South Sudan to Line Creek: The Adaptation of Combat Integration - WO1 Chris Sharp

‘'[T]here were .50 cal rounds coming off of Technicals that were ripping through the accommodation buildings…’

In this week’s episode, CAPT Todd Lempa sits down with Warrant Officer Class One Chris Sharp, Regimental Sergeant Major of the 1st Armoured Regiment, to talk about Operation ASLAN, getting selected as the RSM of the Army’s first Combat Experimentation regiment and training soldiers in Africa to transforming an armoured regiment at home, WO1 Sharp’s story is one of challenge, adaptation, and belief in people over platforms.

He reflects on his deployment to South Sudan on Operation ASLAN, where he served as a Training Warrant Officer embedded with the United States military, navigating the complexities of operating alongside multinational partners in one of the most demanding environments on Earth. Returning to Australia, he learned he’d been selected as the RSM of the 1st Armoured Regiment — a proud moment quickly tempered by peers questioning whether he was going to a “real armoured combat regiment.”

What followed was an exciting and fast paced change. He began 2025 watching every armoured vehicle in the compound loaded onto trucks and driven away, leaving behind an empty regiment compound. But by the end of the year, his soldiers had delivered one of the standout performances of Exercise Talisman Sabre 25, using uncrewed aerial systems, armed First Person View (FPV) drones, and automated M113s to outmanoeuvre and outthink the enemy party. The result was not just tactical success — it was a cultural one, with soldiers begging to stay in the unit they had helped reinvent.

This episode captures what leadership looks like when tradition meets transformation — how an RSM can build pride, purpose, and lethality in an era where the definition of “armoured” is changing fast.

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