NSCnews Online - February, 2017 | Page 67

CO 2RAR

LTCOL Doug Pashley

CO 2RAR LTCOL Doug Pashley has been quietly working his way into the Battalion for most of the past 12 months . Previously stationed in Hawaii as the ADF liaison officer to the US Marine Forces - Pacific , he has had plenty of opportunity to observe 2RAR in action during RimPac exercises . And , being on excellent terms with his predecessor LTCOL Michael Bassingthwaighte he was able to spend a fair bit of time with him in the 12 months leading up to the change of command . “ We caught up [ on exercise ] a couple of times , and I came over to do a kind of pseudo handover more than once last year ,” LTCOL Pashley said . So , although he hasn ’ t served in the 2nd Battalion previously , he is well versed in the aims , culture and , most importantly , amphibious expertise in the unit . LTCOL Pashley said being embedded with the US Marines before coming to 2RAR would be of tremendous benefit to him , and the Battalion . “ The US Marines are traditionally the world ’ s best in terms of amphibious operations , and I would like to think there are many things I have picked up from the Marines ,” he said . “ That ’ s not to say I want to try and emulate the Marines over here - we are our own unit and we have developed our own expertise .” While he has never previously been in 2RAR , he is no stranger to soldiering in Townsville . “ This is my 20th year in the Army ,” he said . “ I joined in 1997 and was a lieutenant in 1RAR when John Caligari , then Mark Bornholt were commanding officers .” LTCOL Pashley was in the SASR for six years , then came back to the RAR as a company commander at 3RAR . He spent some time in Army HQ in combat development and sees the

modern move away from regimental service being restricted to one battalion as a positive change . “ I think it ’ s really healthy - not just for me , but for the entire army ,” he said . “ It spreads experience and deepens the gene pool ... battalions get a different set of eyes , which is good .” LTCOL Pashley said there were two parts to his ambition for the Battalion - the first part was to be successful in the lead-up to Ex Hamel . “ At Ex Talisman Sabre ( of which Ex Hamel is a part ), we will demonstrate a Battle Group amphibious effect as part of the Amphibious Ready Group , and do that well ,” LTCOL Pashley said . He said the work done during the past three years by the unit led by LTCOL Bassingthwaighte left him absolutely confident the Battalion would perform well , laying the foundation for Army to build on the capability they had developed . He said the second part of his ambition was to ensure that however the Army employed , and expanded its amphibious capability , 2RAR would continue to be the centre of excellence in that area as the Army moved to a sustainable model . “ First , we have to focus on the next six months ,” LTCOL Pashley said . “ We have to meet the Brigade ’ s land combat obligations and we have to be the ADF ’ s amphibious experts . “ We have platoon level training , then company level training , then straight into amphibious exercises .” The Battalion will be involved in the final certification exercise - Sea Raider - and lead-up exercises before it , prior to the Talisman Sabre demonstration . Married to German-born Heike ( they met when she was holidaying in Australia ), the couple has four children - Emily , 13 , Fletcher , 11 , Oliver , 9 and Annelise , 6 .
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