To worsen their offence, Defence computers and Internet facilities were used to produce and distribute the emails, photos and videos. One email had a reference to illegal drugs.
The fourteen other officers, which includes at least one lieutenant colonel, could also be suspended from service, but up to 100 other military personnel across services were identified based on investigations into the email exchanges.
The activities began in 2010. The three ringleaders, identified only by their positions as a major, sergeant and warrant officer, have been suspended from the military. The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions is studying the possibility of laying charges against the three, based on the Commonwealth Telecommunications Law which bans transmission of explicit material without consent.
Among the women in the videos, at least five have been identified based on the emails sent. They met these women at nightclubs, especially those in the inner-Sydney suburbs of Darlinghurst and Paddington. The investigation identified at least one popular club - ARQ Sydney - which is within walking distance of the HMAS Kuttabul naval base and Victoria Barracks where the army's Headquarters Land Command is located.
In 2011, the Skype sex scandal rocked the Australian army. It involved military cadets using the popular free chat site to illegally broadcast their tryst with young women.
The general emphasised, "These behaviours are symptoms of a systemic problem and we will continue to address them in a comprehensive manner."
"We are all entitled to a basic right of dignity. On the evidence I have seen to date, that dignity has been traduced," he added.
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