It's welcome new that the planned expansion is starting. What I wonder is if the two mechanized battalions mentioned are actually mechanized, or are they more motorized? I tend to consider a Bushmaster IMV equipped unit motorized but not mechanized.
No they are properly mechanised, the Bushmasters are there in a support role. The actual combat APCs are the upgraded M113 AS3/4s. They are not proper IFVs by any stretch and we may see a purchase of a proper IFV soon to either augment or replace the M113s, but nothing formally has been announced. Just lots of behind the scenes muttering, especially since the new M113s are quite limited in capabilities (only armed with a .50 cal, poorly armoured and not equipped with a thermal sight, only an image intensifier).
Also, has the ADF given any thought to expanding the role & use of the Reserves? I'm thinking along the lines of the U.S. National Guard, or at least what that had originally been created for. Something similar to the Commonwealth Militia Forces that saw service in New Guinea in WWII, but with regular training on current equipment. Having such an enlarged formation, specifically setup for operations in Australian or allied territories only, could allow more dedicated expeditionary forces to be created. Possibly something made up of volunteers like the AIF.
Yes, there has been an ever-increasing push to expand the role and use of the Reserves since 9/11. The catchword the politicians and senior officers like to use is that the Reserve is a "use it or lose it" capability.
If you look back to the 1990s, the Reserves never did anything much except train (in a rather half-arsed manner) for high-intensity war in Australia. The change since then has been quite amazing. The Reserves provide the bulk of the forces to operations in the Solomon Islands, a substantial force of the recent deployment to Timor was made of up reservists, and most of the forces provided for navy patrols in Australia's EEZ are reserves as well.
Basically the ADF has recognised that, with the huge strain on the regular army due to the pace of operations, the Reserve offers a good capability for the 'low end' operations like Timor and the Solomons, which frees up the regular battalions for the high end ops like Afghanistan and Iraq.
In addition the army is just about to launch a new "High Readiness Reserve" category which will provide a series of Reserve company groups on high readiness, as the name suggests. These formations will in theory be able to slot straight into a regular battalion deployment and serve alongside them anywhere. Fairly attractive incentives are being offered to attract recruits from the general reserve into the HRR.
It's the ultimate evolution of the reserve forces. It remains to be seen how it will work, but the trials in Timor and the Solomons have been successful so there's no reason why it won't work, except for lack of recruits. When I came back to my reserve unit from my Solomons deployment, there was hardly anyone parading on Tuesday nights at all - they were all on operations!
