Defence chief Angus Campbell tried to hand back his Afghanistan medal but was refused

Defence Force chief Angus Campbell attempted to hand back the medal he was awarded for his command of troops in Afghanistan after a damning report into war crimes committed by Australian soldiers was published.

Following the release of Justice Paul Brereton’s findings of war crimes in late 2020, General Campbell offered to return a Distinguished Service Cross awarded to him for his stewardship as commander of Middle East Operations in 2011.

Chief of the Defence Force General Angus Campbell offered to hand back his Distinguished Service Cross.Credit: ADF

The offer was made to the then defence minister, Linda Reynolds, according to well-placed sources speaking on the condition of anonymity to reveal confidential discussions. Reynolds was defence minister from May 2019 until March 2021.

The sources said the offer was declined because then-prime minister Scott Morrison was unhappy at the idea of anybody’s medals being revoked.

When asked why he offered to return the medal, Campbell said it would be inappropriate to comment. Reynolds also declined to comment.

The issue of medals revocation over war crimes allegations has been a political flashpoint, and the debate was given fresh impetus this month when Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith lost his defamation case against The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times.

The Federal Court found the publications had proven Roberts-Smith had murdered four unarmed civilians during his time in Afghanistan.

The Brereton report found credible evidence of 39 unlawful killings by soldiers at the rank of sergeant and below and recommended a review of commendations handed out during the conflict. The report found most of the alleged unlawful killings occurred in 2012 and 2013, after Campbell’s time in charge.

Brereton found the officer corps still bore some responsibility, swinging focus to whether they could honourably continue to wear medals awarded for “distinguished service”, although he also found “responsibility and accountability does not extend to higher headquarters, including in particular Headquarters Joint Task Force 633 [in charge of Australian forces in the Middle East] … because they did not have a sufficient degree of command and control”.

The sources did not say why Campbell had offered to surrender his medal, but the move is significant as he has faced intense public questioning after writing to a number of other officers asking them to explain why they should not have theirs stripped.

Senator Jacqui Lambie gave Campbell a grilling over the medals issue in a Senate estimates hearing.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Campbell declined to say, under questioning in a Senate estimates hearing in May, how many letters were sent out other than it was only a small number of people who held command appointments.

“I know that not only yourself but a range of other interested parties and the media are circling around this issue like great whites in a feeding frenzy,” Campbell told independent senator Jacqui Lambie. “I would wish to decline to tell you the number so as to mitigate the enthusiasm with which these people are hunted down by the media looking for spectacle.”

Lambie has previously called for Campbell to resign over the handling of commendations and questioned why he had not been stripped of medals.

“Where is your command accountability?” she asked.

Veterans groups, including the Special Air Service Association, also have suggested Campbell should consider handing back his medal. He has been accused by some of applying standards to others while absolving himself.

Sources with knowledge of the situation but not authorised to speak publicly say two of Roberts-Smith’s former commanding officers, then ranked as lieutenants colonel, have received notices to return their medals, as have two of his line commanders, who were then of the rank of major. One senior officer is also on the hit list, the sources say.

Defence said it would not comment on the circumstances of individuals.

Campbell is not the only senior officer to offer to surrender his medal. Brigadier Ian Langford, who as a lieutenant colonel commanded Ben Roberts-Smith’s now notorious 2012 rotation, also moved to return his Distinguished Service Cross. That was rejected as a process was not yet in place and the Office of the Special Investigator into war crimes was yet to report.

When Reynolds was replaced by Peter Dutton, the new minister refused Campbell’s recommendation to rescind the Meritorious Unit Citation awarded to the Special Operations Task Group for service in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2013.

The case against keeping the medals was that, if the period could not be regarded as meritorious, and the leadership could not be considered distinguished, there was little integrity in the honour. However, Dutton argued that the 99 per cent of soldiers who had done the right thing deserved the recognition.

This month, Reynolds, a former army reserve brigadier, told this masthead the nation’s most senior officers needed to take greater responsibility for alleged wrongdoing in Afghanistan.

Defence Minister Richard Marles has also been told of Campbell’s offer to return his Distinguished Service Cross. Asked about the offer, Marles’ spokesperson said Campbell had provided recommendations on command accountability and they were under consideration.

At the change of government in 2022, Campbell sought to reinstate military reform initiatives that he had proposed post-Brereton, but which were scaled back under the previous government.

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