Hockey must pay off our credit card

Joe Hockey says the government won't 'cherry-pick' recommendations from the Commission of Audit's report.

POLITICIANS like to use homespun wisdom to sell their political lines.

Government debt is often referred to in the same terms as household debts.

Treasurer Joe Hockey employed the mortgage metaphor last month to describe his budget challenge.

"Budget repair is … about ensuring that future generations do not pay for a standard of living for today's generation that they themselves will never enjoy," he explained.

"Continued deficit and debt is borrowing from tomorrow to fund our lifestyle today. We owe it to our children not to leave them with a mortgage that paid for our lifestyle."

Of course, government budgets are not the same thing as household budgets.

For one, governments can control their incomes — give themselves a pay rise, if they like, by raising taxes.

Governments also never die. Well, in safe stable democracies like ours, it's safe to assume the government will continue for many years. As such, their bills never fall due.

And it's much easier for governments to get a loan to cover their debts. Despite concern about Australia's budget outlook, investors are still quite happy to lend to the federal government.

Just last week, the government's debt manager went to the market and managed to borrow $700 million at an interest rate of a little over 4 per cent. It's been lower, but that's still pretty good compared to the credit card rates that households pay.

But Hockey's right that there are crucial similarities between household and government accounts.

DIABOLIC BUDGET: Tony Abbott's week from hell

Budget pain ... Treasurer Joe Hockey reacts to the release of the Commission of Audit at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture; Kym Smith Source: News Corp Australia

Both face similar a distinction between credit card style debts and mortgage style debt.

Ordinary borrowers use mortgages to cover the cost of investments. They do so because they expect the value of those investments, like a house, to rise over time and eventually be worth more than the initial debt. For most Australians, this has been the best way to wealth ever invented.

Credit card debt, by contrast, is used to fund current spending. You go to the shops to buy shoes, you put them on the credit card and then pay it off from your next pay check.

Broadly, you should be aiming to pay your credit card off as you go. If you don't, and you died, that money would come out of your estate and yes, your children would end up footing the bill.

If you died and left a mortgage to your children, they could sell the house and hopefully — if it had gone up in value — clear the debt quite easily.

When it comes to government debt, there is a similar distinction.

Government spending can be like purchasing an asset that increases in value over time, like your house. If governments spend their money to build roads, railways and public transport, this increases the economy's productive capacity and future earnings. The increase in value to the economy is more than enough to cover the debts. Of course, that's assuming governments make wise investments, which they so frequently don't.

Spending on education and health can also increase the economy's productive capacity. Highly educated graduates enjoy higher incomes than school leavers. Healthy workers are more productive than sick workers.

Bad news ... Treasurer Joe Hockey and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Kym Smith Source: News Corp Australia

So money spend on health and education can also be seen as an investment. It may be worth the government going into some debt to do it.

But it turns out that most of government spending today is made up of welfare payments and benefits. These things go out the door to increase fairness in the economy, not necessarily to boost productive capacity.

When it comes to these things, governments should be able to fund them from their next pay check. In the case of government, that's revenue from income taxes, company taxes et cetera.

Unfortunately, the federal government's current level of income (through taxation) is nowhere near enough to pay for all this "recurrent expenditure" of government.

Put simply, the budget does not add up. We do not have enough revenue raised through taxes to cover our spending on a day-to-day basis. That's why the budget is in deficit. And whenever we're in deficit, the government must borrow to cover the difference.

Sure, some of government spending can be classed as investments. But most of it is not.

If parents don't want to pass on credit card debt to their children, there's only two ways to correct things.

First they can spend less in the first place.

Second, they can work more to earn a higher income.

For governments, it's spend less or tax more.

If we don't want future taxpayers to have to foot the bill of our current lifestyle, we will have to receive fewer services or pay higher taxes.

There's no other way around it.

