Officer Cadet School, Portsea
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The Officer Cadet School, Portsea (sometimes referred to as OCS Portsea) was an officer training establishment of the
Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...
. Established at Portsea in Victoria, Australia, in 1951 to provide training to officer cadets prior to commissioning, for many years OCS provided the Australian Regular Army with the bulk of its junior officers. However, following a review of military training establishments in Australia in the mid-1980s, the school was eventually closed in 1985, as the
Royal Military College, Duntroon The Royal Military College, Duntroon, also known simply as Duntroon, is the Australian Army's Officer (armed forces), officer training establishment. It was founded at Duntroon, Australian Capital Territory, Duntroon in Canberra, Australian Capi ...
, assumed sole responsibility for training Army officers. The motto of OCS Portsea was ''Loyalty and Service'', which was chosen by
Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
(later Major General Sir) James Harrison during his time serving as OCS's first Commandant (1952–1954).


Location

OCS Portsea was located at Point Nepean near the mouth of
Port Phillip Bay Port Phillip ( Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is comple ...
in Victoria, Australia.Dennis et al 1995, p. 471. The land occupied by OCS was originally used as a quarantine station for many years, where newly arrived immigrants were housed before they could be screened for infectious diseases. When the quarantine station closed, the OCS took up the remainder of the land, although upon closure the land was re-allocated to the Army School of Health. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Defence presence on the land ended when the Army School of Health moved to Latchford Barracks, in Bonegilla, Victoria. In June 2009, the land was transferred to the Victorian government and has been incorporated into the Point Nepean National Park. In December 2009, the site was opened to the community as a public park and the Portsea location is now heritage listed, forming part of the greater Point Nepean National Park. Many of the old buildings were retained and some still stand today, having been protected under law. One of the buildings, which was used as a hospital, remains as a museum. OCS Cadets conducted lessons in a building previously used as a mortuary during the operation of the quarantine station. The Regimental Sergeant Major's hut is believed to be one of the oldest buildings in Victoria.


History

The Officer Cadet School, Portsea began training officers for the Australian Army in January 1952. During its 33 years of operation, 3,544 cadets graduated, including 2,826 Australian Regular Army, 30 RAAF and 688 foreign students from the School until it closed in 1985.Lindsay 1995, p. 36. Between 1952 and 1985, OCS Portsea trained 40 percent of the new officers commissioned into the Regular Army, compared with Duntroon's 28 percent. The remaining officers were provided by the Officer Training Wing of the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps School at George's Heights, Sydney, and the
Officer Training Unit, Scheyville The Officer Training Unit, Scheyville (OTU Scheyville, pronounced Skyville) was a military academy, military training establishment for Officer (armed forces), officers of the Australian Army. Located in the area of in the City of Hawkesbury, H ...
. The school was set up amidst the backdrop of the post-war period, when commitments to
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and
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
and to the national service scheme required an increase in the number of junior officers in the Army. The four-year course at the
Royal Military College, Duntroon The Royal Military College, Duntroon, also known simply as Duntroon, is the Australian Army's Officer (armed forces), officer training establishment. It was founded at Duntroon, Australian Capital Territory, Duntroon in Canberra, Australian Capi ...
was not flexible enough to enable this increase in junior officers, so the decision was made to establish the Officer Cadet School at Portsea. Unlike Duntroon OCS did not provide a degree course and trained would be junior officers over a shorter course; initially this was a six-month course, but later it became one year. The course later ran for 44 weeks. Entry criteria differed to Duntroon, with broader age ranges and lower educational requirements; consequently a high proportion of Portsea's officer cadets were serving soldiers deemed suitable for commissioning. A significant number of OCS cadets were direct entry civilians. Additionally, OCS trained servicemen from other nations including the Philippines, South Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Uganda, Fiji and New Zealand and those graduated were commissioned into their respective services. A number of graduates were also RAAF personnel. Following the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, the national service scheme ended and the OTU Scheyville was closed in 1973. In the mid-1970s, a review of military training establishments in Australia occurred. As a result, a decision created a tri-service military academy offering tertiary education to officer trainees of all three services (Army, Air Force and Navy). This academy became known as the
Australian Defence Force Academy The Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) is a tri-service military academy that provides military and Tertiary education in Australia, academic education for junior officers of the Australian Defence Force in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ...
(ADFA). Due to the formation of ADFA, the Royal Military College, Duntroon stopped providing degrees to its graduates and reduced its course from four years to eighteen months. This essentially meant that Duntroon and OCS would be providing the same training and the decision was made to close Portsea in 1985,Lindsay 1995, p. 33. as RMC Duntroon would commence the eighteen-month course in 1986. The final OCS graduating class was the class of December 1985, which included female cadets for the first time following the closure of the Women's Officer Training Wing at Georges Heights (Sydney) in December 1984. RMC Duntroon then became the sole officer commissioning establishment for General Service Officers in the Australian Regular Army. In December 1986, the final Portsea intake, who had been transferred to Duntroon, graduated.


