Defence Minister Richard Marles’s call for young Australians to join the ADF does have a hollow ring to it. (ST, 4/12). Last week’s demand by ADF chief Angus Campbell to return Afghan medals whether involved in atrocities or not won’t help the minister’s cause as morale plummets. The tarnishing of the reputation of Australia’s premier military units, the SAS Regiment and the Special Operations Task Group won’t help either. The mistreatment of vets and the horrendous suicide rate will have impact. With bureaucrats investigating Afghan “war crimes” and treating the accused in the media as completely guilty before any legal process is undertaken is un-Australian. Investigators ignored the difficult context of war but were happy to judge retrospectively. The incentive to enlist would require the instincts of a new generation of home-grown kamikaze pilots. Alan Sexton North Parramatta 11 December 2021.