The U.S. ally down under is seeking everything from submariners to doctors at ranks from enlisted to officers in all branches of its services and salaries can be substantially higher...With inevitable belt-tightening at the Pentagon in the future, one can imagine the appeal, especially because Oz's economy is... well, one of the healthier patients in the cancer ward.
And should world events go totally Mad Max, that's going to be an exciting corner of the world in which to be soldiering, what with the Indonesian hordes right to the north.
I wonder why they're having trouble recruiting locally? Is their economy that good, or the service that bad?
ReplyDeleteI figure that it's probably cheaper and faster to poach trained vets than to raise them from the farm leagues, if you have the option.
ReplyDelete30 million people in a land mass roughly equal to the US. Everyone I know over there is employed and don't seem to worry about leaving a job and getting another. My best Aussie friend owns a home construction related business and is always busy. Although, all the major home builders announced in January they were going to cut payments to all subcontractors (my pal) by 5%. My friends are very non-political and I doubt they vote, if most are like them a few end up picking the govt and that's always a problem. They hate the "Red-headed B*&^h" they have now. Tam's right, the healthiest one in the cancer ward. Larry
ReplyDeleteHi All, signing off a the polling station is compulsory in Oz; you are fiNed if your don't turn up. As a result most (95%+) people vote.
Deletemike
@Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteSwing and a miss.
Voting in Australia is compulsory, with fines for failure to get your name crossed off the list.
Of course, paying attention while you vote is somewhat less compulsory.
A Canadian Military buddy of mine tells me that when visiting down under he realized that having good manners/ gentlemanly demeanour ( without being a wimp) was like catnip to the young australian ladies, who were quite taken with the comparison to young australian military men of the time.
ReplyDeleteGot him into a absurd amount of trouble...
IF I was ever tempted to serve in a foreign military, I think I could do far worse than with the Aussies. Quite aside from having a military tradition and record that any country could be proud of, they are also unquestionably "white hats" in today's world.
ReplyDeleteIt's the wave of the future.
ReplyDeleteIf I was 20 years younger and they had tolerable guns laws, a certain combat experienced young Marine would be very very interested.
ReplyDeleteBram, if you are commander of a nuke sub, who cares about the other gun laws, you got a NUKE!
ReplyDeleteTerry T
Florida
While I would gladly have traded my M16 for an AUG, I doubt they would let me take it home or buy a civilian version. That would make me a sad new Aussie.
ReplyDeleteThe unemployment rate is officially 5.2% and it seems to be a less gamed stat than the equivalent in the US. So yes the economy is pretty much that good. The red-headed woman is doing her best to improve the recruiting situation with the carbon tax, the mining tax and the punish success tax.
ReplyDeleteAustralia doesn't have nuclear subs or weapons, BTW.
Bram, ask yourself why the Aussie and NZ SAS use M4s. Having been let down by the Steyr many times at the range and during training, I really wished I had an M16 on deployment.
ReplyDeleteThe current (not for long) government has just slashed the military budget by about 20%.
ReplyDeleteMany longer term projects and high dollar items are on hold.
Skilled employees are in high demand in Australia, and civilian employers can offer far more in salary than the armed forces.
The Australian SF have been decimated by civilian contractor jobs in the ME.
Submariners and doctors, in particular, would be snapped up. Also technical trades like radar repairmen, airframe fitters, etc.
I'd think about it, if not for their crap firearms laws.
ReplyDeleteA dozen hoops to jump through just for a paintball gun, who knows what I'd have to do to keep the rest of my guns... Meh, I'll have to pass.
Unpossible! Oz doesn't need to build up its Military. Obama is going to deploy the U.S. Marines instead!
ReplyDeleteSo the Political Elite in Melbourne can rest easy, knowing that a U.S. Marine Battalion will be more than enough to hold off any attacks from Indonesia, China, India, et.al.
Can you say "Task Force Smith," Boys and Girls?
Anon 10:22
ReplyDeleteI had a US Navy Buddy who said the Aussie girls would line up when the ships came in to entice the Sailors.
Again he said it was how nice the Americans treated the women...he also mentioned something about their willingness to go "Down Under" whatever that means ;)
Gun laws excepting, Oz is pretty sweet, but watch out for the drop bears...And just about every other critter on the land or in the sea.
