Abstract The purpose of this article is to increase the level of understanding of operational analysis (OA) within the Australian Army, and in particular the utility of Tactical OA teams deployed in support of the tactical commander. Operational analysis is a decision support capability and is offered at most military universities in the Western world as a discipline of academic study at the postgraduate level. The article coins the phrase Tac OA and provides the author’s views on what comprises Tac OA, …

Abstract Contractor support is an overlooked aspect of Army operations. This article outlines the conditions where Army can best use the considerable capability provided by deployed contractor support, highlights the pitfalls if implementation of this support is not conducted in a comprehensive and integrated manner, and details the management considerations necessary if this support is to be successful. ... the US, and to a lesser extent the UK, now rely extensively on private firms to provide logistics …

Abstract Reading is the core of not only military professionalism but also human development over the last 5000 years. Reading provides a foundation for broadening Army’s capability, especially in the complex and uncertain environments of the twenty-first century. With the launch of the Chief of Army’s Reading List , the Australian Army provides an important tool to aid soldiers and officers develop their thinking skills. Every man who knows how to read has it in his power to magnify himself, to multiply …

Abstract This paper makes explicit a process for developing moral leadership and ethical decisionmaking. It provides insight into the theoretical frameworks and practical outcomes that have been inserted into the All Corps Soldier Training Continuum promotional courses and provides a series of recommendations for further effort. Introduction In a world of far-flung deployments, uncertain and fluid environments and persistent media coverage, the strategic soldier makes snap decisions every day that may have …

Abstract While the Australian Defence Force has seen an increasing range of roles become available to women in the recent past, women are still excluded from serving in combat roles. This article discusses the arguments both for and against women serving in combat roles, drawing on both Australian and overseas observations. Our combat effectiveness and performance in the field relates very much to the competence of our people—that is, their physical competence and their mental competence as well. Those …

A phone rings at the Pentagon. A journalist identifies himself and states, “I just read a blog that says Soldiers use dogs for target practice in Iraq. There’s a video clip showing it, too. What’s the Army’s position?” How should the spokesperson respond? Military web logs, known as blogs or milblogs, are small websites that Soldiers maintain as informal journals for personal comments, images, and links to other websites. Blogs emerged concurrently with the War on Terrorism and have become an increasingly …

Abstract This paper discusses the impact of the peaking and then decline in world oil production— commonly known as Peak Oil—on the Australian Army from a Raise, Train and Sustain perspective. Peak Oil is described as the implications of Peak Oil at a global and national level. The likely impacts of Peak Oil on the Australian Army are then analysed against four of the inputs to military capability, being personnel, equipment, training and doctrine. The paper suggests a number of actions that can be taken …

Abstract As the Australian Defence Force overseas deployments grow in size and tempo, Australian strategists and planners must consider the growing number of organisations our troops will work alongside, and in concert with. This article explores the relationship between Australia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an issue that is particularly pertinent considering current commitments in Afghanistan. The end of the Cold War came quickly, and unexpectedly. Talk of ‘peace dividends’ on a …

Soldiers Heart: Reading Literature Through Peace and War at West Point   Written by: Elizabeth D Samet, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, New York, 2007, ISBN: 9780312427825, 259pp. Reviewed by: Natalia Forrest O  God of battles! steel my soldiers’ hearts; Possess them not with fear; take from them now The sense of reckoning, if the opposed numbers Pluck their hearts from them. - Henry V, William Shakespeare The debate about education versus training in military establishments is a familiar one. The Australian …

3 Para   Written by: Patrick Bishop,  HarperCollins, London, 2007, ISBN: 9780007257805, 289 pp. Reviewed by: James Cameron 3 Para  is an absorbing account of the British 3rd Parachute Battalions six month deployment in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province in 2006. This book should be essential reading for Australian Army personnel who are preparing to deploy to Afghanistan, or for those who have served there and wish to compare their experiences with those of the British forces. The narrative is sourced almost …