is the process in which we decide what is right or wrong based on a set of laws and rules set by the cour...

‘Change is never easy’. Today’s episode is on Recruiting, and this quote underpins the challenges we all face when transitioning into the ADF workforce. Meaningful change takes time, patience and commitment to achieve.

Recruitment is a ‘human-to-human endeavour’. While there are systems in place to support it, it boils down to a real person talking to a prospective recruit, making them feel valued and want to join. It is about our ability to connect with people.

The main goal for recruiters is to determine how soon someone wants to achieve their goal of joining the defenc...

‘They call it trading steel for blood’. Welcome back to the 2025 season of The Cove Podcast. Our first episode this year is on Project Convergence.

Project Convergence is not a command post exercise, it is also not a training exercise. It is a large-scale experiment without the constraints of training levels that allows the US Military, its allies and Defence industry to have at it testing future concepts and the newest war fighting technology. Firing remote HIMARS with an Xbox controller, flying blood forward from a hospital to a wounded soldier with an unmanned drone and combatting larg...

LTCOL Brian Hickey is the current Commanding Officer of the Royal Military College - Duntroon (RMC-D) and he is in-charge of the current 12-month Officer Commissioning Program trial.

Royal Military College - Duntroon (RMC-D) has recently shifted from the traditional 18-month program to a more intense 12-month course. In this episode, LTCOL Brian Hickey provides valuable insights into what has changed, what has stayed the same and how it impacts the development of the Army's future lieutenants. We also explore the growing emphasis on leadership in the training and the role of simulation in planning assessments, which...

‘History offers us examples of when deterrence has failed but there is still a requirement to deny’. In this week’s episode, we delve into Australia's National Defence Strategy and explore how the concept of Deterrence through Denial has been employed in history. Joined by our regular co-host LTCOL Steve Young, we examine the strategic significance of the Forward Observation Line during World War II, with a focus on three airfields: Laha in Ambon, Kupang in Timor, and Rabaul in New Guinea.

We focus on Gull Force, Sparrow Force, and Lark Force, three Australian military units that faced...

Serving in Special Operations Command (SOCOMD) is an aspiration for many and attainable for some. It is a popular choice for ADF members seeking to take their career to the next level and civilians wanting more out of life than a trade or corporate job can offer. 

Recruiting is underway to identify the next generation of Special Forces Operators, Engineers, Signallers, Medics and Enablers. Depending on the role, some candidates participate in the Special Forces Selection Course (SFSC) – one of the longest and most gruelling selection courses in the world.

We’ve partnered with the ADF S...

Serving in Special Operations Command (SOCOMD) is an aspiration for many and attainable for some. It is a popular choice for ADF members seeking to take their career to the next level and civilians wanting more out of life than a trade or corporate job can offer.

Recruiting is underway to identify the next generation of Special Forces Operators, Engineers, Signallers, Medics and Enablers. Depending on the role, some candidates participate in the Special Forces Selection Course (SFSC) – one of the longest and most gruelling selection courses in the world.

We’ve partnered with the ADF...

In this thought-provoking episode of The Cove Podcast, we sit down with Deputy Chief of Army, MAJGEN Chris Smith, to discuss what war would look like and the vital role of human decision-making in military operations.

MAJGEN Chris Smith challenges the notion that technology and machine learning will replace the instincts and experiences of commanders. Drawing on historical examples like the Battle of Crete during WWII, he argues that while information is crucial, it is action—and the ability to make sound decisions under pressure—that ultimately wins battles. The human element, particularly the expe...

In this week's episode, we sit down with our regular co-host LTCOL Steve Young to explore the challenging realities of age in war. Drawing on historical context, we delve into the physical and psychological toll large-scale combat takes on the human body, particularly during intense missions like those in the Pacific theatre during World War II. The average age of commanding officers pre-WWII was 48 years old; however, in 1945 it had dropped to just 30 years old, meaning there were some officers commanding entire battalion groups while in their twenties. We reflect on how the unique demands of the Pacific campaign...

In this episode we sit down with BRIG James Davis, an exceptional leader known for his unwavering commitment to physical fitness and his ability to set high standards for himself and others. He shares his insights on maintaining rigorous fitness standards, how important our job really is, and balances this by talking about the potential pitfalls of running on “red-line” for decades. He candidly discusses the realities of Army life, emphasising that we cannot compromise on the demands of war. Throughout the episode, he also highlights his recent experiences in fitness competitions, showcasing the drive and dedication that has fuel...

Dr Jack Watling wrote a book in the back of an armoured vehicle in Ukraine while watching technology be employed for the first time on the front-line. Starting life as a journalist and now an academic, his book titled The Arms of The Future is centred on the future of land warfare. In this week’s episode of The Cove Podcast, Jack argues that we are shifting from mechanised to informatised warfare, he flips the current Army structure on its head and explains how challenging it is to fight in contested amphibious operations.

