source : the age
A 28-year-old Australian soldier who served in Afghanistan has died during a training exercise in the Northern Territory, the Department of Defence has confirmed.
Army Chief Susan Coyle said she could confirm “with deep and profound sadness” that Corporal Brendan Hannam died on Monday afternoon when his vehicle rolled over at a military training site in the NT.
Hannam, a junior non-commissioned officer, was killed during the exercise at the Mount Bundey Training Area, in which five other soldiers were injured.
Hannam’s next of kin was notified, according to a statement from the Department of Defence.
Coyle said that Hannam has served in Afghanistan in 2019 before helping train Ukrainian troops in the United Kingdom.
She described him as a “much loved junior leader in our army”, adding that he was survived by a partner and two young children.
“The thing he will be most remembered for is the love and support he had for his partner and his kids,” she said.
Hannam had aspirations of becoming a medical technician with the army, she said.
NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro gave her condolences to the soldier’s loved ones, and all military personnel rocked by the tragedy.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the young man who lost his life in this tragic event,” Finocchiaro said on Tuesday morning. “All of our service personnel will be feeling this loss immensely.”
Two soldiers critically injured in the military exercise were airlifted to Royal Darwin Hospital by helicopter at 7.30pm on Monday, two hours before the remaining three injured were taken by plane to hospital.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his thoughts were with the family, friends and colleagues of the soldier killed in the exercise, adding there were “no safe or easy days” for service personnel.
“This sad incident is a terrible reminder of what families take on when their loved one bravely puts on our nation’s uniform,” Albanese said.
“Every loss and every incident is felt deeply by the broader Defence family, but by none more so than their mates who served alongside them.”
NT Police have sent officers to the Mount Bundey Training Area, about 60 kilometres south of Darwin, to assist with the investigation.
Federal Opposition Leader Angus Taylor called the soldier’s death a “tragic reminder” of the sacrifices made by Australian service personnel, in war or while training.
The Mount Bundey Training Area covers around 10,000 hectares, according to Defence NT, and is commonly used by the Australian Army and its allies for live-fire drills.
The incident comes five months after Warrant Officer Class Two Lachlan Muddle was killed in a high-altitude parachuting descent at Jervis Bay Airfield, south of Sydney. Muddle was instructing a training course when he collided with another paratrooper midair, a few hundred feet above the ground.
Defence Minister Richard Marles launched an investigation of the training incident after Muddle’s death, which sparked the pausing of all Australian Defence Force parachute operations.
Muddle’s death followed a fatal training exercise at a Townsville military base in October last year, and the 2024 death of Lance Corporal Jack Fitzgibbon, son of former Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon, who was killed in a parachute incident at RAAF Base Richmond in Sydney’s north-west.
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Daniel Lo Surdo is a breaking news reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He previously helmed the national news live blog for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.
Matthew Knott is the foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X, Facebook or email.
