Australian Defence Force Academy

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The ADFA Shield

The Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) is a tri-service military Academy that provides military and tertiary academic education for junior officers of the Australian Defence Force in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Regular Army (ARA) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). It also provides post-graduate study for civilians, more senior ADF personnel and public servants. It is associated with the University of New South Wales, and issues its awards.

The stated purpose of ADFA is "to serve Australia by providing the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with tertiary graduates who have the foundational attributes, intellect and skills required of an officer."

ADFA is located in the Australian capital city of Canberra, in the suburb of Campbell, near the Australian Government district of Russell. It is situated next to Mount Pleasant which gives some points of ADFA a view over the rest of Canberra. The ADFA is also adjacent to the Australian Army military academy, the Royal Military College, Duntroon. The junior officers that attend the Australian Defence Force Academy hold the rank of Officer Cadet in the Australian Army (OCDT) and the Royal Australian Air Force (OFFCDT) and the rank Midshipman (MIDN) in the Royal Australian Navy.

Contents

History

Establishment

In the late 1950s investigations were made into the feasibility of creating a tri-service cadet training institution. However, each service continued with separate cadet training institution until 1970, when the concept was followed up by a committee chaired by Sir Leslie Martin. In 1977 the Australian Federal Government agreed to close down single service academies and set up the Australian Defence Force Academy on a site adjacent to the Royal Military College, Duntroon (RMC-D).

In May 1981, the Commonwealth and the University of New South Wales signed an agreement that UNSW would establish a college within ADFA. This college is known as 'University College'.

In February 1984 the University of New South Wales announced the appointment of Professor G.V.H. Wilson as Rector of the University College. In April of that year the then Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Sir Neville McNamara, formally established the Australian Defence Force Academy as a Joint Service Unit under Section 32c of the Defence Act 1903. He simultaneously announced the appointment of Rear Admiral P.R. Sinclair, Royal Australian Navy as the Commandant. In September 1985 the Interim Academy Council ceased its functions and the Australian Defence Force Academy Council held its inaugural meeting under the Chairmanship of Sir Edward Woodward.

In 1986, ADFA opened and began providing military and tertiary academic education for Officer Cadets and Midshipmen. In late 2003, the Australian Department of Defence entered into another agreement with the University of New South Wales for the operation of University College at ADFA.

The Grey Review

In 1998, the Department of Defence released the Grey review, a report about bastardisation and sexual harassment at ADFA during the 80s and early 90s. In doing so, it also examined relevant cultural, structural and management issues at ADFA. Having found evidence of bastardisation, and of a failure to recognise and prevent such bastardisation by staff, the review received considerable attention from the national media, and thereby caused considerable damage to the Academy's reputation.

Resultantly, ADFA made various immediate and significant changes in order to rectify this problem. Now all recommendations of the Grey Review relating solely to ADFA have been implemented at ADFA. Such actions include the abolishment of the internal Cadet rank system, which ranked Officer Cadets and Midshipmen on their years. Now all Officer Cadets and Midshipmen are classed as equal in rank (despite the fact that Midshipmen are actually commissioned officers, whilst ARA and RAAF Officer Cadets are not). Additionally, whilst cadets of differing years once lived together, they now live only with those in the same year. Staff were educated on how to identify and deal with bastardisation.

In order to fix its tarnished public image, ADFA went to the ABC to offer it the opportunity of making a documentary about Academy life. The result was a five episode-long documentary called The Academy, which featured in 2001.

Criticism of ADFA

Over its history ADFA has been criticised for various reasons, such as the reason for the Grey Review - bastardisation. More recently (2005), 'The Monthly' featured an article by Charles Firth criticising ADFA, most famous for his role in the satire CNNNN. The article ('Over-here, Over-fed, Over-funded') primarily focused its criticism on the levels of expenditure the Department of Defence invests in ADFA, essentially maintaning that it was unfair for the Government to spend as much as it did on ADFA whilst other universities faced far less favourable financial conditions.

Education

Academic

Awards

ADFA's academic education is run by the University of New South Wales, and it offers awards at the Diploma and Associate Diploma, Bachelor's Degree, Masters Degree, and Doctor's Degree levels.

Under its agreement with the Department of Defence, the University of New South Wales (UNSW) provides Midshipmen (RAN) and Officer Cadets (ARA and RAAF) with a tertiary education at its 'University College' campus (UNSW@ADFA) which is located on the Academy grounds.

