http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/ben-wadham/ Dr Ben Wadham is a lecturer in education at Flinders University and a former infantry soldier and military police officer. He has a particular interest in military culture, soldiers and criminality, the ADF, gender and military, military masculinities, soldiers behaving badly - drink, drugs, sex, violence, bastardisation, initiation - and in group bonding, logic of training, mateship, women in forces, and the history of ADF culture. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Defences-head-is-in-the-sand-and-I-dont-mean-Afghanistan/ Claims of abuse with the ADF have emerged again. Community concern with a Defence culture has again been reignited; the continuing fallout of the ADFA Skype Affair and other occurrences like the HMAS Success and Cerberus sex incidents. The more things change the more they stay the same. There comes a point when we must call a spade a spade and make a clean sweep. These may be clichés but I am in keeping with tradition. In 1983 Major General Coates, the commandant of RMC, explained to the Melbourne Sun that bastardisation at the college was not of a ‘general or systemic’ nature. Major General Coates assured us, civil society, that he was ‘certain’ of this. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Ben Wadham) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Defences-head-is-in-the-sand-and-I-dont-mean-Afghanistan/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Defences-head-is-in-the-sand-and-I-dont-mean-Afghanistan/#item6087 Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:00:39 +0000 Ben Wadham | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/will-defence-ever-stop-defending-the-indefensible/ The reputation of the defence force has once again been tarnished by its personnel behaving badly. A defence force cadet has allegedly filmed himself having sex with another cadet and broadcasting it to his peers in an adjacent room. The 18-year-old female RAAF cadet spoke of her sense of betrayal and abuse on Tuesday as the federal police and Defence investigators launched an investigation. She alleges she had consensual sex with the fellow cadet who was broadcasting their moment of intimacy by webcam to his mates in a separate room. UPDATE: Defence Minister Stephen Smith said this afternoon that the ADF will not tolerate conduct that was sexist, vilified women or was indecent or uncivilised. He also said it was possible the female cadet could face disciplinary action. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Ben Wadham) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/will-defence-ever-stop-defending-the-indefensible/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/will-defence-ever-stop-defending-the-indefensible/#item5567 Wed, 06 Apr 2011 02:00:40 +0000 Ben Wadham | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/soldiers-comments-racist-disgusting-embarrassing/ “We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.” “Ragheads’‘, “dune coons’‘, “sand niggaz’’ and “smelly locals’‘. Last night we were exposed to ADF soldiers with experience in Afghanistan acting in prejudicial, discriminatory, racist ways. That is what we call it in the civilian world. A group of soldiers, some who have served overseas in contemporary conflicts, and apparently some who are serving, have allegedly posted their discontent on the social networking site Facebook. They have expressed their disdain, their hatred of the Afghanis, their racist and pejorative perspective of those they are charged to ‘liberate’ and their insubordination to their boss, Lieutenant General Gillespie. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Ben Wadham) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/soldiers-comments-racist-disgusting-embarrassing/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/soldiers-comments-racist-disgusting-embarrassing/#item5478 Fri, 25 Mar 2011 02:30:00 +0000 Ben Wadham | Author bios | The Punch