Officer Training Unit, Scheyville - History

History

On 24 November 1964 the National Service Act was passed through the Australian Federal parliament, allowing the Menzies government to re-establish the national service scheme—which had been suspended in 1959—as a response to growing uncertainty in Australia's strategic outlook in Southeast Asia. Unlike previous versions of national or compulsory service which had limited the liability of men called up to service in Australian territory within the meaning of the Defence Act (1903) only, the new scheme envisaged conscripted soldiers serving in Regular Army units to bolster their numbers for deployment being sent overseas to meet Australia's commitments in Southeast Asia. As such many would take part in the fighting Vietnam and Malaysia.

Although largely opposed by the Australian Army hierarchy, the re-introduction of conscription necessitated a requirement for the expansion of the Army's training establishments to meet the increased numbers of men undergoing training. This, coupled with the expansion of the Royal Australian Regiment to nine battalions, meant that there was a need for the Army to increase the numbers of junior officers serving in its ranks in order to oversee the training of national servicemen and to command platoons on operations overseas. In order to meet this requirement the decision was made to create a new officer training unit (OTU) to deliver this course. Brigadier Ian Geddes was given the responsibility of bringing this organisation into being.

On 1 April 1965 the OTU was established at Scheyville, New South Wales. Approximately 50 kilometres (31 mi) north of Sydney, the land had originally been used as part of an agricultural training scheme before being during the First World War as an internment camp for "enemy aliens". Later, during the Second World War the Army had used the site for conducting training exercises before being converted in 1949 into a camp for migrants.

Because there was a requirement to expand the size of the Army quickly, out of necessity the course offered by Scheyville was much shorter than those offered at the other officer training establishments. Whereas officers were produced over the course of twelve months at Officer Cadet School, Portsea and three years at Royal Military College, Duntroon, the OTU course was condensed into 22 weeks. From the outset the course was designed to physically demanding and mentally challenging and each lesson was designed to instil a number of teaching points in order to meet the requirements of the syllabus. It was a hectic schedule and the cadets were required to work up to 14 hours a day, without weekends off. As a result of this many cadets did not pass, indeed the OTU had a failure rate of around 30 per cent. Those that did not pass were removed from the course and completed their national service obligation as an other rank, although many quickly progressed through the ranks to become non commissioned officers. Cadets who did successfully completed the course, however, were commissioned as second lieutenants. The majority were allocated to the infantry, although graduates were posted to all corps of the Army and went on to serve in Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and Singapore.

The abolition of National Service in December 1972 by the Whitlam government meant that there was no longer a requirement for an accelerated commissioning course and as such, OTU Scheyville was closed down in early 1973. Officer training in the Australian Army would continue at RMC Duntroon and OCS Portsea, although Portsea was itself closed down in 1986 when RMC Duntroon took on the role of providing the 18 month commissioning course and the Australian Defence Force Academy was established to provide tertiary education. During the course of its operation OTU Scheyville produced 1,871 officers. Of these, the majority were national servicemen, although 68 were members of the Regular Army who attended Scheyville in this time. These regular Army officers, however, went to OCS Portsea at the end of their 12 month Scheyville course to graduate as OCS Portsea officers (1/72, 2/72 and 1/73 OTU/OCS courses); in fact, the last cadets at Scheyville were the regulars who graduated in mid 1973 (at OCS Portsea) three months after the last national service cadets graduated. Relations between the national service and Regular cadets were very friendly. The failure rate for these regulars was similar to the national service cadets. The 2/72 OTU/OCS class started with 35 and 21 graduated. During the same period of time, 1,287 officers graduated from Portsea and 465 graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon.

It is believed that 328 Scheyville graduates served in Vietnam, eight of whom were killed in action. Gordon Sharpe was the first OTU trained officer to be killed in Vietnam while serving with the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment at the battle of Long Tan in 1966. It was Sharpe's platoon that suffered the majority of fatalities in that battle after he himself was killed at its beginning. Of the 1,803 national service officers produced about 270 of them later chose to join the Regular Army, thus ensuing the continuing legacy of the OTU within the Australian Army into the 1980s and beyond. At least 13 Scheyville graduates rose to the rank of brigadier, with a couple still serving as late as 2002, even though at the time they were told that it was unlikely they would be promoted passed major. One graduate, Brigadier Peter Pursey, AM, even served for a time as Commandant of the Royal Military College, Duntroon.

A number of graduates also rose to prominence in civilian life. Some of the most notable examples include Jeff Kennett who became Premier of Victoria and Tim Fischer, who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia. There were also a number of other parliamentarians, broadcasters, journalists and academics.