Australian Military ‘Haemorrhaging’ Talent and Experience: Inquiry

The inquiry into the deadly Taipan helicopter crash last year has heard the ADF is losing significant experience and talent.

A supplied image obtained on July 29, 2023, of an Australian Army MRH-90 Taipan helicopter conducting flying serials during the ship’s transit to Vanuatu, July 23, 2020. AAP Image/Supplied by The Australian Defence Force

An Australian Army aircrewman—identified only by the pseudonym “D4”—has told an inquiry the military must address the “haemorrhaging” of experience and corporate knowledge.

Former Justice Margaret McMurdo is conducting an independent inquiry into the crash of an MRH-90 Taipan helicopter, off the north Queensland coast in July 2023, that killed four soldiers.