20.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

The cutthroat work culture at Amazon

Jeff Bezos may have created the ultimate "everything store" but some his former employees are less than happy with the work culture he's cultivated. Source: AFP

AMAZON may have rapturous fans all over the world, but some of those won't be its very own employees.

Yesterday, we brought you one Amazon warehouse worker's account of what it's like working for the blue collar side of the operation. Today, we bring you an account of what it's like working on the corporate side. (Hint: "weird.")

We got this email (which we've lightly copy edited for easier reading) from a person who worked in Amazon's corporate offices in Seattle from 2007-2009. It's an interesting look at a rather bizarre and driven corporate culture, with high pressure, high turnover, and a strong devotion to The Cult of Jeff Bezos. Take it for what it's worth:

"Just a very weird experience as a whole. You feel like you won the lottery just getting a call back about your resume. That's by design. Amazon is great at branding and they have branded themselves the place to work in high tech. Makes sense. Probably why they heavily recruit Ivy League campuses now. Smart people, first job — you'd be crazy not to think that's a great opportunity.

So you get an interview, what next? A six-hour ordeal including panel interviews and people coming and going. You'll find out later when asked to participate in one of these that they are designed to agitate the interviewee, let's see what you got!

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos with Amazon Kindle HDX. Source: AP

Then the fun starts. There is not so much the word "train" or any training period whatsoever. There's barely a job description and that will fluctuate. This also is by design. Sink or swim they say. You do get an employee orientation and nifty Amazon backpack they charge you for when you leave the company.

There was a young woman hired to be a control buyer on our team (Amazon retail is broken down by sections on the website. I worked for toys) and her and her entire family relocated from San Francisco, on the company's dime. Nice right? Well she started on Monday and by Friday she was pretty upset. She explained that the position was nothing like the description and she felt she was deceived a bit on the responsibilities. Needless to say when I showed up Monday, her desk was empty. Hopefully they paid to get them back to San Francisco.

The first six months there is pretty exciting. You're trying to swim, meeting new people, going out to lunches with vendors because Amazon is totally okay with receiving gifts of all types from outside interests. Money, food, sports tickets, you name it.

And don't get me started on the booze. My god those people put away some booze. On the clock in the office and it's acceptable!

Just when you feel your new career has started, that's about when the s**t starts getting real. The work/life balance is crap. I was once asked why I turned my BlackBerry off on some random Saturday afternoon. The fact I was in a movie theatre with my family was not okay. Your BlackBerry stays on at all times. Responsibilities grow fast and now you're in deep. Apparently, Jeff said something about 'if you aren't working at least 60 hours a week you aren't working' or something to that affect.

Amazon distribution centre. Source: Supplied

The managers love it and say that crap all the time.

Better not complain though, this is about the time they start reminding you that there's a thousand people out there that would love your job. They will tell you this on a regular basis. So yeah, I'll take conference calls at 1am because our outsourced employees in India can't work overtime/take off-hour calls.

They seem to care more about stressing them out. So the fun is now over. You're a good year in and have noticed teams/employees coming and going like the wind. And so has everybody else because the software engineers there designed a little tool called the "old fart tool" — you put in your employee number and the tool tells you how much of the company was hired after you. By 18 months in, 36% of the company was hired after me with very little increase in actual numbers. I worked from 2007-09.

Growth was slow and there was a hiring freeze during a lot of that time depending on department. The turnover was something I had never seen before. And I've worked a few collection agencies and call centres, real crap jobs with extreme turnover. Amazon's turnover was much worse.

After a year, most employees start looking for a new job elsewhere or new position within the company, again by design. During orientation it's encouraged that you not spend more than two years in the same team. It seemed like an odd statement at the time but I now believe it's to save your a**e.

The company is really good about having its staff explain to management why they should still be there. You literally must reinterview for your position constantly. It comes up at least every three months. And you keep getting those reminders that people outside want your job.

It was a pretty stressful work environment and most people aren't really that happy. Employee morale is for those new employees still thrilled to death to be there. Whenever I see one and they tell me how great Amazon is, I say, tell me that again in two years.

