By this stage the play was established as a modern classic – it had been published by Currency Press in 1980 – and the Herald called it "a wry, rich and intensely Australian comedy peopled by Australian soldiers who chafe at the boredom of life in an out of the way camp while their mates are off fighting a real war.
"[3] The Age called it "heady stuff for expatriate Australians and those who have an ear for local slang... the letdowns and character development are predictable, if well done and amusing.
"[4] The critic from the Woman's Weekly complained about the "quaint, old-fashioned dialogue" and "some quaint, old-fashioned direction" in which "the viewer was never certain he was watching a photographed stage play or a badly re-enacted documentary... A study of boredom, became studiously boring.
"[5] The Canberra Times called the 1981 production "the sort of entertainment that makes satire redundant.
"[6] Another writer for the Age thought the ABC had "revived Rusty Bugles without bothering to work out what it was about" and complained about the historical accuracy of the uniforms.