Primary-aged children play with weapons during military community engagement exercise

Images have been pulled from social media after children as young as six were seen playing with heavy weapons as part of an Australian Defence Force exercise.

Children as young as six play with heavy weapons as part of ADF community engagement in Gayndah. Photo/Twitter.

Photographs of children aiming weapons larger than themselves are inciting outrage on social media after the army paid a visit to Gayndah on Friday.

While in town doing army exercises, officers and defence personnel from the 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment showed primary students from Gayndah State School and St Josephs what a day in the life of a combat engineer looks like, complete with machines, bridge work, vehicles and of course, weapons.

The photos resurfaced on Twitter after Gayndah State School removed them from Facebook, with some referring to the community engagement exercise as “war propaganda” and calling for a response from Education Minister Grace Grace.

Reposting the images to Twitter, small business owner Ben Pennings questioned the minister on her feelings about “primary school kids playing with machine guns, sniper rifles and rocket launchers” and whether this will happen at his child’s school.

Major Ian MacDougall said Friday’s community engagement event has been done a few times before in the region, with the last happening in 2019.

“We did a bridge display, where our combat engineers on the ground built one of the bridges that we're out here building as a display for the kids,” he said.

“And then we had a small stand off to the side where we had our current in-service capabilities, which did include weapons.”

Children as young as six were allowed to play with the weapons during an Army visit. Picture: Supplied

Major McDougall the weapons did not have ammunition in them, were attached to a table with a chain, and each individual weapon station was supervised by a soldier.

“The children weren't simply walking away with weapons or playing with them, it was just to let them hold it, get the feel of the weight, and that was as far as it went,” he said.

The army sought approval from both principals and local community before conducting the exercise, and notified the parents beforehand.

“There were parents there, there were teachers, and there was supervision everywhere,” Major McDougall said.

Major McDougall said the children were given a safety briefing at the beginning of the two hour event, where the soldiers explained the dangers of weapons, what they used for, and how the regiment trains with them.

“It wasn't simply just a free for all. Part of our engagement was to give the children the understanding and appreciation of what these things are,” he said.

Gayndah police officer Sergeant Brendan Florence said his son, a year 1 student at Gayndah State School, was involved in the community engagement exercise.

Sergeant Florence said he was informed prior to the event that the military would be engaging the students in a range of educational activities at the airport that day, and trusts that the children were in good hands.

A Department of Education spokeswoman said the Gayndah State School held the safety and wellbeing of students as its highest priority.

“The 2nd Combat Regiment visited Gayndah on Friday, 23 July for an interactive and informative discussion, where students safely explored the role of the defence force in Australian society,” she said.

“The visit was supported by the P&C and families were aware of the event. No concerns have been raised with the school in relation to this visit.

“Community members and families also attended the event. Gayndah has a long history associated with the 2nd Combat Regiment and the community honours those that have fallen while selflessly serving our country.

“The Department of Education respects our soldiers and we thank them for their service.”