Amazon warehouse employees on strike in Germany over work conditions. Source: AFP

When I was at the 18-month mark on the toys team, I thought I should get the hell out of that team as soon as possible. Unfortunately there was a hiring freeze during that time and transfers were hard to come by. A few months after that, I got a new manager on the toy team. After working with him for a month, he does my review. I remember like it was yesterday. On Friday afternoon, he calls me into his office and it goes something like this:

Him: [name], we decided we don't want you here anymore

Me: Huh? Um, okay?

Him: Yeah it's just not working out

Me: OK well I can find another team and do a lateral move

Him: No that isn't going to work either.

*very long pause*

Me: OK. well my last review was great so I'm not sure why the big difference?

Him: That's just the way it is, so what are you going to do?

Me: What do you mean? Are you firing me?

Him: Nope. But I need you to come in Monday and let me know what your plan is.

Huh? Was he asking me to quit? Yes.

When Monday rolls around, it was the same "What are you going to do" question. By then I'm getting a little pissed.

Spit it out. He doesn't. He calls me into his office everyday for at least 30 minutes asking me what I'm going to do until I finally say "I'm not quitting. if that's what this is about you need to figure out what you're going to do".

Jeff Bezos with some of the goodies you can with just a click of your mouse. Source: AP

I'm left out of team meetings, work is being taken away from me and the vendors I've worked with for almost two years are being told not to interact with me anymore. So I'm left with no option than to do we all know is the nail in the coffin of your job: talk to HR about the situation.

So I did. She and my manger decided to put me on a "performance improvement plan" (PIP). This is Amazon's ace in the hole for termination. The PIP was ridiculous with the stuff on there things I'd never done before or was never a part of my responsibilities and physically impossible to comply with. I busted my a**e for the 90 days the PIP was in place

After that I packed up all my belongings and took them home and waited. I got called into the office, and the HR rep and the manager said: "You didn't make your PIP. We are letting you go. I responded: "I'm being fired"? He said: "No, Amazon doesn't fire people, they let them go." What difference does that make? I was told they would give me stock and a small severance package if I signed an agreement not so sue them for wrongful termination.

You aren't worth anything to that company once you strap on that backpack. Every new employee is better than you and every future employee will do a better job. I blame the success of that company and how few employees they have. Jeff has a special team of managers called the S-team. Those guys are all multi-millionaires from stock alone. Every average Joe-manager at Amazon would crush you like a grape to even get noticed by Jeff. They live, breathe and sleep only to get on that team. And it's only a few levels ahead of them! They can almost reach it ..."

This article originally appeared on Gawker and was reprinted here with permission.

20.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bali bombers return to paradise

Renee Nowytarger recounts her experiences photographing the aftermath of the Bali bombing.

Never forgotten ... the Angel of Byron Bay (left) became an iconic image after the 2002 bombings. Source: Supplied

• 92 Australians were killed in the 2002 and 2005 attacks
• All 36 terrorists who were not sentenced to life are now free
• Five men form the two attacks remain ­behind bars
• Up to 100 more terrorist could be free by next year

FOR the survivors of the Bali bomb attacks it is a terrifying tally, but for the families of the 92 Australians killed it is simply heartbreaking.

All 36 Indonesian terrorists who were sentenced to anything less than life for their parts in the 2002 and 2005 bar and restaurant ­attacks, which killed a further 130 victims, are now free.

And up to 100 more terrorists convicted for other ­attacks on local and western interests in Indonesia will be freed in the coming year, ­according to a leading expert.

Only five men from the two Bali attacks remain ­behind bars on life sentences. Indonesia's Justice and Human Rights Ministry said they were not entitled to ­remission or clemency.

20.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Choppers shot down by insurgents

The Ukrainian government met stiff resistance from pro-Russian separatists when it launched a military operation to regain control of the eastern city of Slovyansk. Ukrainian units surrounded the city but at least one of its helicopters was shot down, said officials.

