Officer Brigadier Ian Langford to keep Afghan medal

Defence has prevented a senior officer from returning a medal earned in a period when troops allegedly committed war crimes.

Brigadier Ian Langford.

Defence has prevented one of its senior officers from handing back a distinguished leadership medal earned as a commander in ­Afghanistan during a period when Australian troops allegedly committed up to 16 war crimes.

Brigadier Ian Langford told superiors soon after the Brereton war crimes report was released that he wanted to hand back his Distinguished Service Cross, but was stopped from doing so ­because there was no formal process to deal with the request.

More than three months later, Defence’s response to the inquiry has stalled, shielding senior leaders — even those who want to speak out — from accountability for alleged war crimes on their watch.

An analysis by The Weekend Australian reveals 83 per cent of the war crimes allegations identified as “credible” by judge Paul Brereton occurred under the command of two senior officers — Brigadier Langford and Lieutenant Colonel Jon “Irish” Hawkins.

Lieutenant Jon Hawkins.

Brigadier Langford, one of the army’s most decorated senior officers and a potential future chief of army, was task group commander in Afghanistan from July 2012 to February 2013.

That rotation, which included the Special Air Service’s now-disbanded 2 Squadron and Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith, was marred by 16 credible allegations of war crimes — the highest of any of Australia’s 20 troop rotations in the Afghanistan war. There were nine credible allegations of war crimes during the January-July 2012 ­rotation, commanded by the now-retired Lieutenant Colonel Hawkins. Both men are highly ­respected in Defence circles and received the nation’s top medal for military leadership, the Distinguished Service Cross, for their 2012 commands.

Multiple sources close to Brigadier Langford said he was “deeply shocked” as he watched the Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell’s press conference releasing the Brereton ­report, which found 39 Afghan ­civilians and prisoners were allegedly murdered by up to 25 Australian soldiers.

He has told friends he was ­unaware of the alleged crimes by those under his command, and he approached Defence leaders about a week later saying he wanted to return the DSC.

He was told “a mechanism did not exist for him to do that”, and he would have to wait until one was put in place. The direction followed General Campbell’s order, which was later overturned by Scott Morrison, for meritorious unit citations to be stripped from about 2000 soldiers.

Brigadier Langford declined to comment when approached by The Weekend Australian.

Defence told The Weekend Australian it was aware of two ADF personnel “who have indicated their intention to voluntarily return their awards”.

But a process is yet to be established for awards to be handed back, or stripped against the ­recipient’s will.

 

Lieutenant Colonel Hawkins now runs a specialist security company, Omni Executive Pty Ltd, which won nearly $80m in Defence contracts in just five years, including more than $8m in work that didn’t go to competitive tender. The company is a major ­employer of special forces veterans, and conducts highly classified work for Special Operations Command and intelligence agencies including the Australian Signals Directorate.

Lieutenant Colonel Hawkins told The Weekend Australian: “I did not witness any wrongdoings by those in my command.

“Where complaints or allegations were raised directly with me, they were acted on and investigated in line with established protocol, as the Brereton inquiry report identified.”

Brigadier Langford is currently the army’s director-general of ­future land warfare and a key ­author of its 2020 “accelerated warfare” statement on adapting to new technologies and threats.

Since his 2012 command, he has also earned a PhD in philosophy, attended Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and led an internal think tank for Lieutenant General Rick Burr known as the Chief of Army ­Initiative Group.

“He was the golden child. But he was CO during a period that was very disturbing. For Defence, that has been deeply confronting,” one seasoned observer said.

Justice Brereton found “the criminal behaviour of a few was commenced, committed, continued and concealed at the patrol commander level”.

But he said senior officers, ­including task group commanders, “must bear moral command responsibility and accountability for what happened under their command and control”.

“Commanders are both recognised and accountable for what happens ‘on their watch’, regardless of their personal knowledge, contribution or fault,” Justice Brereton said in his report.

Since then, alleged war crime perpetrators have been referred to the newly established Office of the Special Investigator, at least 11 SASR soldiers have been sacked, and some whistleblowers are also reportedly facing dismissal.

Chief of the Australian Defence Force General Angus Campbell. Picture: Getty Images

Lawyer and former army ­officer Glenn Kolomeitz, who is researching a PhD on command responsibility for war crimes, said the fallout from the Brereton ­inquiry had “rolled downhill to ­individual soldiers”.

“It is increasingly apparent that commanders, including at the lower level of task group command, are being shielded from any real responsibility,” he said.

“Putting aside any potential criminal liability, we have seen soldiers subjected to adverse ­administrative processes including attempts at collective sanctions through the cancellation of unit citations.

“Yet very little has apparently happened to the task group ­commanders, including commanding officers during ­peak periods of ­alleged offending.”

The Weekend Australian is not suggesting Brigadier Langford or Lieutenant Colonel Hawkins knew war crimes were allegedly being committed by soldiers under their command, only that there was a spike in such allegations during the deployments they led.

A former senior army officer, who knows both men, said: “I am 100 per cent confident that neither knew war crimes were being committed. But there were warning signs, and broader command and control failings.”

Defence said it could not comment on the potential cancellation of honours and awards until its ­response to the Brereton inquiry was signed off by an independent three-person panel set up to oversee the process.

“Due time and consideration must be given to Justice Brereton’s extensive findings and observations, along with his 143 recommendations, many of which raise serious, complex and sensitive ­issues,” Defence said.

Brigadier Langford and Lieutenant Colonel Hawkins’ ­direct superior in 2012 was the then-special operations commander of Australia, Major General Gus Gilmore, who retired in 2019 and now works as a senior executive elsewhere in government. His immediate superior was then-chief of army David Morrison, who answered to the then-chief of defence David Hurley, the now-Governor-General.

Releasing the Brereton report in November, General Campbell said personnel “alleged to be negligent in the performance of their duty” would face disciplinary ­action, declaring “all options (are) on the table” to hold senior officers to account.

One former SAS soldier told The Weekend Australian: “The best thing (Campbell) could have done last year was take off his DSC and said ‘All honours and awards are on the table, including mine’.

“Every single person under the command should be throwing (their medals) on the table and saying ‘Let’s own this. And if we lose three letters after our names, so be it’.”

Current or former ADF members, or their relatives, can access counselling and support by contacting the Defence All-Hours Support Line on 1800 628 036 or Open Arms on 1800 011 046.