HOOKS to PIPS
IF anybody has the resources to help improve the resilience of 3Bde ’ s soldiers , it is Brian “ H ” Heilbronn . Once he recovers from the temporary identity crisis he suffered when COMD 3Bde BRIG Chris Field replaced the two hooks on his rank slide with two pips , “ LT H ” will serve Army as a human performance officer at the Vasey Resilience Centre . A junior leader of infantrymen as a corporal , he had a moment of epiphany as he suffered through rehab after damaging ligaments in his ankle during a rapelling exercise from a Black Hawk helicopter . As he worked through the repetitive rehabilitation exercises , he found himself getting interested in the mechanics and reasoning behind what he was doing . But it wasn ’ t just the body that interested him , he was also conscious of the risk of injury to soldiers ’ mental health , particularly in combat or dangerous situations . He had also experienced depression and PTSD symptoms but was able to get help to manage and overcome it . He was the driving force behind instigating the CAPT Paul McKay Memorial Shield , contested by soldiers wearing body armour while running the Townsville marathon . Promoting SoldierOn by drawing attention to PTSD and encouraging people to talk about it was his aim when he conceived the idea of running the marathon with body armour in memory of former 1RAR officer CAPT McKay . But a motorbike accident in its inaugural year a couple of weeks before the Townsville Running Festival meant a colleague - CPL Cam Hardie - stepped up and , with little , or no training , ran the event in his place . Brian was still not fit to run the next year and several Royal Australian Regiment soldiers stepped up for the
COMD 3Bde BRIG Chris Field promotes Brian Heilbronn to lieutenant
26 | AUGUST 2017