PRO-RUSSIAN insurgents have shot down two Ukrainian helicopters, sparking a retaliatory military assault as the crisis deepens.

Ukraine has launched a military assault on the flashpoint town of Slavyansk, raising the stakes in the showdown with Russia, which has vowed "catastrophic consequences" if Kiev stepped up operations.

Insurgents shot down two army helicopters, killing two servicemen, including a pilot, as the army tightened its noose around the rebel-held town of 160,000 people.

The pre-dawn offensive drew a sharp response from Moscow, where a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin said it dealt a "final blow" to a deal clinched last month in Geneva meant to ease the crisis.

A spokeswoman for insurgents in Slavyansk, the epicentre of tensions in eastern Ukraine, said the army had staged a "full-scale attack" on the town.

Crisis deepens ... Ukrainian soldiers take position at a checkpoint they seized in the early morning in the village of Andreevka. Picture: VASILY MAXIMOV Source: AFP

An AFP reporter on the scene saw a column of eight armoured vehicles breaching a rebel-held checkpoint just south of Slavyansk and heard explosions and sporadic small arms fire as helicopters circled overhead.

The raid marked a dramatic escalation in the crisis and jeopardised negotiations to release seven European OSCE inspectors being held by Slavyank's insurgents.

The Kremlin said it had an envoy in east Ukraine negotiating for their freedom. A day earlier, Ukraine's interim president reintroduced conscription amid fears of an imminent Russian invasion.

Oleksandr Turchynov has also put his armed forces on "full-combat alert" in response to the estimated 40,000 Russian troops massed on the border.

Full combat mode ... Ukrainian soldiers arrive to reinforce a checkpoint which troops seized in the early morning in the village of Andreevka, as Ukraine's military lost two helicopters and two servicemen. Picture: VASILY MAXIMOV Source: AFP

He has admitted police are powerless to stop a growing insurgency in the eastern part of the country, where pro-Russian rebels have seized control of more than a dozen towns and cities.

As the crisis rapidly spirals into the worse East-West confrontation since the end of the Cold War, US President Barack Obama was due to discuss the tensions with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House later Friday.

- 'Determined not to surrender' —

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced the Slavyansk death toll on his Facebook page, adding that there were also personnel wounded in the operation.

"It's a real battle we are waging against professional mercenaries," he wrote, warning local residents to stay indoors and keep away from windows.

"Our demands for the terrorists are simple: release their hostages, lay down their arms, leave administrative buildings and restore the normal functioning of the urban infrastructure." One Slavyansk resident, Vladimir Pader, told Russian television: "Everyone — rebels and Slavyansk residents — is determined not to surrender the city." Eight armoured vehicles and several soldiers were seen retrenching positions at checkpoints and warned off anybody trying to approach.

Authorities said they had retaken nine rebel checkpoints.

Attacks continue ... an armed pro-Russian man walks past burning debris at a checkpoint in the southern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk. Picture: VASILY MAXIMOV Source: AFP

Central Slavyansk remained relatively calm, although rebels parked a previously captured armoured vehicle in front of the town hall where the OSCE monitors are being held.

In what they called an "anti-terrorist" operation, the Ukrainian forces had for days encircled the town to prevent the insurgents receiving reinforcements.

Russia's foreign ministry warned Thursday that any effort by Kiev to intensify its military operation "against its own people" in the east could have "catastrophic consequences".

And Russian news agencies quoted Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that while Moscow was "making efforts to de-escalate and settle the conflict", Kiev had launched a "reprisal raid".

He said the raid was "essentially finishing off the last hope for the feasibility of the Geneva accord".

Russia's envoy to the OSCE, Andrei Kelin, said Moscow had urged the pan-European body to "take steps to stop this reprisal raid," according to the ITAR-TASS news agency.

Hopes had been raised in recent days that the seven OSCE hostages in Slavyansk — four Germans, a Dane, a Czech and a Pole — might soon be released but Ukraine has accused the rebels of wanting to use them as human shields.

