Major (Ret’d) Heston Russell’s military career spanned from the ranks of 2nd Battalion, (2 RAR) to the elite 2nd Commando Regiment, where he led special operations missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Since leaving the Army, Russell has emerged as one of Australia’s most outspoken veteran advocates — unafraid to take on media giants, challenge bureaucracy, and speak openly about the cost of service.
In this exclusive Q&A, Duty First asks Heston about his time in uniform, the challenges of transition, and the personal toll of his defamation case against the ABC — as well as what drives him today.
2RAR & Special Forces Career
1. Can you take us back to your early days in 2RAR — what do you recall as the defining moments of your time there?
My time at 2 RAR was absolutely instrumental in teaching me the foundations for all success I would achieve later in my career. The physical requirements of light infantry, in all seasons, weather and terrain – and the brutal lessons learnt the hard way therein. I also view my deployment as a 21 year old platoon commander on Peacekeeping Operations with the Timor Leste Battle Group – 3 as an absolute cornerstone in my personal and professional development, given the incredible variety of requirements from all levels of local and international exposure, and the experiences gained from these in such a compressed period.
2. What motivated your move from 2RAR into the 2nd Commando Regiment, and how did you approach that transition?
I actually joined the Army with the intent to always go for the Commandos. I had grown up informed of their roles and capabilities, thanks to a close family friend serving within, and service family around me. Particularly for my era of service, alongside wanting to test myself to the most elite standards, I wanted to achieve the operational combat exposure and experience the Special Operations Task Groups were being deployed into, and the Direct Action specific role the Commandos were tasked with.
3. You led combat missions in Afghanistan and commanded special operations in Iraq. What lessons from those deployments do you carry with you most today?
The list of lessons is too long for this, but needless to say more than I can count. From the appreciation of what can be achieved through a precise selection and training process that focuses on values, merit and operational outcomes above any other labels or likenesses to those outside. To what is actually real leadership – having experienced a culture where rank and seniority are irrelevant to achieving real influence and leadership unless you are truly competent in your craft and character. Uniting people with purpose and always being ready and able to lead by example – traits that were readily present everywhere I looked in service, and yet are too often too hard to be found where I look now.
4. What did leadership look like to you in those high-tempo, high-stakes environments — and has your view of leadership changed since then?
I touched on this above, however it has been the key distinctions of combat and career leadership. I have been fortunate to experience a lot of combat, and appreciate what it takes to step up when in counts for physical courage and impact leadership, but it has and continues to be that moral courage – or what I call career leadership – that is the hardest for many to maintain outside of directly imminent physical danger – especially when the danger may be to their career should they not comply. Suffice to say, I am directly referencing the failures of leadership that happily profited through honours, awards and bragging rights based on the backs of those who were required to regularly demonstrate physical courage, in-action, only to then be MIA or demonstrate true abdication of their responsibilities when actions have been called into question. Some of the best lessons we can learn as leaders must be what NOT to do – and I hope that many leaders within the services today, young and old, can look back and learn from what I will call the mistakes and cowardice of some in positions of authority and responsibility these last few years.
5. What advice would you give to young military aspirants for Special Forces to optimise their chances for selection in either the SASR or Commandos, and is there a different approach to take for them.
Professional mastery is at the core of elite performance regardless what unit or role you desire to serve within. Having finished my career running the Commando Selection Course, I gained great insights into what caused the over 80% of candidates to self-withdraw from selection. Motivation and connection to purpose (achieving service within special forces) at the intrinsic level – deeper than any aspirations for the colour of beret, pay package or deployments – this is the true connection to service at the highest levels of personal resilience. Outside of this, it is being brilliant at the basics and as fit as you can be, knowing that you will never be enough of both, but the more you are will provide the greater capabilities for you to focus energy on what is needed to progress – instead of simply just surviving each step.
Life After Service
6. You’ve been open about the challenges of transitioning to civilian life. What was the hardest part of that journey for you?
Going from the highest levels of elite performance, with a team so aligned in purpose and a culture that fortified this and protected us like a forcefield, to the realities of everyday life – where the extreme skills and experiences that saw me perform to my highest levels are likely never to be really drawn on again. It’s difficult to adjust once you have known how far you can go and achieve, to then finding a way to accept that this may not be the case ever again. Overall I say it is also the adjustment of values from service life to everyday society, where I have increasingly found the opposites adopted eg. Selflessness replaced by selfishness, responsibility replaced with entitlement, integrity and accountability seemingly worthless and able to be talked about and around to suit whatever needs otherwise.
7. From military officer to advocate and entrepreneur — what skills or habits from your time in the Army helped you most in your post-service career?
Deliberate planning, clear communication, ability to learn quickly, adapt to the environment, understand people and push forward drawing confidence from your purpose and the work you have put into the process behind it.
