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  A Practitioners Annotated Bibliography FOREWORD “Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana 1905 Every few decades a generation of soldiers learns the ‘lessons’ of urban warfare the hard way. Yet it seems that those …

Spotlight Brief 7/21 has particular emphasis on issues relating to the future of warfare, especially land warfare, in addition to its usual areas of interest. The Australian Army operates across a broad range of missions, but what is common is its need to continuously adapt; to respond to the rapid pace of change, to always be prepared to do more, to do things differently, and to do new things. The Army has grasped this, reflected in its work to incorporate and respond to Accelerated Warfare , and …

Introduction The fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August, and the announcement of the Australia, United Kingdom and United States (AUKUS) trilateral security partnership in September, mark the third quarter (Q3) 2021 Strategic Assessment as covering the most significant strategic developments since these assessments began. Despite the extensive recent commentary about the end of the West’s campaign in Afghanistan and the beginning of an important new strategic partnership, there is still a great deal of …

The world looks over the shoulders of corporals and holds them accountable for every time they and their soldiers pull the trigger, as well as for their behaviour towards those they encounter. Their tactical decisions and personal conduct may have significance that reaches far beyond their individual actions. Corporals must be able to operate in troubles cities, among traumatised and displaced people, while being provoked and attacked by a range of unarmed and armed groups. Their reactions can have …

Executive Summary The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are seemingly stabilising, with global economies, including Australia’s, on the road to recovery. The ‘securitisation’ of diversifying and expanding threats ‘in the national interest’ might counterintuitively inhibit the development of the resilience needed from across all of Australia’s elements of national power. The Quarter 3 Strategic Assessment concludes that Army will face a planning challenge of ‘building back better’ via an expanding scope of …

Welcome to the fifth issue of Future Land Warfare Branch’s Spotlight Brief from the Australian Army Research Centre (AARC). This issue has a particular emphasis on issues relating to Army’s workforce, culture and ethics in addition to its usual areas of interest. People are at the centre of our Army. Our people are diverse, skilled and resilient volunteers. They lead, inspire and make a difference in our communities, in our region and across the world. They deliver results for Australia every day. Every …

Synopsis The themes and conclusions presented in the Quarter 1 Strategic Assessment continue in the second quarter of 2021. COVID-19 continues to dominate the world, although heroic scientific and manufacturing efforts have seen vaccine production expand and grow. While vaccines offer a way out, it is still too early to return to a pre-COVID world. The Army must expect and plan to continue supporting domestic efforts, especially in accelerating vaccine rollouts, as well as supporting our regional partners …

Future Land Warfare Essay Collection Foreword Change is hard. As Army’s Future Land Warfare, we contest ideas, encourage discourse and propose concepts that are often not to the satisfaction of every faction, agenda, or interest-group focused on the generation of land power as part of the Australian Defence Force. It is for this reason that the selected essays, written by members of the Australian Army Research Centre, the Australian Army History Unit, the Robotics and Integrated Technologies …

Spotlight Briefs provide a curated overview of issues relevant to Australian Landpower. They derive solely from available open source material. Importantly, inclusion of material in a Spotlight Brief does not imply or reflect Australian Army, Australian Defence Force or Australian Commonwealth Government policy. The brief will be published monthly on the Australian Army’s Landpower Forum .   The Australian Army Research Centre welcomes feedback on all publications. If you have a comment, or would like to …

A Note from the Editors Spotlight Briefs provide a curated overview of issues relevant to Australian Landpower. They derive solely from available open source material. Importantly, inclusion of material in a Spotlight Brief does not imply or reflect Australian Army, Australian Defence Force or Australian Commonwealth Government policy.  Additionally, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight another new publication. The AARC has worked with the RAND Corporation Australia to deliver a report which …