Chopper down ... a Ukrainian military helicopter lands at a checkpoint which troops seized in the early morning in the village. Picture: VASILY MAXIMOV Source: AFP

Russia 'won't do anything stupid'

The West and Kiev believe the chaos in eastern Ukraine is being sown by Moscow in a bid to destabilise the former Soviet republic ahead of planned presidential elections on May 25.

The Kremlin denies the charges, but has reserved the right to use troops to protect Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine, a region with deep cultural and historical ties to Moscow.

The Western response has been to launch sanctions against members of Putin's inner circle and target key firms in a bid to attack Russia's already recession-hit economy.

Moscow has reacted angrily, threatening to retaliate against Western interests in the lucrative energy sector but has vowed a measured response.

All eyes are now on Obama and Merkel's meeting in Washington to see what the West's next move will be.

Also later Friday, Russia, Ukraine and the European Union will hold talks over debts running into billions of dollars that state-run Russian gas firm Gazprom says Kiev owes.

Standing their ground ... a Ukrainian soldier stands guard near a checkpoint which troops seized in the early morning in the village of Andreevka. Picture: VASILY MAXIMOV Source: AFP

Putin has warned that not paying the bill, which Gazprom estimates at $3.5 billion, could lead to him turning off the taps, which would also affect several European countries.

Kiev is expected to use part of a $17-billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, announced on Wednesday, to settle the bill.

Financial market analyst Holder Schmieding said the situation in Ukraine was "a whale of a risk" for the European economy.

The unrest in Ukraine, which started with peaceful demonstrations in Kiev in November against pro-Kremlin president Viktor Yanukovych's decision to ditch a pact for closer integration with the EU, has rapidly degenerated into a full-blown global crisis.

After a deadly crackdown on protesters, Yanukovych was forced out in February, sparking fury in Moscow which responded with a blitz annexation of Crimea.

The pro-Russia rebels who have been steadily taking more ground in the east vow to hold their own Crimea-style "referendum" on independence on May 11 — two weeks before the nationwide presidential vote.

20.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

PM’s trip ditched at final hour

Passengers on an asylum seeker boat vent their frustrations at the Australian government after being turned back. Courtesy ABC/7.30

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has postponed a trip to Indonesia next week, and concerns about an asylum seeker operation under way north of Australia is believed to be behind the decision.

Arrangements were being made for Mr Abbott to visit Bali early next week, where he'd been invited by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to attend a regional forum.

But the plans were suddenly ditched on Friday evening, with the prime minister's office not confirming the reasons for the change. "The attempt to make a trip to Indonesia has been postponed but we are hopeful of finding another date soon," a spokesman for Mr Abbott told AAP on Friday.

AAP understands that the visit was deemed too risky while an on-water operation — believed to be a "turnback" of an asylum seeker vessel — was under way.

The potential that a boat carrying asylum seekers could arrive on Indonesian shores during the prime minister's visit and cause embarrassment to President Yudhoyono was considered too great. The government will not comment on any matters related to on-water incidents at sea related to Operation Sovereign Borders.

The invite extended to Mr Abbott was considered a significant overture from President Yudhoyono, and a real step towards repairing the bilateral relationship after it hit rocky waters last year.

Indonesia recalled its ambassador and suspended all military, police and intelligence co-operation in November after revelations that Australia had spied on President Yudhoyono and his wife. More than four months later things haven't been resolved and the temporary freeze on cooperation hasn't lifted, but this personal visit from Mr Abbott was seen as an opportunity to break the impasse.

A spokesperson for Mr Abbott said the prime minister was looking forward to attending the Open Government Partnership forum in Bali. "The prime minister is grateful for the invitation," they said. Mr Abbott hopes to meet the president at a "mutually convenient time" soon.

SA Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said that as long as the Abbott Government continued to "tow boats back and treat Indonesia with contempt" Australia's relationship with its close neighbour would be troubled.

