The Cove Podcast

This episode of The Cove Podcast explores the unique career of an Army Reserve surgeon, tracing his journey from medical school to operational deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq. He unpacks the realities of balancing a demanding civilian surgical career with military service, and the long pathway to becoming a specialist in both worlds.

The conversation dives into the role of Defence health professionals beyond the operating theatre, highlighting leadership, teamwork, and decision-making in high-pressure environments. Listeners gain insight into trauma care on deployment, the importance of values and character in selection, and how the Army attracts and retains highly skilled medical personnel.

It’s a candid look at service, sacrifice, and the pursuit of excellence that shows how medicine and soldiering intersect in some of the most challenging conditions imaginable.

In this episode of The Cove Podcast, host John Hardgrave speaks with Sean O’Gorman, founder of the Strong Life Project and a former police dog handler who spent more than a decade on the front line of policing. After leaving the force while battling PTSD and depression, Sean rebuilt his life through hard-earned lessons in resilience, ownership, and purpose.

Drawing on experiences from policing, the corporate world, and years working with military units and first responders, Sean discusses the dangers of victim identity, the importance of personal responsibility, and why purpose is critical for those operating or transitioning from high-performance environments. This conversation explores what it really takes to rebuild after adversity and discusses tools to build resilience and high performance.

In this episode of The Cove Podcast, we unpack the reality of a posting to the Defence Cooperation Programme in Papua New Guinea. Joined by Warrant Officer Dathan Rolfe, we explore what it means to operate in an environment where influence matters more than authority and relationships outweigh rank.

From competing for the position and preparing family for an accompanied move to Port Moresby, through to the professional demands of advising the PNG Defence Force, this conversation highlights a side of service many soldiers never see. It’s not a warfighting deployment, but it is operationally significant, shaping regional stability, strengthening partnerships, and reinforcing Australia’s strategic interests in our near region.

This episode is about career risk, professional growth, family commitment, and why PNG matters far more to Australian security than most realise.

In this episode of The Cove Podcast, John Hardgrave sits down with a former Canadian Army Colonel who traded snow boots for a slouch hat and brought 26 years of coalition experience with him.

From early service in the reserves as a bagpiper to deployments in Bosnia and Afghanistan, and later leading multinational warfighting seminars within Australia’s 1st Division, this conversation explores what happens when two professional armies—shaped by different histories, geographies, and cultures—collide in the best possible way.

They unpack the Canadian Army’s identity forged at Vimy Ridge, its bilingual and multicultural foundations, Arctic operations and the Canadian Rangers, and how a “do more with less” mindset contrasts with Australia’s operational focus in the Indo-Pacific. Along the way, they discuss coalition warfare, sustainment, capability development, and the subtle but telling differences between militaries—from equipment procurement to wearing the slouch hat correctly.

This episode is a practical and candid look at professional military culture, adaptability, and what junior and senior leaders alike can learn from operating across nations.

In this episode, we sit down with Sergeant John Welfare, winner of the 2025 Chief of Army Essay Competition and Chauvel Prize, to unpack his argument that the Australian Army must undergo a professional transformation if it is to remain relevant within the integrated force. Drawing on the story of Ignaz Semmelweis and the medical revolution of the 19th century, John challenges the Army to confront its institutional blind spots, rethink its expertise, and align its culture with external necessity rather than internal tradition. This is a conversation about jurisdiction, professional mastery, self-regulation and what it truly means to be a modern professional soldier.

In this episode of The Cove Podcast, John Hardgrave is joined by Major General Stephen Day, DSC AM, author of the ADF Leadership Doctrine, to explore leadership as a matter of character, not just competence. The conversation examines why moral courage, judgement, and self-awareness sit at the centre of leadership in the profession of arms, and how these principles apply whether leading ten people or ten thousand. Drawing on operational experience from Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as

In this episode of The Cove Podcast, John Hargrave explores the fast-growing world of drone racing and uncrewed systems, focusing on the people, skills, and pathways behind the technology. Joined by Lance Corporal Chris Quayle and Captain Tom Gash from the ADF Drone Racing Association, the conversation examines how drone racing builds technical mastery, decision-making under pressure, and community across kids, cadets, serving members, and veterans. The discussion connects this emerging sport to modern Defence capabilities, highlights the crossover between hobbyist skills and military applications, and looks ahead to where drone racing and uncrewed systems are heading more broadly.  

“One foot in the snow, here we go.”

In this week’s episode, the host sits down with WO2 Will McGovern (2/14 Light Horse Regiment) and SGT Nathan Groen (1st Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment) to explore their recent deployment to Alaska as Observer-Trainers with the 11th Airborne Division’s “Arctic Angels.” SGT Groen is the Direct Fire Support Weapon’s Platoon Sergeant at 1 RAR and WO2 Will McGovern is a Squadron Sergeant Major at 2/14 LHR. In January 2025, they supported the 11th Airborne Division’s rotation through the U.S. Army’s newest Arctic combat training centre, Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center (JPMRC), designed to test war-fighting capability in one of the harshest environments on Earth.