On this week's episode of The Cove Podcast, our new host CAPT Todd Lempa invites LTCOL Steve Young to discuss the difficulty of mobilisation in large scale combat. We discuss the need for reinforcement, the importance of leaving your best soldiers out-of-battle and the conditions that led to the Australian Army to peak at 476,000 personnel in 1943. LTCOL Young uses his passion for history to explain our current strategic challenges using historical case-studies, including how we have expanded training capacity for larger throughput using institutions like Scheyville, Portsea and multiple Recruit Training Battalions.

Since 6 May 2024, Part IXAA of the Defence Act 1903 Safeguarding Australia’s Military Secrets (SAMS) requires certain individuals, notably former Defence personnel, to obtain foreign work authorisation (FWA) before working for a foreign military or foreign government body or providing training to a foreign military or government body that is related to Part 1 of the Defence and Strategic Goods List, or military tactics, techniques and procedures.

The new law is not intended to limit individuals from working for a foreign military or government body, it is intended to prevent individuals with sensitive Defence information and ex...

Trust is foundation of everything we do in the profession of arms. Trust within teams, trust up and down the chain of command, and importantly the trust placed in us by the Australian people.

In this episode, listen as SO1 Cove LTCOL Johnson interviews four leaders - Commander 3rd Brigade BRIG Dave McCammon, Health Officer CAPT Rachael O'Sullivan, and 3 Bde JNCOs CPL Connor Dawson and LCPL Che Morris, on the importance of trust and generating trust as a leader at all levels.

The Defence Strategic Review was released on 24 April 2023. The DSR recommended far reaching changes to the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF) strategic posture and capability in response to what it termed ‘radically different’ strategic circumstances. 

The DSR focuses on three things: (1) a specific threat, being the threat posed to Australia’s interests; (2) an integrated all-domain force with an emphasis on long-range precision strike; and (3) a strategy of denial (more particularly deterrence by denial). It implies a focus for the Army on land-based long-range precision strike, land-based air and missile defence, and close combat from or through fortified positions fro...

In this special edition episode, WO1 Mark Grigg speaks with MAJ Mark Beretta: Australia’s most watched sports presenter! From the outskirts of Geelong to the Channel 7 newsroom, Mark has had a career filled with highlights and fulfilled his lifelong desire to join the Australian Army later a few years ago. On top of early mornings working on Sunrise, he does three reserve days for Australian Army’s public relations. Mark believes in the importance of education and having a thirst to learn from the people around you. He discusses how career mentor programs can lift the whole team up a...

In this episode, WO1 Mark Grigg speaks with the current Regimental Sergeant Major of the Army, Warrant Officer Kim Felmingham, NSC, OAM, and five past RSM-A's, including: Warrant Officer Grant McFarlane, AM; Mr Don Spinks, AM; Warrant Officer David Ashley, AM; Mr Kevin Woods, CSC, OAM; and, Mr Peter Rosemond, CSC, OAM. At the Home of the Soldier, this was the first time since 1983 – when the first RSM-A was appointed – that such an event like this has occurred. Each of the participants progressed through the ranks on very different career paths to become the senior soldier of our Army, provid...

In this 'Leaders and Legends' episode, WO1 Mark Grigg speaks with CPL Taylah Gentzen about her military career and being an elite sportswoman. From starting as a rifleman to being a PTI at the School of Infantry, she has done things she never thought were possible. She has a passion for combat-sports and has competed at an elite level for 12 years. Taylah is the number one professional boxing lightweight in Australia. She is currently studying a Bachelor of Psychological Science part-time, with a particular interest in the mental health and physical performance of female soldiers and athletes. Mark and...

In this episode, WO1 Mark Grigg speaks with CPL Amy Kowski. From joining the Army as a gap-year as a caterer, to a psych assistant, and now studying a Bachelor of Education (Secondary) at the moment. Hear how CPL Amy Kowski is managing full-time work and full-time study, with some tips on how to balance her time and the changes to her priorities. She also explains her experience with Army Sports playing AFL: representing the Service in carnivals and bonding with teammates. Learning a lot about Army and a lot about herself throughout her career.

In this episode of Body, Mind & Soul, we discuss what an Army Chaplain does. Who do they support? What is a Chaplains role in providing pastoral care? How is their role different out field or on operations?

Series 3 – Soul is presented by Chaplain Kerri Frizzwell, COORD Chaplain at RMC-D.

In this 'Leaders and Legends' episode, WO1 Mark Grigg speaks with LT John Limbert about his time as the 2018 Forces Command Soldier of the year and his commissioning.