"The Coalition's skewed priorities mean that Tony Abbott is putting more effort into punishing refugees than repairing the relationship with one of our closest neighbours," she said.

"Instead of belittling our neighbours, Australia should be leading a general regional solution."

20.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

How our future soldiers will fight

Ready to open fire ... British soldiers undergo simulation training. Source: Supplied

WE take you inside the one of the world's top military simulation centres, where incredible advances have been made to prepare soldiers for war. Ian McPhedran reports.

Hefting my full size Carl Gustavo 84mm anti-armour weapon on my shoulder, I narrow my sights on a distant window. The trigger is pulled and with a 'whoosh-roar-bang' a room full of bad guys is 'eliminated.'

In another corner of the training space a digita firing range serves up a variety of simulated targets for the shooter and an M4 assault rifle.

Target in sight, another deep breath and 'bang', the simulated round takes out an enemy fighter. The recoil is realistic and the targets respond as if hit by a real bullet.

We are at the Saab training and simulation centre in the pretty lakeside town of Huskvarna in central Sweden.

The Swedish arms maker is at the cutting edge of simulation technology and the realism that can be achieved these days in the class room is truly astonishing.

Gone are the days when soldiers and police had to beg, borrow or steal to get enough ammunition to stay current.

With simulation this good the need to actually fire a live round against a target range is all but eliminated.

The Australian Army aims to have about 25 per cent of its total training regime conducted under simulation or "non-live'' activities during the next decade.

The head of the army's office of modernisation and strategic planning, Major General Jeff Sengelman, says the modern-day army has no option but to boost its use of simulation.

"I personally believe that an aspirational target of 25 per cent delivery of competencies through non-live means within a decade is both achievable, and given the escalating demands of joint and collective training, essential,'' General Sengelman said.

"We also need to reduce the amount of movement of fleets and people across Australia and therefore favour solutions which maximise local solutions, including improved usability and development of local major training areas such as Cultana, High Range and Shoalwater Bay [all in Queensland].''

One of the biggest advances in simulation technology is portability.

Warfare training ... British soldiers undergo simulation training equipped with high tech vests and laser guided weapons. Source: Supplied

Today's advanced simulation and live instrumentation systems can be transported in trailers to units at their home locations with a minimum of fuss and at a greatly reduced cost. With shrinking budgets across all areas of government, including the military, the sheer cost of moving hundreds of soldiers and equipment long distances to conduct live training has become so prohibitive that portable and fixed simulation will take over many traditional training roles.

Just one example of the huge potential for savings that simulation brings is the training of Joint Terminal Attack Controllers or JTAC's. These highly trained soldiers are the eyes and ears on the ground to call in close-air support for infantry troops in the form of fast jets or attack helicopters. The cost of training just one JTAC is estimated at $19 million when you tally up aircraft and ammunition costs. Modern simulation technology means you can take a JTAC to the same skill level for a fraction of that cost.

Swedish giant Saab is a global leader in military simulation technology.

During a media tour of the firm's facilities across Sweden in early April, News Corp Australia witnessed first-hand the incredible advances in simulation technology from digital weapons ranges to an entire village fully instrumented to simulate any number of scenarios from hostage rescue to a full-blown live fire assault.

The company's training and simulation headquarters is in the picturesque lakeside town of Huskvarna (home to the Husqvarna motor cycle, lawnmower and chainsaw company).

Saab employs about 700 people in its training systems and simulation division including about 350 engineers and according to company spokesman Anders Jonzon the philosophy of simulation is simple — to allow soldiers or police to train as they will fight.

"We are turning training into confidence,'' he said.

"If we can save a life that is what we intend to do.''

Politicians who send troops to war don't want too many coming home in body bags so saving lives is a vital element of modern training for war. According to Saab it can prove how simulated training systems have saved lives.