Midshipmen and Officer Cadets undertake three and four year undergraduate degrees at ADFA. Currently, available undergraduate degrees include:

Bachelor of Arts - BA
Bachelor of Science - BSc
Bachelor of Business - BBus
Bachelor of Engineering (Aeronautical, Civil, Electrical and Mechanical) – BE
Bachelor of Technology (Aeronautical and Aviation) - BTech

However, those that do well academically and militarily have the possibility of a return to ADFA for one year in order to do honours, as long as their respective services authorise further training. Currently, UNSW@ADFA offers honours in:

Bachelor of Arts - BA(Hons)
Bachelor of Business - BBus(Hons)
Bachelor of Science - BSc(Hons)

Post-graduate studies are provided to civilians, senior members of the ADF and senior public servants. Increasingly, distance-education units are being offered for service members not based in Canberra.

Academic Performance

Despite ADFA's relatively low entrance requirements, the UNSW and ADF have invested considerable effort in maintaining a high standard of academic performance. "83 per cent of the more than 600 students enrolled in the three-year course had tertiary entrance scores higher than 80 per cent, placing them among the nation's best academic performers" (Donnelly, 2005). "ADFA's GTS - Good Teaching Scale - is 54, and nearly triple the Go8 median of 20.53. It's SPR - Student Progress Rate, which calculates the ratio of the load passed to total course load - is 93.7, compared with the Go8 median of 88. Its OSI - Overall Satisfaction Index - is 72, [compared to] the Go8 median of 39.1." (Firth, 2005, p.42)

Additionally, at 7.9:1, ADFA also has the lowest student to staff ratio in Australia (Firth, 2005, p.42).

Military

Year One Familiarisation Training (YOFT)

After coming to ADFA, newly appointed Officer Cadets and Midshipmen begin a six week-long phase of training known as Year One Familiarisation Training (YOFT). This training is designed to familiarise first years with the military. It includes training in discipline, military customs and traditions, adventure training (for instance, abseiling and high-speed water insertions), generally how to ‘live’ at ADFA, and particularly, drill and ceremonial activities, as after YOFT first years will be formally welcomed into the Academy during the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) Parade, for which the reviewing officer is the CDF. This is the first year cadets' first opportunity to be seen publicly on parade. The current CDF is Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston.

Academy Military Education Training (AMET)

During academic sessions ADFA provides basic military training to Midshipmen and Officer Cadets through the Academy Military Education Training (AMET) program. The AMET program encompasses physical training (PT), leadership and management studies, equity and diversity (E&D), military history, defence studies, drill and ceremonial, the military communication program (MCP), first aid, military law, field craft and weapons training.

Single Service Training (SSTs)

After the end of academic sessions however, Midshipmen and Officer Cadets move to their respective single service colleges for Single Service Training (known as SSTs). Such training prepares them to be officers in the ADF. However, given the complex nature of leading in the ARA, Army Officer Cadets continue this training for another 12 months after leaving ADFA at the Royal Military College, Duntroon (RMC-D) to later be commissioned as Lieutenants. Most Officer Cadets and Midshipmen undertake six SSTs over a three year period. Pilots have a modified military training program to fit with their movement from ADFA to Basic Flight Training School (BFTS) after approximately a year and a half at ADFA.

Academy Life

The ADFA year is split by the two academic sessions, during which academic education is carried out. However, a variety of other activities take place in and around these sessions. Before Session 1, 'first years' undertake YOFT whilst second and third years are trained on their respective SST blocks. After Session 1, a two week holiday period begins, though first years go on their first SST block. Academics recommence after this period with the start of Session 2. At the end of Session 2, all years commence their final SST block for the year, and shortly after this, third years graduate, and this is formally recognised during the 'Grad' parade.

Timetable

ADFA runs on standard military time and generally follows the following timetable.

