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Contingencies and Compromises: Mobilisation and The Australian Army Virtual Conference via Zoom – 0830 to 1630 Wednesday 10 November 2021 The theme of the 2021 Chief of Army History Conference is ‘Contingencies and Compromises: Mobilising the Australian Army’. The Conference will focus on the Australian Army’s history of mobilising to meet challenges across the globe. Presenters will explore the challenges of mobilising land forces throughout history to meet different security threats and the successes, …

The content in this article is an extract of  Spotlight Brief 6/21 . Toward a Trusted Autonomous Systems Offset Strategy: Examining the Options for Australia as Middle Power Australian Army Research Centre – Apr 2021 Austin Wyatt and Jai Galliott’s work presents an examination, grounded in theory, of the feasibility of the Army adopting a Trusted Autonomous System as part of an offset strategy. For Australia, the core purpose of an offset strategy is to generate an asymmetry of capability. By maintaining …

The Complete Story of the French Participation in the Dardanelles Expedition of 1915 By George H. Cassar Helion, Warwick, 2019. 238 pp Reviewed by Brigadier Chris Roberts AM, CSC (Rtd) Innumerous volumes and articles have been written about the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign by historians, journalists, and others in Great Britain, Australia, and to a lesser extent New Zealand. Over a century after the last British troops were withdrawn from Cape Helles in January 1916, countless reams are still being written …

The Battle of the Ardennes 22 August 1914 By Simon J House Helion, Solihull, 2017. 252pp. Reviewed by Brigadier Chris Roberts AM, CSC (Retd) This outstanding book delivers on several fronts and is a model of a campaign study. With a clear and easy to read style, Simon House presents an analysis of a crucial but rarely studied series of encounter battles in the opening campaign on the Western Front. He covers what occurred from both the German and French sides, discusses why and how events transpired, and …

The extraordinary story of the Australian campaign against the Japanese in New Guinea's Finisterre mountains in 1943-44 By Phillip Bradley Allen & Unwin, 2021, 328 Reviewed by LTCOL Katherine Old Named after Captain Robert ‘Shaggy Bob’ Clampett of the 2/27th Battalion, Shaggy Ridge is the location of one of the less renowned battles of the Australian military campaigns in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Shaggy Ridge is a commanding feature within the Finisterre mountains.  In 1943 it was the site of a main …

The impact of climate change is becoming more evident in Australia, leading to profound environment, social and economic impacts. 2019 was Australia’s hottest and driest year since records began in 1910, with 40% less rainfall than average across the nation, and the annual national mean maximum temperature at 2.09ºC above average. This hot, dry weather led to the devastating Black Summer bushfires, in which 33 people directly lost their lives (and hundreds more subsequently passed from smoke-related …

“The enemy will certainly not have the kindness to say how strong he is, what are his general designs, or what he is commissioned to do, and in what manner he will strive to attain his end.” Verdy du Vernois [1] This piece intends to describe one example of the historical challenge of joint warfare for Australia in its region. That is, where objectives may be characterised by the geographic boundaries of islands, with emphasis on the primacy of sea and air control, as a prelude to success in island-centric …

Reflections from the Chief of Army’s Honours Program In a previous blog , I wrote about the importance of maintaining a reflexive practice in our everyday lives. In an academic context, reflexive practice is the process that enables researchers to understand their biases and influences. I observed that this practice is necessary when undertaking qualitative research because it provides the researcher with insights into the potential for these biases and influences to distort their individual efforts at …

Laser Technology Applications in Critical Sectors: Military and Medical Journal of Electronic Voltage and Application – Jun 21 This article summarises laser technology applications in the military and medical sectors. A laser is a device that emits a focused beam of light by stimulating the emission of electromagnetic radiation. This article initially surveys the various contemporary applications of lasers and presents a timeline for developing this technology. It then outlines the various roles that …

Force Design Organizational transformation: Handling the double-edged sword of urgency Long Range Planning – Mar 21 Traditional change models require organisations to develop a wide sense of urgency. For example, for Defence the rapid growth of the threat from improvised explosive devices saw an equally rapid change in equipment, training, and tactics. Unfortunately, urgency tends to generate a more conservative mindset where people are more likely to seek incremental alteration and seek to reduce errors. …