Building skills ... Swedish counter-terrorism police equipped with simulation technology undergo training at the Swedish Combat Training Centre. Source: Supplied

Saab exports its training simulation technology around the world to countries and security forces as diverse as Kenya, Norway, New Zealand, Australia and the United States.

The company's aim is to deliver systems that are as close to the real thing as possible. The other crucial factor is providing real-time feedback to the soldier and preserving the data gathered during the exercise.

Saab's Adelaide based business development manager for training and simulation Inger Lawes said that the Australian Army was in danger of falling behind the rest of the world in terms of training in the post-Afghanistan environment.

"Skills retention will be a big problem for the Australian Army post-Afghanistan,'' Mr Lawes said.

Unfortunately the army's training technology is falling behind with facilities such as the Vietnam-era Combat Infantry Training Centre in Townsville now completely out of date. The light infantry and Vietnam jungle warfare foundations bear little resemblance to the modern combined-arms battle group approach to warfighting. In addition just one-third of the army's troops get the chance to even use the centre with those based in Darwin and Adelaide missing out altogether.

Simulation has become so advanced that Saab can rig a soldier out with a suite of sensors that can even simulate a bullet wound and the effectiveness of the treatment applied by medics.

During the media tour at the Swedish Combat Training Centre near the town of Kvarn, journalists were fitted with laser harnesses and simulated grenades for an urban warfare exercise. Noise, smoke and fire simulators inside the rooms of the 'towns' buildings made the training even more realistic. Following one very loud but non-explosive blast from a digital hand grenade thrown by colleagues, two hapless reporters were pronounced "killed'' and badly injured over the speaker fitted to each harness system.

Separate simulators also provide feedback about a soldier's fitness to fight on or any damage to his weapon.

Not simple guerilla warfare anymore ... British soldiers undergo simulation training. Source: Supplied

Of course nothing can simulate the fear and sheer physical impact of actual combat, but the Saab system comes very close.

Also included at the training centre are powerful loud speaker systems that provide highly realistic crowd, vehicle or helicopter noises to add to the overall sense of realism.

According to Mr Lawes simulated training systems can have a profound impact on infantry commanders.

In one celebrated case a Swedish Army Company Commander lost 80 per cent of his men in a very short time during a simulated urban assault.

"He [the commander] switched the system off, studied the data and did it all again with much better results,'' Mr Lawes said.

New Zealand is spending about $20 million to equip a brigade of 1000 troops and 200 vehicles with Saab's simulation technology. The company says the Australian Army could do the same job across its "ready'' "re-setting'' and "readying'' combat brigades for an estimated $100 million.

"Live simulation systems need to be scalable to support training ranging from individual to complete Multi-Role Combat Brigade including its supporting enablers,'' Mr Lawes said.

"The systems need to incorporate all battle space players including, but not limited to, civilian, non- government agencies (NGOs), government agencies and civilians.''

Simulation training is the way of the future.

The Australian Army will need to move quickly to capitalise on new technologies before the rest of the world leaves it far behind.

* Ian McPhedran travelled to Sweden as a guest of Saab

20.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Skeleton key to missing man

Using DNA to solve a mystery ... Marvin Clark went missing before the Great Depression in 1926. Picture: Department of Justice National Missing and Unidentified Persons System Source: AP

HE is America's oldest missing person. Now after 88 years, a skeleton may unlock the mystery of how he vanished on Halloween.

Marvin A. Clark disappeared during a short trip to Portland on Halloween weekend 1926.

Clark's disappearance is one of the oldest active missing-person cases in the nation, according to a federally funded database of missing persons.

Investigators know Clark is not alive — he'd be more than 160 years old — but they believe they have his remains.

Now, they need DNA samples from Clark's hard-to-find descendants to close the case.

Despite the age of the remains, investigators were able to get a good DNA profile, said Dr Nici Vance of the Oregon state medical examiner's office. Volunteer genealogists then found three great-great-grandchildren on the paternal side.

The results were encouraging, but not definitive, Vance said.

