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This paper is the first in the Occasional Paper - Command and Leadership Series and is published in line with one of the Chief of Army’s primary tasks for AARC: to enhance the quality of leadership in Army. Nothing is more important to an army than the standard of its leaders. Success or failure in every military endeavour throughout history can be linked to the quality of leadership displayed, and therefore, any research which can positively impact on the quality of Australia’s future Army leadership is …

This is the standard we walk past In a 2013 video message to our Army my predecessor Lieutenant General David Morrison challenged us to examine our individual and group behaviours, and to consider whether our personal actions accorded with the values required for continued service in the Australian Army. This three minute video caught the attention of many in our Army, the broader Australian community and the global community. It also issued a challenge: the standard you walk past is the standard you …

Knowing what military theory is, and what it is not, is vital. It helps identify what writings further our understanding of war and warfare, and guides professional military education and research for future doctrine and training. This work answers the questions of what military theory is, where it sits within the wider context of the study of conflict, and which theorists are key in defining its body of knowledge. Many military professionals and academics outline the importance of military theory and the …

The British operation in Sierra Leone is regarded as a rare success for Western military intervention. In the popular narrative, British paratroopers deployed to Freetown over a weekend and, through a mix of professionalism, organisation and chutzpah, ‘[saved] the UN from disaster and [hastened] the end of an exceptionally nasty war.’ As Alex Renton later wrote for the Observer: ... the Sierra Leone intervention worked – uniquely well, in the history of modern military interventions in Africa. The rebel …

An Army in Motion It is my great privilege to be your Chief of Army. The Army of today is in great shape and will continue its journey of improving and adapting. There is always more to do as the context and needs of the future continually change. We are an Army in motion. Here I outline my initial approach for thinking about ourselves. I invite you to engage with and help further develop these ideas, framed around four command themes: Preparedness, People, Profession and Potential. Australia’s Army The …

Network-centric warfare (NCW) is becoming the dominant logic of current and future military operations. Network-enabling technologies bring with them a dramatic increase in the quantity of information, the need for constant interaction and a demand for greater organisational transparency. These network characteristics will raise important questions about the cultural assumptions held by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the wider Department of Defence. The pressure on the military workforce and the …

The Anzac tradition does not talk much about what happens when combat morale falters and battle fatigue undermines military effectiveness. Yet, despite the Australian Army's proud history, it has not been immune from such problems. Evidence of this is not, however, likely to be found in any official history or unit report. Fortunately, the 7th Australian Infantry Brigade's campaign on Bougainville, 1944–45, allows these issues to be studied in detail. The existence of candid personal diaries and memoirs …

The Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Angus Campbell, AO, DSC, has now endorsed a new Professional Military Education (PME) Strategy for Army.  This Strategy lays out the argument for an intellectual edge, and then directs the ends, ways and means that will be used to achieve it. 22 November 2017 ‘In April 2016 the Chief of the Australian Army commissioned the  Ryan Review , a root and branch review of Army’s education, training and doctrine system. The Review concluded that the Australian Army faced a …

How can a large organisation, deeply rooted in tradition, order, and control, purposefully embrace change? Add to this eternal test the complexity of rapidly evolving technology and the challenges compound. The ability of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to master the technologies associated with network-centric warfare (NCW) will largely shape its destiny. The implementation of NCW cuts deep, right to the organisational, social and cultural roots that underpin the entire Defence organisation. NCW …

Like other Western military forces, the ADF has used deployments since Vietnam to develop appropriate mechanisms to support media access to its operations. The ADF’s advances in this regard, like those of the US and UK, are almost solely linked to political and strategic direction issued on the cusp of operational deployments requiring last-minute adjustments to policy, procedures and processes. The nature of the ADF’s recent commitments to larger, long-term coalition operations has allowed commanders and …