The Colours

OCS Portsea's colours were presented on 1 June 1968, by
Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...
at the South Melbourne Cricket Ground. They consisted of a Queen's Colour with the "OCS motif in the centre" and a Regimental Colour that was an "infantry green flag with the regimental badge, title and moto surrounded by wattle sprigs". With the closure of OCS Portsea in December 1985, the school's Colours were laid up. On 23 March 1986, the Colours were paraded for the last time and were then laid up in the Anzac Memorial Chapel of St Paul at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in the Australian Capital Territory.


The Portsea Memorial Wall

A Memorial Wall dedicated to OCS graduates who lost their lives on active service was established, overlooking the parade ground, at the OCS location at Portsea and dedicated in 1967. The names of these members also appear on tablets overlooking the parade ground at the Royal Military College, Duntroon.Lindsay 1995, p. 307. After Portsea's closure of the memorial wall was carefully dismantled and re-erected within the grounds of the Royal Military College, Duntroon. Originally this was located outside the Commandant's house, but in 2004 it was moved to Stakey Park on Lavarack Road. The Point Nepean National Park staff have respected the tradition and are considering a request that a lasting memorial be re-established in the location of the old memorial wall.


Notable graduates

Portsea had a number of graduates who were either notable officers or colourful and successful in civilian life. Portsea's most famous graduate was Major Peter Badcoe, VC. Badcoe graduated from Portsea in the class of December 1952, and was awarded the
Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...
for gallantry while serving as a member of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam in 1967. He received the award posthumously and was one of four members of the AATV to receive the Victoria Cross during the Vietnam War. Major Badcoe VC is buried in Malaysia. The main hall at Portsea was named in his honour.Lindsay 1995, p. 306. A large lecture theatre in the main instructional building at RMC Duntroon is also named in his honour. Other notable graduates include Lieutenant David Brian, the first graduate to be killed in action (Thai-Malay border in 1964) and buried in Malaysia but re-buried in Australia in 2016, the late Group Captain Robert Halverson and formerly Speaker of the House of Representatives, Lieutenant General Frank Hickling formerly Chief of Army (1998), Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie formerly Chief of Army (2008), Lieutenant General David Morrison formerly Chief of Army (2011) and Australian of the Year in 2016, Lieutenant General Sir Jerry Mateparae, formerly Chief of the
New Zealand Defence Force The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF; , "Line of Defence of New Zealand") is the three-branched military of New Zealand. The NZDF is responsible for the protection of the national security of New Zealand and its realm, promoting its interests, ...
and later
Governor-General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand () is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and lives in the United Kingdom, he, on the Advice ...
, class of December 1976. Les Hiddins, star of the television show, ''The Bush Tucker Man'', class of June 1970. Lieutenant Colonel Buka Suka Dimka, class of 1963, was one of the leaders of the abortive 1976 coup which led to the assassination of the Nigerian military Head of State General
Murtala Mohammed Murtala Ramat Muhammed (; 8 November 1938 – 13 February 1976) was a Nigerian military officer and the fourth head of state of Nigeria. He led the 1966 Nigerian counter-coup in overthrowing the military regime of Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi a ...
. Lieutenant Boniface Ikejiofor was also a Nigerian graduate of Portsea in 1963.Siollun 2009, p. 200.


Notes


References

* * * * *


External links


Point Nepean Trust website

Trust article on the Quarantine Station

Parks Victoria map with more detail
* https://www.ocsportsea.org/ OCS Alumni website]
OCS Portsea at Digger History
{{coord, 38, 18, 47, S, 144, 41, 37, E, region:AU-VIC_type:landmark, display=title Defunct military academies Former military installations in Victoria (state) Military education and training in Australia Australian Army 1951 establishments in Australia Educational institutions disestablished in 1985 1985 disestablishments in Australia Military installations established in 1951