Readers abreast of current affairs will recognise the author’s name as the whistleblower who released files relating to Australia’s Defence Force’s actions in Afghanistan (charges to which he has now pleaded guilty). In his introduction, McBride is steadfast about honour, integrity and duty. This memoir details the life-defining events which have led him to make his stand.
In the subtitle of the book, the first designation of McBride as a person is ‘son’. His father is the well-known doctor, William McBride. He describes his father’s fight against the prescribing of Thalidomide to expectant mothers, but also his failures of scientific probity in the Debendox debacle.
David’s school life nurtured a desire for military service. He studied law, both in Sydney and at Oxford, then qualified for officer training at Sandhurst. He tried (unsuccessfully) to join the British Army’s SAS, before leaving the forces to do security work. After returning to Australia, he practised law before joining the ADF as a military lawyer. His thesis on military rules of engagement became pivotal.
His tours of Afghanistan revealed actions about which he couldn’t remain silent. The details of the data breach for which he was charged are withheld, but McBride details concerns about the ADF in general. He worried that the Army was mired in political expediency and fighting media wars, rather than looking inward for change.
Reviewed by Bob Moore
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
In 1986, McBride graduated with a Bachelor of Law from the University of Sydney before moving to the United Kingdom to complete a Bachelor of Civil Law at Oxford University. McBride joined the British Army in 1988 to complete training at the Officer School at the Royal Military Academy (RMA) Sandhurst.
David became a Captain in the Royal British Army serving in Northern Ireland. In 1994, David was employed by UNICEF as a security consultant in the Democratic Republic of Congo following the Rwandan genocide in mid-1994.
In 2011 David completed the first of two tours in Afghanistan as a senior legal officer working hand-in-hand with the American defence force. He was then promoted to the Special Forces where he then returned to Afghanistan with the Special Operations Team.
Before his tour to Afghanistan David followed the case of previous Australian soldiers that were being prosecuted with murder charges in relation to the unlawful death of five children in Afghanistan. The Director of Military Prosecutions eventually threw the charges out before there was a trial.
In 2015 he started a position at the Military Law Centre in Victoria Barracks. At this time David had made internal complaints about certain documents and evidence relating to war crimes committed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.
While David held his position at the Military Law Centre, he led a number of educational workshops about the Public Interest Disclosure Scheme and the disclosure protocols available to members of the Australian Defence Force.
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