H-hour was at 0001 on 23 January 2025 with a large-scale airborne insertion: paratroopers from the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) jumped from C-130s and C-17s into Army Allen Airfield and Drop Zone Buffalo. Their mission: seize and secure the airfield, establish a foothold against not just an opposing force but one of the most unforgiving climates imaginable. Temperatures plunged below –35 °C as soldiers fought to gain positions, build defensive works, and operate under deep snow and arctic winds.

WO2 McGovern and SGT Groen explain how they were selected for this rotation, how they integrated with an allied formation and contributed as Observer-Trainers, and where they as the two Australian on the exercise tried to add insight in the joint, multinational context. They reflect on the logistical challenge of sustaining operations in sub-zero conditions, the physical and mental strain on troops, and the adjustments required in tactics, movement, and sustainment to remain effective when the environment is as lethal as the enemy.

Beyond the drop and snow-covered patrols, we dive into what Arctic warfare demands: from cold-weather equipment and sleep systems, through mobility on snow and skis/ahkios, to the scale of U.S warfighting. JPMRC 25-02 isn’t just a rotation — it’s part of a broader push by the U.S. Army and its allies to re-learn Arctic warfighting skills lost in two decades focused on counterinsurgency.

This episode offers a rare window into modern Arctic combat training — combining parachute assaults, joint multinational forces, and the brutal test of sub-zero environments. For planners and leaders in Australia’s Army, it’s a prompt to ask: are we ready to fight in the world’s harshest environments?

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‘[W]hat we're trying to do is restore what has been a loss of trust for a number of reasons over the recent decade or so between generals and rank and file to be frank ...’

In this week’s episode, CAPT Todd Lempa sits down with Major General Chris Smith, the Deputy Chief of the Australian Army, to discuss command responsibility and the uncomfortable question of how armies — including our own — hold senior leaders to account. Building on his earlier episode on Warrior Culture, MAJGEN Smith reflects on the Australian Army’s struggle, common across many militaries, to recognise and act on professional failure or a lack of success at senior levels. Drawing inspiration from Thomas Ricks’ The Generals, he explores how accountability in command has eroded over time and what that means for trust and confidence in the profession of arms.

We examine the 2012 Camp Bastion attack in Helmand Province, where Taliban fighters infiltrated the perimeter, killing two US Marines, wounding several others, and destroying or damaging eight USMC AV-8B Harrier aircraft — one of the most significant single-day losses of American airpower since Vietnam. The breach occurred after elements of the UK-led security force thinned out perimeter manning to support operations elsewhere. While no British officers were held to account, the United States Marine Corps relieved two generals of command following the attack. MAJGEN Smith uses this event to frame a discussion on vicarious responsibility, arguing that senior leaders sometimes need to step aside — not because of personal culpability, but to restore trust and confidence in their institution.

He acknowledges that the Brereton Inquiry put a lot of attention on the NCOs and troops, but that no senior leaders were held to account. In his view, this reveals a broader failure to uphold the principles of command responsibility that underpin the trust soldiers place in their leaders. Across the episode, MAJGEN Smith challenges senior leaders to confront a hard truth: that leadership accountability cannot stop at the tactical level if the profession is to maintain legitimacy, trust, and moral authority.

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‘It was grinding on me day in, day out—patrolling, heat, and loads I wasn’t built for.’

In this week’s episode, CAPT Todd Lempa sits down with WO2 Tavis Nicholson, the Warrant Officer Physical Training Instructor (PTI) at the Royal Military College – Duntroon (RMC-D), for a follow-on conversation expanding on his earlier episode, ⁠Beyond Snake Bites: The Evolution of Army Physical Training⁠. This time, we move past concepts and dig into the practical reality of how to programme physical training intelligently across Army — not by guesswork, but by understanding the science and applying it tactically.

WO2 Nicholson starts by breaking down the foundational physical qualities soldiers actually need to perform: strength as the base of load carriage and durability; aerobic capacity as the silent engine behind every long patrol and recovery cycle; and the role of strength endurance, anaerobic capacity, and power layered on top. Drawing on Bondarchuk’s exercise classifications and years of coaching experience, he explains how units can move away from ‘one size fits all PT’ and instead build training around what soldiers actually lack — using ability-based grouping to tailor strength, aerobic, and endurance work without losing cohesion or tempo.

We explore why methods like Repetitions in Reserve (RIR), Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE), 1 Repetition Maximum (1RM) lifting, Maximal Aerobic Speed intervals, threshold running, and Zone 2 work differently for different soldiers, and why sequencing sessions correctly matters more than any individual exercise. WO2 Nicholson then talks to what he calls Avatars, scientifically backed Employment Classification profiles that describe where each trade in Army should dedicate their time at PT, contrasting a Rifleman with a Vehicle Mechanic.

Whether you’re a section commander looking to better understand your unit PT program, a platoon sergeant trying to reduce injuries, or an officer wanting to understand how to get the most out of your teams in-the-field and on operations, this episode provides the practical tools needed to build soldiers who can perform under pressure, recover quickly, and stay in the fight.

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Resources:

⁠Little Black Book of Accessory Methods & Workouts⁠