Now, "they're looking for a maternal link, someone on his mother's side, and following that lineage to shore it up and make the statistics a little better," she said. "There's an association there, but it's not strong at this point."

Vance entered Clark's name into the database of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, which provides a central repository of information about missing persons and unidentified decadent records. The free online system can be searched at findthemissing.org.

"There might have been an item of jewellery that was found with that person that could trigger a memory of a family member," she said.

The database, funded by the National Institute of Justice, consists of nearly 10,000 cases. Among the oldest active ones are cases involving a farmer in his 30s who went missing in Oklahoma in 1902, a 2-year-old who disappeared in 1930 in Chicago and a 22-year-old hiker who vanished in Rocky Mountain National Park in 1933.

Missing for 90 years ... Marvin Clark, who is one of the oldest missing persons cases in the US. Picture: Department of Justice National Missing and Unidentified Persons System Source: AP

As might be expected in Clark's case, which dates back to just before the Great Depression, some facts are sketchy and conflicting. According to the database, he was in his early 60s when he vanished while taking a stagecoach ride to see his Portland doctor in 1920.

But contemporaneous articles from The Oregonian newspaper show Clark was 75 and went missing on a bus trip in 1926. The old clippings say the "well-known" Tigard, Oregon resident left home on Saturday, October 30, to visit his daughter, Mrs Sidney McDougall, in Portland.

A frantic search began two days later when Clark's wife called McDougall and learned he never completed the trip that's about 10 miles.

McDougall, an article says, had not been expecting a visit from her father because he returned to Tigard from her home only a few days before his disappearance. The newspaper said Clark had been traced to a terminal in downtown Portland, near McDougall's place.

McDougall offered a $100 reward — more than $1,300 in today's money — for information about his whereabouts, but nothing turned up. Police across the Pacific Northwest were asked to be on the lookout for Clark, who had partial paralysis on the right side, a "halting gait" and couldn't use his right arm.

Missing pieces ... Marvin Clark and an unidentified woman. Picture: Department of Justice National Missing and Unidentified Persons System Source: AP

Then, on May 10, 1986, loggers clear-cutting an isolated section of Portland discovered the remains of a man who had been dead for at least a half-century.

Near the skeleton, investigators found an 1888 V nickel, a 1919 penny, a pocket watch, leather shoes, wire-rimmed glasses, a Fraternal Order of Eagles pocket knife and four tokens with the inscription "D&P." A historian told The Oregonian in 1986 that those where likely tavern tokens, which were awarded in card games and could be used to buy food or alcohol.

Police also found a corroded revolver, and an expended .32-caliber bullet. A single shot had entered the skull at the temple. Medical examiners at the time said it was the oldest case they ever had. They ruled the unknown man's death a suicide. Investigators were sceptical that his identity would ever be learned.

Clark's name surfaced a couple days later when a woman told detectives it might be her grandfather.

The woman, Dorothy Willoughby, said Clark had once been the town marshal from Linnton, which was annexed by Portland in the early 20th century and is near the secluded ravine where the man chose to end his life. She said her grandfather went missing around 1920 and was said to have been depressed over medical problems and sometimes used a cane.

Where he came from ... a historical photo of Marvin Clark's home in Tigard, Oregon. Picture: Department of Justice National Missing and Unidentified Persons System Source: AP

The granddaughter's hunch, however, wasn't enough to solve the disappearance. She died in 1991.

When Vance discovered a file about Clark and the 1986 remains, she realised the case number might be in the storage unit where the remains of unidentified people are kept. "And I was like: 'Oh my gosh, I still have this guy. This is fantastic,'" she said.

With the advances in DNA, she sent a sample in 2011 to the Center for Human Identification at the University of North Texas, which also manages the database of missing and unidentified people. Now, they are searching for more of Clark's descendants.

"I don't like the word closure, I kind of think resolution," said Janet Franson, a regional NamUs administrator whose territory includes Oregon.

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