A conversation with Kahlil Fegan
Australia’s new Repatriation Commissioner
When asked why, with a stellar military career in full swing, he decided to transition out, former Brigadier Kahlil Fegan admits it was a hard decision.
‘It was with a heavy heart,’ Kahlil says, ‘but the reality for me was that I’d spent years away from my family. I exceeded everything I’d hoped to achieve in the ADF, and I knew that no matter what the next role would be, I’d never have the opportunity to work as closely with soldiers again.’
The camaraderie of military life is something he was born into. With a father who was a serving Vietnam veteran, Kahlil grew up on bases in Australia and overseas.
‘I have very fond memories of all us military kids playing together in the clubs and messes – it was almost like a big family, it was extremely comforting,’ he recalls. ‘So when I joined the Army, initially as a soldier, I just felt at home. I love that sense of camaraderie, mateship, adventure, being in the bush – everything about it.’
After three years, Kahlil was accepted into the Royal Military College Duntroon, where as a young officer cadet he immediately became conscious of the responsibility of leadership.
‘I had the good fortune of spending four years as a platoon commander,’ he says. ‘I was given strong support and mentorship, in particular by some senior NCOs [non-commissioned officers], who were exceptionally impactful throughout my career and enabled me to step up into leadership positions. One of them was Don Spinks – my predecessor in this role.’
Kahlil calls his initial operational deployment to East Timor ‘an awakening’ – not just for himself, but for the ADF – as it had been a long time since Australian troops had been sent into a conflict zone.
‘There was sudden realisation that this was not like the movies,’ he explains. ‘The impact was very close and very personal. While most of us found helping the East Timorese people very fulfilling, some were detrimentally impacted.
‘And that was the other realisation – that conflict has an impact – not only on those who deploy, but also on their families. I experienced that first hand when I met my first-born child, who’d come into the world mid-way through my deployment.’
But his next mission was about to get a lot more “kinetic”. In 2004, Kahlil was called upon to lead a company of 100 service personnel in Baghdad’s ‘red zone’ protecting Australian consular officials during a ferocious insurgency by Islamic militants in Iraq: ‘The responsibility for keeping both our diplomats and my men alive rested heavily on my shoulders.’
Promoted to battalion commander, Kahlil led a battle group in Afghanistan, where he learned about the importance of relationships with all people, particularly those from other cultures, and about the immense value of the families being affected by the service of his troops.
In 2012, Kahlil received the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for his command and leadership in warlike operations in Afghanistan. ‘I wear it, in my mind, on behalf of the taskforce – I don’t see it as my DSC,’ he says. ‘That tour was confronting and particularly dangerous, and I see myself as the custodian of our award. The thing that I’m most proud about is that we were the first taskforce to bring all our soldiers home.’
When asked about his thoughts on the ongoing Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, he reflects on the members of that taskforce since lost to suicide: ‘It doesn’t end when the operation ends – it’s felt for many years afterwards – and it is something we still live with today.’
So when, as Commander of the 3rd Combat Brigade in Townsville, he was called up to testify before the Royal Commission in June last year, Kahlil was grateful for the opportunity to learn, to adjust policies and procedures, and better support his people.
‘As the commander of 3,000 personnel in Australia’s biggest garrison town, this experience really forced me to critique how I had been doing business, how I had applied policy,’ he says. ‘I’m a huge fan of the Royal Commission, and I have great admiration for the three Commissioners. Having lost soldiers to suicide, I feel an immense responsibility for assisting to implement the Royal Commission’s recommendations in a meaningful manner.’
Now as a member of the Repatriation Commission, Kahlil’s official function is to provide oversight in administering the legislation that provides benefits and support to Australia’s defence and veteran community. ‘The rules are applied by well qualified DVA officials, but we sit on top of that to make sure that the relevant Acts are applied appropriately to protect and enable veterans,’ he explains.
But it is the prospect of engaging with veterans that brings a gleam to Kahlil’s eyes: ‘We engage as deeply and as extensively as we can with individual veterans, ESOs and other stakeholders to gather information and feed that back into DVA, to advocate, inform policy, influence government and assist ministers to make the right decisions.
‘The vast majority of veterans make a successful transition and go on to make a wonderful contribution to our society with unique skills and attributes. I have direct experience with young, contemporary veterans and I’ve just been through transition myself. I’ve seen how good the process can be, but I’ve also seen firsthand where the challenges are – and the challenges were emotional for me.
'I’m most concerned about that very small component of the veteran community who are deeply detrimentally impacted by their service, who may not want or resist support from anybody, who have adversarial relationships with departments or ESOs. And that is the element of the community I will try to influence positively in some manner.’
Kahlil’s statutory appointment as Repatriation Commissioner is independent of DVA. You can read his official profile on the DVA website.
Images:
As a Lieutenant-Colonel in Afghanistan (Defence)
With Major Asmawiduring of the Royal Brunei Land Forces at Exercise Mallee Bull 2022 (Defence)