History preserved as training base for generations of soldiers rebuilt

The rattling of drums and metronomic marching of boots is punctuated by the pop of machine guns as an officer yells commands — this is the soundtrack of Kapooka, and one that is familiar to every new recruit to the Australian Army.

While the routines and drills have stayed largely the same during 75 years of basic training, Kapooka's Blamey Barracks in southern NSW is about to get an major upgrade.

Work is underway on an $846.9 million redevelopment of the base which will see the old buildings knocked down and rebuilt, using recycled materials from current buildings to ensure the historic value is retained.

Operations Officer Major David Adams has had six postings to Kapooka — the most of anyone currently at the base.

He said the upgrades would both preserve a rich military history, and ensure the future of the base for many generations of soldiers to come.

"Those two things make up our history here [at Kapooka] — the buildings and the people," Major Adams said.

"You could bulldoze everything and rebuild in a new design but you'd lose that commonality in training."

Rebuilding to honour history

Major Adams said including recycled components in the rebuild would help connect new soldiers to those who came before them.

"They're reusing a lot the bricks from the buildings when they tear them down … to keep that history, that continuity," he said.

"There's people who may only come here once as a recruit and never come back, but they're still part of that unit's history."

When Major Adams enlisted in November 1994 his platoon was the largest Blamey Barracks had seen since 1965 — the height of recruitment during the Vietnam War.

"I've been a recruit, section commander, platoon sergeant, company sergeant major, company commander and now operations officer," he said.

"There's an energy about this place."

Private recruit Andrew Ingham has just finished his eighth week of basic training and said being in the same quarters as previous generations made him feel part of something bigger.

"When you come in on day one, you saw the photos of people who have served, who are serving and in the future will serve," he said.

"It is a great sense of honour, there is so much history and you are a part of it now."

75 years of the Home of the Soldier

The upgrades coincide with celebrations to mark 75 years of training at the base.

The occasion will acknowledge not just defence force history, but also the community that hosts it.

"The upgrades show how important Kapooka and Wagga is to the Army, and the nation," Captain Kieran Gabriel said.

"We can't do what we do here in Wagga without the community … it's important for us to share this birthday with them."

Major Adams said Kapooka's relationship with the community was symbiotic.

"For about 100 kilometres around, citizens from the Riverina [have worked] on the base as transport drivers, cooks, clerks and grounds people," he said.

"Recruits have gone out and fought fires, they've been manpower for building sandbag levees for several floods."

Major Adams said working together as a community was the most valuable thing he learned inside the gates of the base in the 1990s, and one he had taken with him throughout his career.

"Everybody in the Army is an individual person … but we don't achieve anything as an individual person," he said.

"No matter what job you're doing, you've got there because of people supporting you. Recruits learn the basics of that in week one."