ReplyDeleteI've shot at an IPSC club over there (borrowed gun) and the hoops to jump through seem to be almost endless, and never-ending.
ReplyDeleteTim - I thought it was the whole "shooting for either shoulder" thing. Which never mattered a bit to me - if I'm shooting around a corner left-handed, it's spray and pray bullpup or not.
ReplyDeleteIonic I was just looking at the International results for the Australian Army Skills at the Arms Meeting. I don't need to ask why the Australian Army as a whole didn't buy the M16/4.
They also have a problem with free speach. Especially the "insulting a certain religion" kind...
ReplyDeleteTam, a couple of points... One, while the military is well paid by OUR standards, they can make more in the gold fields than they can being in the military. Secondly, for over 20 years they've actively accepted cross-overs from other countries. I know three (one Brit, one Canuck, and one American) who crossed over and only lost about a year of seniority and all three made command. You DO have to become an Aussie citizen to do it though.
ReplyDeleteAussie male priorities:
ReplyDelete1. His mates
2. His footie team
3. Beer
A shelia will be lucky to come in 4th ahead of his dog.
Needless to say holding a door or chair for an Aussie lady goes a long way towards making the visit a memorable one.
As an Australian I can tell you that's bulls**t. The dog at least gets on the podium.
Deletemike
hmmm, wonder how many of us would have to move there to change their gun laws to "constitutional Carry" level?
ReplyDeleteAnd where could we store our firearms during the process?
Would it be possible to really reconfigure it into The USA v2.0?
Frankly, doing that sounds more attractive than trying the NH makeover, since it would still be stuck inside the US.
Or, start with NZ, which actually looks like a more attractive land.
How bad will Obama have to screw it up, before it looks good enough to enough people?
Will: Well, they've only got 22 million citizens as it is.
ReplyDeleteBut... we can't even get enough liberty minded folks to move to another state to get the Free State Project off the ground. I envy your optimism if you think we're going to get enough people to move to another country to pull it off. (Not to mention, I strongly suspect they'd object to a huge flood of Americans trying to move in.)
Lookin' for MI geeks, too. If they'd made this offer when I was retiring... I probably couldn't have convinced Mrs. Drang to relocate Downunder anyway.
ReplyDeleteWas discussing the stationing of Marines there with a former Marine colleague, apparently his ship made port call there. All the young guys just bwent out and partied, all the NCOs signed up for "home visits", and told the troops that they were going to "help out the nice Australian women with mowing the lawn and stuff."
And then explained what ensued AFTER they were back to sea...
I don't think I could puke out the Oath to the Queen.
ReplyDeleteUmm, no.
My experiences with Aussies have been that they are some partying fools. (I mean that in a good way, not that they're fools.)
ReplyDeleteMen and women, probably due to the sheer number of "wild things that can kill you" amongst them, have a very upbeat and care-free attitude.
I have yet to figure out how they embraced socialism and an anti-gun stance.
Tam nailed it. One and done.
ReplyDelete"I figure that it's probably cheaper and faster to poach trained vets than to raise them from the farm leagues, if you have the option."
Personal gun ownership would be an issue for many, I think.
Yer gun ownership requires jumping through nearly endless firey hoops - but most of us end up with the guns we want eventually!
ReplyDeleteThe mining industry here is draining pretty much every other sector's workforce ... and it seems that the military isn't immune.
Age limits on immigration ...
ReplyDeleteSigh
Q
"Or, start with NZ, which actually looks like a more attractive land."
ReplyDeleteThe migration is a one way street from NZ to Australia, so apparently the Kiwis disagree with you.
"I have yet to figure out how they embraced socialism and an anti-gun stance."
British political tradition, social democracy. It's harder to figure out why the US has it's (superior) stance towards guns.
Don't let the talk of "mineral exports" fool you.
ReplyDeleteAustralia has a great economy because they didn't go crazy over real estate - just about the only civilized country that hasn't. Ever.
No mortgage deduction - because it isn't the government's job to encourage upper-middle income folks to buy homes they can't afford.
Prepayment penalties still exist. (Like they did in this country before Jimmy Carter and Tipp O'Neil decided they were unfair. (So you can't refinance at the drop of a hat, and banks haven't had to make insane loans to make money off the FEES.)
I could go on...
Though the mineral exports haven't hurt.
ReplyDeleteThey also have a fairly good electronics industry.