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“It is essential that all leaders from subaltern to commanding general familiarize themselves with the art of clear, logical thinking. It is more valuable to be able to analyse one battle situation correctly, recognize its decisive elements and devise a simple, workable solution for it, than to memorise all of the erudition ever written of war’  ( Infantry in Battle, 1939, p.14, cited in Fischer and Spiker, 2009 ). Army prides itself on the numerous strategic leaders who have served our country. The …

If there are two words guaranteed to generate an emotional response in professional Army officers – young and old, junior and senior – it is ‘Mission Command’. Who has not heard these statements? We  –  subordinate commands  – don’t have enough of it; They  –  the higher headquarters  – don’t give it; We  – Army  – don’t practice it; and why won’t  they  – commanders  – just let  us  – hard working subordinate  – get on with  it  –  what ever the task is the subordinate is sure they can do better with less …

Understanding the Need for Balance between Information and Physical Dimensions In  the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. [i] In the dystopian future of the Warhammer 40,000 wargame, the forces of humanity understand that war, conflict and competition are linked. Their military machine must be used to both influence and coerce, for competition and conflict is everywhere: internal coalition bickering; posturing and positioning with allies; border skirmishes and ‘policing’ operations within …

The recent release of the Chief of Army’s  Accelerated Warfare  concept has prompted a contest of ideas as to how today’s  volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous  operating environment influences Army. I aim with this article to demonstrate how the concept of  Accelerated Warfare  responds to an accelerating rate of change in warfare.  In 1815, the Napoleonic wars concluded, ushering in what was arguably the dawn of Industrial Age warfare and the laying of our Clausewitizan doctrinal foundation. This …

Captain Nathan Mark  recently argued  (pdf, p. 57) that the Army needs much higher cyber and digital forensic awareness to match rapid global technological advancement. The rise in use of mobile technologies and computer systems by both state and non-state actors means that an increasing amount of potential intelligence exists that we can and should exploit. In contemporary operations, soldiers are often required to balance military objectives with law enforcement outcomes, weighing up the security …

The importance of intuitive decision-making in complex situations has been proven over and over, specifically when time is short, risk is high and information is low. That decision-makers at all levels should improve their intuition is a no-brainer, but this is a challenge in our ‘resource constrained’ operating and training environments. Recently Major Mark Mankowski made the case for  using computer games  to improve battlefield intuition. This is a good idea however, as he also pointed out. Computer …

The week begins: regional unrest sparks, and a commanding officer directs yet another intelligence update brief on emerging threats. By the following morning, intelligence personnel have scraped together a basic knowledge of developing strategic themes and presented sufficient intelligence to satisfy the request. Unfortunately, adjacent intelligence elements have duplicated this preparation, presenting briefs on the same topic. Although the primary function of intelligence staff is to provide reliable …

State actors have lagged non-state opponent use of media in recent decades. Such proficiency in the realm of  traditional media pales in comparison to recent circles run around state efforts in the  social  media arena, the recruiting success of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) providing a prime example. Observations from Israel’s 2014 Operation Protective Edge (OPE) suggest a number of lessons relevant to any in government – Defence or otherwise –seeking to redress the imbalance. Backdrop: …

With the release of  Archipelagic Manoeuvre , Army set out its big idea for land power's future employment. It is the operational "way" that strategic ends can be achieved. However, what is the concept that links this idea to the wider employment of military power, or the other levers of national power? How does this relate to Australia's strategic culture? Finally, what is the strategic purpose of this manoeuvre? Although  Archipelagic Manoeuvre  is the foundation of a future operational concept, it can …

'Big data' is not a new concept. In fact, it is the processing of big data that determines your suggested books on Amazon, or the advertisement that plays before your YouTube video. Digital corporations such as Google and IBM have been harnessing big data for much longer than mainstream academia has been discussing it, the latter for at least two decades. Big data is, in its simplest form, the analysis of extremely large data sets to reveal patterns, behaviour and trends, especially in a human behavioural …