As I sat in my office watching the Army and Navy’s 125th birthday coverage, I found myself doing the maths.

1 March 1901. Australia was 59 days old. Before it had a currency, a High Court, or a formally adopted flag, the founders built a military. Two services, same day, same act.

They've been arguing about who's older ever since.

I posted about it on LinkedIn, and the comments section turned into exactly what you'd expect: sailors and soldiers going at each other with 125 years of sibling rivalry.

It was one of those moments that reminded me why I love this community.

We fight about everything except the things that matter.

But behind the birthday cake and the banter, something else was sitting with me.

The Middle East. Again.

I won't rehash the geopolitics — you can read that anywhere.

What I will say is that when I watch those maps light up and the language starts escalating, I don't process it the way I used to.

My son is serving in the Army. That changes the arithmetic.

And I know I'm not the only parent, partner, or veteran doing that quiet calculation right now — the one where you measure the distance between “tensions” and “wheels up” and hope that number stays large.

If that's landing with you, it's landing with thousands of others too.

I said it on social media last week and I'll say it here: pick up the phone.

Not to a hotline — but to a mate.

The one who was there.
The one who doesn't need the backstory.

That connection is worth more than anything I can write in a newsletter.

The Government announced it would divest 67 Defence estate sites – the most significant reform to the Defence estate in Australian history.

This was announced without public consultation or stakeholder input.

We don’t believe that decision has been fully considered.

So we've asked the Government to tap the brakes.

The RSL has now launched a petition calling for the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee to conduct an inquiry into the planned management, use, and disposal of Defence estate assets.

If you agree the Government should clearly identify:

• Why these divestment decisions are being made

• How the plan aligns with Australia's defence needs

• What transition arrangements will exist for affected communities

— then please sign the petition.

March is a big month for us internally.

On 24–25 March, State and Territory Presidents and CEOs will come together in Canberra, along with key staff, for what we're calling the “Better Together Jamboree.”

This is deliberately not a National Congress.

It’s the first time anyone can remember that the federation leadership will be in the same room working through the practical questions that determine whether the RSL National Office can deliver what the next decade demands.

I'll be honest with you.

The RSL's national capability has been under-resourced for years. We've been operating a national advocacy office on a budget that wouldn't run a large sub-branch.

That's changing.

The Jamboree is where we start building the architecture for a National Office that can genuinely serve the federation — in policy, partnerships, and positioning the RSL as the voice government and industry turn to first on veteran issues.

I can't share everything from that room — some of it is internal federation business — but I can tell you the themes.

• How we properly resource national advocacy

• How we align service delivery across state lines

• How we position the RSL within the post-Royal Commission landscape

The environment is changing quickly.

• The Veteran Wellbeing Agency launches in July

• The Veterans’ peak body is being consulted on now

• The Institute of Veterans' Advocates is taking shape

These are once-in-a-generation reforms.

The RSL needs to be fit to lead within them — not scrambling to keep up.

I’ll give you an honest readout in April’s newsletter.

What worked. What didn’t. And where we’re heading.

That’s a commitment.

#StillServing

Some of you may have noticed the #StillServing campaign running on my LinkedIn and Facebook. It's deliberate.

I'm telling the stories of veterans who are contributing to this country in ways that never make the news:

• in defence industry

• in emergency services

• in business

• in their communities.

The argument is simple:

580,000 veterans are not a cost to be managed.

They are a national asset.

A sovereign capability that doesn't end at discharge.

If you know a veteran whose story deserves telling, someone building a business, running a fire brigade, teaching in a school, leading in their community, I want to hear about them.

Below you’ll find our news round-up from the past month and the commemorations ahead.

But I wanted to start this month’s conversation where it actually started for me:

In a lounge room on a Saturday morning.
Watching two services turn 125.
Thinking about my son.

And feeling the familiar hum of a community that never really switches off.

We're moving fast this year.

Stay with me.

Pete.

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18 February - Gaza War Graves will be restored

24 February - RSL Welcomes DVA Action on Medicinal Cannabis

25 February - Justice Delayed is Justice Denied

3 March - Here we go again - and this time you don’t walk alone

4 March - RSL calls for sustained investment in veteran wellbeing ahead of Federal Budget

11 March - RSL launches national petition for Senate Inquiry into Defence estate sell-off

11 March - RSL welcomes opening of increased Government funding for veteran advocacy services

March - 110 years since Australians arrived on the Western Front (1916) 

20 March - Start of the Iraq War (2003)

28 March - 85th anniversary of the Battle of Cape Matapan (1941) 

31 March - 105th anniversary of the formation of the RAAF (1921)

2 April - Crash of RAN Sea King helicopter Shark 02 (2005)