A senior army officer has told a Sydney court he was left "in shock" when his subordinate, Ben Roberts-Smith, threatened to "smash his face in" at an unofficial soldiers' bar in Afghanistan.
Mr Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross recipient, is suing three newspapers and three journalists for defamation, claiming 2018 articles contained false allegations of unlawful killings, bullying and domestic violence.
A witness known as Person 69 told the Federal Court of his 2006 deployment to Afghanistan where he worked in an operational support role.
Person 69 recalled his understanding of a difficult mission where Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) operators in Mr Roberts-Smith's patrol were "surrounded" by Taliban fighters in the Chora Valley.
The witness, at that time a captain, later attended the Fat Ladies Arms bar with two warrant officers and overheard SAS operators discussing the mission.
He told the court he heard Mr Roberts-Smith say words to the effect of: "I was watching the expression on the guy's face as the bullets crept closer."
Person 69 said he looked over his shoulder towards Mr Roberts-Smith, then a lance corporal, who was sitting about a metre away.
"He saw me, turned to me, and said 'what the f*** are you doing here ... I should smash your face in'," Person 69 told the court.
"I was in shock because I had never been spoken to that way by a subordinate.
"I didn't really know what to say."
Person 69 said one of the warrant officers warned Mr Roberts-Smith to "pull your f***ing head in", while the other gave a "menacing stare".
"I decided it would be best I left and I never returned."
Person 69 said he had only ever been threatened three times during his career by his own team and remembered each occasion.
"It has a profound impact on me that my own team would threaten me," he said.
Under cross-examination by Bruce McClintock SC, Person 69 said he didn't report the matter because he believed it had been dealt with by the warrant officers.
He rejected Mr McClintock's suggestions the conversation never happened.
"It's ludicrous to think of a lance corporal saying that to a captain, isn't it?" Mr McClintock said.
"That's why I remember it," the witness replied.
The alleged conversation was put to Mr Roberts-Smith in the witness box last year, where he rejected that he made the comments or was reprimanded.
Person 69 also claimed earlier that day, in his accommodation, he overheard a junior trooper who was "upset and emotional" complaining of being "ostracised" by his patrol after his weapon jammed on the battlefield.
The court has previously heard that soldier, Person 1, forgot oil for his machine gun on the mission.
"I'd never worked with the Australian SAS before and I was shocked they weren't a collegiate team," Person 69 told the court.
"I had worked with other special forces and they seemed to help people who were making mistakes."
The trial, before Justice Anthony Besanko, will resume on Tuesday.
