You’re Kidding

One of my para-mates once had to walk down the main “streets” of some Timor villages with a speaker and amplifier strapped to his chest, with the recording spruiking that “All rebels should come out of hiding and anyone with knowledge of rebels should come out and speak with the Aussie soldiers”.

Apart from having this rather large and vocal target painted to his chest, he was given a bullet-proof vest sans Kevlar, thereby rendering it useless.

When he remonstrated with the Commanding Officer [CO], the CO gave him his Kevlar on the condition that he walked nowhere near him during the patrol, lest he become a target as well.

Private Andrew Harvey, 6RAR, Timor