The Australian Staff Corps was a small

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

of Regular Army

officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

who were trained in staff duties and who were largely responsible for the training of the

Militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

, Australia’s part-time military force, during the inter-war period and in the early years following the Second World War. Members of the corps were largely graduates of the

Royal Military College, Duntroon The Royal Military College, Duntroon, also known simply as Duntroon, is the Australian Army's Officer (armed forces), officer training establishment. It was founded at Duntroon, Australian Capital Territory, Duntroon in Canberra, Australian Capi ...

History

The corps was established on 1 October 1920, in the aftermath of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

following the demobilisation of the Australian Imperial Force, when Australia's part-time military forces were reorganised to re-assume the main responsibility for the nation's defences. As part of the reorganisation, it was decided to raise a force of two cavalry divisions and five infantry divisions with various supporting arms to be maintained through a mixture of voluntary and compulsory service. To oversee the training and planning for this force, the Australian Staff Corps was established, along with the

Australian Instructional Corps The Australian Instructional Corps (AIC) was a corps of the Australian Army that existed between 1921 and 1955. Tasked with providing training to soldiers serving in Australia's part-time military force, the corps consisted of Permanent force war ...

(AIC); together these two corps replaced the previously existing Administrative and Instructional Staff (A & I Staff), which had been responsible for the organisation of the Australian Military Forces since the

Federation of Australia The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Wester ...

in 1901. These personnel were posted to Militia units as part of a small Regular training and administration cadre. The corps' personnel consisted of all officers, except

quartermasters Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is an officer who supervises logistics and requisitions, manages stores or barracks, and distributes supplies and pro ...

(who belonged to the AIC), holding substantive commissions within the Permanent Military Force assigned to the previously existing A & I Staff, the

Royal Australian Artillery The Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery, normally referred to as the Royal Australian Artillery (RAA), is a Regiment of the Australian Army descended from the original colonial artillery units prior to Australia's federation. Australia's f ...

, the

Royal Australian Engineers The Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) is the military engineering corps of the Australian Army. The RAE is ranked fourth in seniority of the corps of the Australian Army, behind the Corps of Staff Cadets, Staff Cadets, Royal Australian Armoured C ...

or the Australian Army Service Corps. In the post Second World War period, the strategic imperatives of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

resulted in the Regular Army taking primacy over part-time forces, and the training of part-time soldiers moved towards a more centralised scheme. The raising of regular combat units, including infantry, with corps-specific training schools, negated the need for corps such as the AIC, or the Australian Staff Corps. Amidst these and other changes the Australian Staff Corps was finally removed from the Order of Precedence in 1983.

References

;Footnotes ;Citations ;Bibliography * * *

External links

Staff Corps collar badge
Defunct Australian Army Corps Military units and formations established in 1920 Military units and formations disestablished in 1983

History

References

Further reading

External links