8. In 2020 you founded Voice Of A Veteran and successfully campaigned for the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. This mission was obviously personal for you, what do you hope still changes in Australia’s approach to veteran care?
I have had a lot of time to work within and observe this including with the USA. How we recruit our Veterans – changing the mindset to service being a career that will make better humans and members of society, through to how we deliberately transition out people to prepare them for the realities and perhaps change in values otherwise in society. While also better educating our Australian Society to what our service people do. A massive failing that we must learn from our time in Afghanistan, that we should have learnt from after failing to do so in Vietnam.
9. How has your identity evolved since taking off the uniform — and was there a moment when you felt like you truly found your footing again?
This is a constant process, and one that certainly took me some time to appreciate the process of being indoctrinated / institutionalised, that is the reality of military service, and was particularly my reality going straight from High School into the military. I have found this particularly difficult post service with the likes of media, marketing and the commercial world constantly looking to define us by a label for ease of understanding and essentially broader consumption. To be honest, these days I find it easier to be selective in what identity I choose to present forward for the purpose I am embarked upon, and otherwise maintain a more private and personal side for those that I truly trust in my life.
10. Has the intensity of public life and advocacy work affected your personal relationships? How do you strike a balance?
Definitely. I made the mistake early of over trusting those who I thought would act responsibly for truth and accountability. From former military bosses to members of the media and politicians. I learnt the hard way that many of the fundamentals I learnt and adopted as doctrine from my days and ADFA and RMC, through to my combat career, were rarely maintained by most once it came to their personal lives or careers afterwards. I certainly allowed this to overtake my life and this was highly effective to achieve rapid successes including retaining the MUC, winning the Royal Commission and exposing the ABC for their defamation, editing footage and more, but I did so at the expense of my own personal relationships and energy without adequate appreciation for what might come or be needed next. Something that I am still appreciating, probably recovering from in some way, and figuring out moving forward.
Public Advocacy & Defamation Case
11. Your defamation case against the ABC was closely watched by the veteran community. Why did you decide to take that fight on?
The ABC published their article naming my platoon, November Platoon, accusing us of being war criminals, and released it on the exact date of the anniversary of the death of the one soldier we lost from our Platoon in that deployment to Afghanistan. As the former Platoon Commander I felt nothing but absolute responsibility to making sure that this hideous conduct by the ABC was corrected and those responsible were held accountable.
12. What were the emotional and personal costs of going public and standing your ground in such a high-profile legal matter?
More than I appreciated. Prior to this period, I had been front and centre in the media with huge political and public support thanks to my campaigning to retain the MUC, winning the Royal Commission and highlighting the failings of the Brereton Report and process. Once the ABC saga began, I found myself very isolated with many opting for a ‘zero-risk’ approach which included my inability to secure public speaking work that had otherwise been coming in thick and fast, through to even being able to draw affidavits and support from those in positions of responsibility and power who had otherwise been very present were times were good. I must say that it has afforded me the opportunity to declutter many from my life and provided me with the requirement to perhaps reevaluate and refocus my priorities and expectations of myself, and others.
13. Given your service record, do you feel the ADF had a responsibility to support you during your legal battle with the ABC — and if so, where do you think that support fell short?
Absolutely – there was even a period during my engagement with the ABC where they published the months of May – July 2012 that they alleged the war crime incident occurred, and I wrote to the Department of Defence through the minister to simply ask for my deployment records to be made public that would have shown we weren‘t even deployed until late July and did not even commence operations until August 2012. What has been the most shocking for me has been the lack of ANY public comment from anyone in Defence post my Defamation win, where the Australian Federal Court ruled that the ABC defamed me and November Platoon there in. Even more shocking still, is the same fact of not even a work post the ABC being exposed for having doctored combat footage to add extra gunshots and more. This abandonment has really left me with more confusion and complete disappointment that I ever thought I would feel for an organisation that I valued so highly and that five generations of my family have served and fought within.
Looking Ahead
14. What’s next for Heston Russell? You have written children’s books, a memoir, involved in Barry’s Bootcamp, are there more battles to fight — or new chapters you’re excited to explore?
I want to write more – on leadership and the lessons I have learnt, while continuing to learn more myself. I really feel that the skill and true traits of real leadership are becoming more and more lost within our society, and want to help bring about some more education and understanding around there where I can. Otherwise, the Veteran Games is the project that I plan to continue to develop and support our Veteran Community, while I also spend time figuring out what is next for me and my health and happiness.
15. If you could speak directly to today’s junior officers in the ADF, what advice would you offer them as they navigate their careers and their lives beyond the uniform?
I would impress upon them the importance of their roles as leaders and what leadership really is – a service to those you are responsible for, not an entitlement to be served. A responsibility that extends beyond service, especially if you are ever required to order your soldiers into combat, and a skillset that, above all, requires the standards to be set by example, always.
For more information please head to
https://hestonrussell.com/
https://hestonrussell.com/Book
