The Australian Army Band Corps (AABC) is the Australian Army's musical branch. It is roughly the equivalent of the Music Branch (Canadian Forces) and the

Royal Corps of Army Music The Royal Corps of Army Music (RCAM, widely known by its former acronym CAMUS) is a Corps of the British Army dedicated to the provision and promotion of military music. History The formation of the Corps of Army Music was triggered by a defen ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

. The Corps was formed on 2 August 1968 and provides the Army with musical support and seeks to improve the Army's public image. It consists of 11 individual bands; five full-time and six part-time which are located in the capital city of each state as well as the regional cities of

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's ...

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

, and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. The band’s mission is to support land operations and strategy through military and community engagement.

History

After World War II there was a need to make an assessment of the state of Army Bands. In 1951, Captain R.A. Newman was appointed the first Director of Music and in 1953 an Army School of Music was established to provide standardized formal training for Army musicians. Until 1961, Newman held the concurrent roles of Director of Music and Commanding Officer of the Army School of Music. In the 1960s focus centered on the conversion from brass band to military band instrumentation. First with the Band of the Royal Military College in 1964, all Regular Army bands were converted to this new format by 1974. Prior to the formation of the (AABC), Army musicians were held on the

Royal Australian Infantry Corps The Royal Australian Infantry Corps (RA Inf) is the parent corps for all infantry regiments of the Australian Army. It was established on 14 December 1948, with its Royal Corps status being conferred by His Majesty King George VI. At her corona ...

Special List. It was the ambition of senior band personnel to have the specialization of music recognized by the creation of a corps. This goal was realized on 2 August 1968 with the establishment of the AABC, the first of its type in the world. After the creation of the AABC, bands previously belonging to infantry battalions were reassigned to become area bands and were affiliated with particular host corps. Three of the now former bands were recognized by the granting of Freedom of Entry to their units: *1MD Band (AAB Brisbane) – City of Brisbane in 1988 *1MD Band (AAB Brisbane) – City of Gold Coast in 1989 *1MD Band (AAB Brisbane) – Shire of Redland in 1989

Composition

* Headquarters * Australian Army Band Tasmania * Australian Army Band Sydney * Band of the

1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1 RAR) is a regular motorised infantry battalion of the Australian Army. 1 RAR was first formed as the 65th Australian Infantry Battalion of the 34th Brigade (Australia) on Balikpapan in 1945 and since ...

* Band of the Royal Military College * Australian Army Band Perth * Australian Army Band Newcastle * Band of the 1st Brigade (formerly Australian Army Band Darwin) * Australian Army Band Brisbane *

Australian Army Band Kapooka The Australian Army Band Kapooka (AAB-K) is a full time military band in the Australian Army. Being a band, it is a sub-unit of the Australian Army Band , the army's official music branch. It is one of eleven military bands of the army and as the ...

* Australian Army Band Melbourne * Australian Army Band Adelaide

Former bands in the Army

Historical military bands in the AABC include: * Army School of Music (ASM) * Band of the

3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment The 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR) is a mechanised infantry battalion of the Australian Army, based in Kapyong Lines, Townsville as part of the 3rd Brigade. 3 RAR traces its lineage to 1945 and has seen operational serv ...

* Band of the

5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment The 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (5 RAR) is a regular motorised infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Originally established in 1965 it would serve two tours of South Vietnam before it was linked with the 7th Battalion to form th ...

* Southern Command Band * Eastern Command Band * Northern Command Band * Central Command Band * Western Command Band * Tasmanian Command Band * Band of the

Royal Australian Artillery The Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery, normally referred to as the Royal Australian Artillery (RAA), is a Regiment of the Australian Army descended from the original colonial artillery units prior to Australia's federation. Australia's first ...

* Band of the

Royal Australian Engineers The Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) is the military engineering corps of the Australian Army (although the word corps does not appear in their name or on their badge). The RAE is ranked fourth in seniority of the corps of the Australian Army, be ...

* Band of the

Royal Australian Corps of Signals The Royal Australian Corps of Signals (RASigs) is one of the 'arms' (combat support corps) of the Australian Army. It is responsible for installing, maintaining, and operating all types of telecommunications equipment and information systems. The m ...

* Band of the

Royal Australian Armoured Corps The Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC) is a corps of the Australian Army which provides the Australian Defence Force's armour capability. Armour combines firepower, mobility, protection and networked situational awareness to generate shock ...

* Australian Army Band

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borderin ...

* 1st Recruit Training Battalion Band * North Queensland Army Band * 1st Military District Band * 2nd Military District Band * 3rd Military District Band * 4th Military District Band * 5th Military District Band * 6th Military District Band * 7th Military District Band * Band of the

1st Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery The 1st Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery is a close support regiment attached to the 7th Brigade at Enoggera Barracks in Queensland. The unit was formed in 1914 under the name 1st Australian Field Artillery Brigade, part of 1st Division Arti ...

AABC Association

The AABC Association originated from an idea expressed at the opening of the J.J. Shelton Band Centre at the

Army Recruit Training Centre Army Recruit Training Centre (ARTC) is the official name given to the Australian Army's basic training establishment since 1 December 1998. Situated at Kapooka, an outer suburb of Wagga Wagga, in the Riverina region of New South Wales, the Arm ...

in March 1987. The association organized its first meeting on 10 June 1989, during which it was formally established. Since then the association has held reunions throughout Australia every year, growing to be an organization parallel to the

Returned and Services League of Australia The Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) is a support organisation for people who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force. Mission The RSL's mission is to ensure that programs are in place for the well-being, care ...

. The goals of the association include the following: *The communication between all former members of Army bands through personal contact and annual reunions *To foster the development of relations between former and current serving members of the AAVC. *To support the activities of the AABC The AABC Association was incorporated in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seyche ...

on 5 October 2004. The association is led by an Executive Committee which is composed of a President, a Vice President and a Secretary.

Gallery

File:Australian Army Band Kapooka at the Centenary of the Kangaroo March commemoration ceremony (1).jpg, Australian Army Band Kapooka at a Kangaroo March commemoration ceremony File:Australian Army band at the No 28 Squadron RAAF freedom of the city parade August 2013.jpg, The Australian Army Band Corps at the No. 28 Squadron RAAF freedom of the city parade in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ...

, 2013. File:AAB-D proforming at the AAHC Open Cockpit Day in April 2008.jpg, Australian Army Band Darwin in April 2008 File:Australian Army Band Kapooka at the Kangaroo March commemoration ceremony.jpg, Army Band Kapooka File:US Navy 070617-M-9449T-117 Musician 3rd Class Jessica Hatfield, vocalist with the U.S. Navy 7th Fleet Band, left, and Musician Tanya Christensen, vocalist with the Australian Army Band Brisbane sing Waltzing Matilda at the open.jpg, Jessica Hatfield, a vocalist with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

7th Fleet Band (left), and Tanya Christensen, a vocalist with Australian Army Band Brisbane singing

Waltzing Matilda "Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem". The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing) ...

at a concert. File:Northern Command Band performs in Chi Lang Gardens, Saigon.jpg, Northern Command Band performs in Chi Lang Gardens, Saigon in October 1970

References

External links

Australian Army Band CorpsAbout the Australian Army Band
{{end box Military units and formations established in 1968

Band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

Australian military bands Musical groups established in 1968 1968 establishments in Australia

History

Composition

Former bands in the Army

AABC Association

Gallery

See also

References

External links