The Cove Podcast brings you candid, unfiltered conversations with the leaders, soldiers, and scholars shaping the Australian Army today. Each week, our host CAPT Todd Lempa sits down with uniformed officers and soldiers leading the change in the Australian Army as well as academics and international partners to unpack what modern warfare demands. From redefining leadership and resilience in the modern Army to exploring lessons from combat operations, command culture, human performance, and the future of land power, The Cove Podcast reveals how the Australian Army thinks, learns, and fights. Whether it’s a Regimental Sergeant Major reflecting on combat, a ge...
Latest episodes
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52 min
Language as a Military Skill: Learning Mandarin in the ADF with CAPT Alex Jack
In this episode of The Cove Podcast, CAPT Alex Jack shares his experience at the ADF School of Languages, from sitting the Language Aptitude Test and being selected for Mandarin th…
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1 h 14
Counter-UAS: Adapting to the Drone Threat with LTCOL Paul Middleton, Deputy Director Force Modernisation HQ2 D…
LTCOL Paul Middleton from Headquarters 2nd Division joins The Cove to discuss the integration of counter-uncrewed aerial systems during Exercise Austral Shield 2026. The exercise s…
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1 h 04
The Drone-Enabled Battlefield: Army’s RAS Revolution with CAPT Andy Dunn-Lobban, Remote and Autonomous Systems…
Captain Andrew Dunn-Lobban from the Land Combat College’s Remote and Autonomous Systems Cell joins The Cove to explore how drones and robotic systems are changing land warfare. Dra…
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51 min
From Oxford to the Australian Army: Rethinking Officer Recruitment with LT Oliver Douglas
Lieutenant Oliver Douglas talks with John Hardgrave on The Cove Podcast to discuss his experience serving with the Oxford University Officers’ Training Corps while studying as a Rh…
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1 h 04
Bringing Them Home: The Search for Australia’s Missing Soldiers with Dr Aaron Pegram and Maj Craig Foreman
In this episode of The Cove Podcast, John Hardgrave talks with Dr Aaron Pegram and Major Craig Foreman from Unrecovered War Casualties – Army explain the painstaking work involved…
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1 h 11
From Soldier to Psychiatrist: Military Identity, Culture, and Transition with DR Jon Lane
In this episode of The Cove Podcast, host John Hardgrave sits down with Jonathan Lane—a veteran, psychiatrist, and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs’ first Chief Psychiatrist—to…
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57 min
Army Adaptation to Modern Warfare - MAJGEN Chris Smith
In this episode of The Cove Podcast, host John Hardgrave is joined by the Deputy Chief of Army to examine the return of positional warfare through the lens of Ukraine. The discussi…
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1 h 19
Train Smarter, Lead Better, Be Well - Lessons from AFL and Defence with Alastair Lynch and Dr Jon Lane
In this episode of The Cove Podcast, host John Hardgrave brings together AFL premiership player Alastair Lynch and Jonathan Lane for a powerful conversation on high performance, le…
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53 min
The Soldier: Purpose, Profession and the Reality of War with MAJGEN Chris Smith, DCA
In this episode of The Cove Podcast, host John Hardgrave is joined by the Deputy Chief of Army to discuss The Soldier, Army’s new publication on the purpose and identity of the Aus…
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1 h 03
Peacekeeping, Protection and Perspective: Lessons from Operation ASLAN with Maj Mark Vele
In this episode of The Cove Podcast, John Hardgrave speaks with an Australian Army officer Mark Vele about his 12-month deployment on Operation ASLAN with the United Nations Missio…
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1 h 02
Training, Culture, and Cohesion: A Rifle Company in Malaysia with Maj San-Joe Tan and Private Tom Lefevre
In this episode of The Cove Podcast, we unpack a recent Reginal Combat Team (previously known as Rifle Company Butterworth) rotation through the perspectives of a soldier and an of…
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1 h 15
On Call to War, Inside the Mind of an Army Surgeon with Brigadier Andrew Higgs, Director General Health Reserv…
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.…
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1 h 09
Taking Ownership: Lessons in Resilience with Shaun O'Gorman
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…
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1 h 12
Advising, Not Commanding: Inside ADFs PNG Defence Cooperation Programme with WO2 Dathan Rolfe
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…
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56 min
From Snow to Slouch Hat, Transitioning Between Two Armies with LTCOL Devon Matsalla
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 experienc…
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1 h 04
Mission Culture: Rethinking Army as a Profession with SGT John Wellfare
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…
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50 min
Principles of leadership for 10 or 10,000 with MAJ GEN Stephen Day DSC AM
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 char…
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40 min
The Rise of Drone Racing in Defence - CAPT Tom Gash and LCPL Chris Quaill
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 tec…
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46 min
Fighting in the Arctic: America's Arctic Angels - WO2 William McGovern and SGT Nathan Groen
“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 Aus…
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46 min
Command Responsibility: Holding Senior Leaders to Account - MAJGEN Chris Smith
‘[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…