0605h – Reveille
0605 to 0700 – Breakfast and Morning Routine
0700 to 0750 – Morning Parade and Drill
0750 to 0800 – Transit to Academic or Military instruction
0800 to 1900 – Academic and Military classes (9 x 50 minute periods)
1100 to 1330 – Lunch
1700 to 1830 – Sport Training and Personal Administration
1800 to 1930 – Dinner
2000 to 2300 – Study time and Uniform Preparation
2300 to 0600 – Quiet Time

Sports

ADFA is well known within both the ADF and the Canberra local region for its sports programme. While not compulsory, it is strongly encouraged that each and every OCDT and MIDN takes up at least one sport each year to develop their team, leadership and social skills. The sports available at ADFA include both ‘inter-range’ sports that are played against other civilian and ADF teams, and Academy sports that are just competed within the academy itself. Sports include, but are not limited to:

Rugby Union
Touch Football
Lawn Bowls
Inline Hockey
Athletics
Australian Rules Football (men and women)
Netball (ladies and mixed)
Rowing
Triathlon
Volleyball
Cross country running
Fencing
Sailing
Basketball
Soccer
Hockey
Squash

Facilities

ADFA maintains premier military and academic facilities. These include, but are not limited to:

Accommodation blocks, commonly known as 'divs', or 'lines'.
An Indoor Sports Centre (ISC), complete with pool (and overhead obstacle course), weights gym, cardio room, boxercise room, squash courts and a basketball court.
Military and Academic theatres, complete with state of the art audio-visual technology.
A Junior NCOs mess, Senior NCOs mess, Officers mess and the Academy Cadets Mess (ACM), which is the largest mess in the southern hemisphere.
Sporting facilities, including an AFL oval, rugby field, tennis courts, volleyball courts, netball courts, soccer Fields, cross-country course and a boat shed.
ADFA also has access to a Weapons Training Simulation System (WTSS), though it is technically run by RMC.

Structure

UNSW@ADFA

UNSW@ADFA is managed for UNSW by a Rector. Under the Rector of UNSW@ADFA are the heads of schools, who manage their respective schools. UNSW@ADFA schools were restructured from twelve discipline-based schools to five multi-disciplinary Schools as of July 1, 2003. These are:

[School of Aerospace, Civil and Mechanical Engineering] (formerly Schools of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and Civil Engineering)
[School of Business] (formerly School of Economics and Management)
[School of Humanities and Social Sciences] (formerly Schools of History, Language, Literature and Communication, and Politics)
[School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering] (formerly Schools of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering)
[School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences] (formerly Schools of Chemistry, Geography and Oceanography, Mathematics and Statistics, and Physics)

ADFA

As of January 2001, ADFA has been part of the Australian Defence College (ADC) command structure, which is also responsible for the Australian Command and Staff College (ACSC) and the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies (CDSS).

ADFA is commanded for the Australian Defence Force by the Commandant of ADFA, who is a Commodore, Brigadier, or Air Commodore on rotation for a period of three years each. Since February 2006, the Commandant of ADFA has been Brigadier Brian Dawson. Brigadier Dawson replaced Commodore James Goldrick, AM, CSC, RAN.

Cadet Organisation

ADFA is based on an amalgamation of all three services, and the organisation of the cadet side of the academy reflects this. Divisions are accommodated in accommodation blocks (commonly known as 'lines' or 'divs') consisting of five sections (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo) with a sixth section (Foxtrot) normally reserved for divisional staff and storage. Each section has 2 corridors (Half-sections) with four rooms and shared toilet, bathroom and laundry facilities.

There are six squadrons each consisting of a few divisions: 1A Squadron is first years, Divisions 1-3; 1B Squadron is a second first year squadron, Divisions 4-6 or 7; Navy Squadron, Divisions 8-11; Army Alpha, Divisions 12-14; Army Bravo, Divisions 15-17 (AA and AB rotate second and third year Army Officer Cadets each year); Air Force Squadron, Divisions 18-22. There is also an Advanced students Navy Division which is part of the Officers mess annex.

The Squadron chain of command is as follows. Each division has an Divisional SNCO (Army SGT or equivalent) and Divisional Officer (Army Captain or equivalent). Each Squadron has a Squadron Sergeant Major (SSM) (Army WO2 or equivalent) and an Officer Commanding (OC) (Army Major or equivalent).

Within each division a Midshipman/Officer Cadet is appointed as the Divisional Duty Officer (DDO) on a weekly or fortnightly basis. The DDO is responsible for the general administration of the division, its cleanliness, and conducting the division's movements to and from military commitments. In addition, each section has a section leader appointed who is responsible for the section duties and assists the DDO.

Rank System

As a military institution, ADFA follows the rank system of the ADF. However, unlike various other military academies around the world, ADFA does not have an internal Officer Cadet/Midshipman rank system. All Officer Cadets and Midshipmen are equal in rank, and are only separated into First, Second and Third Year cadets for administrative purposes. This is largely the result of the Grey review.