Melick: Modelling a modern major-general

November 14, 2025

PJK rarely misses the bullseye when he launches a broadside, and this does not suggest otherwise.

I have watched Melick’s performance with a mixture of mirth and despair – and I was a senior member of staff when Ruxton was the RSL stooge on Council. Ruxton, for all his idiosyncrasies, was far preferable to Melick.

As another of the recent coterie of ex-Army Reserve majors-general we have witnessed exhibiting all the competence of some notable British senior Army commanders of World War I vintage, it beggars the imagination as to why that career path should be considered an advantage for inclusion in any organisation.

Wikipedia indicates that Melick, gained his reputation as a heavy hitter from time spent managing cadets, organising materiel supply and being a major (pun intended) driving force for his brigade’s successes in Army games. He certainly wears medals aplenty, though for what I am not cognisant. Possibly folding blankets.

Mind you, as an ex-cadet from the early 1960s, none but the brave would take on the role of commander. Australia barely survived us.

However, being the head of the RSL is more fitting for determining strategy for expanding poker machine revenue than Australia’s defence.