Search

Introduction In December 2022, CNN reported that Ukrainian defence officials had been lobbying for ‘many months’ to be provided with US stocks of Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICMs). While the request has not yet been satisfied, its existence indicates that Ukraine, despite its considerable military successes against Russia, considers cluster munitions to be necessary in its war effort. [1] By contrast, Australia rejected the use of cluster munitions on 4 December 2008 when Defence …

Introduction Military practitioners are undoubtedly becoming more aware of the benefits that artificial intelligence (AI) can confer on military operations. But what exactly is AI? Popular media would have us imagine swarms of killer drones, unmanned vehicles such as personnel carriers, planes, tanks or even robots (maybe not unlike the droid armies from Star Wars). While no single definition for AI exists, there is a common understanding that AI is a programmed system that learns by itself, or can ‘learn …

Introduction A 2020 paper published in the Australian Army Journal (AAJ) outlined that the success of the Australian Defence Force Gap Year—Army (ADFGY-A) program that ran from 2007 to 2012 was not as clear as the rhetoric of the day suggested. [1] A low transfer rate into the Permanent Force coupled with ambiguity around its purpose gave reasonable cause to question whether the program represented value for money or whether it was even effective as an alternative avenue of entry. After a hiatus of three …

Reducing Injury and Medical Discharge Rates Introduction In August 2017, national news headlines about Army recruitment standards caused a stir and led to many emotionally charged discussions across the country. These headlines included ‘“Political Correctness Gone Mad”: Australian Army Told Not to Recruit MEN as Part of a Gender War to Push to Have More Women Soldiers', [1] ‘“PC Gone Mad”: Army, Air Force, Navy Bans Men in Bid to Boost Women’ [2] and ‘Australian Army Reportedly Shuns Male Recruits in …

Introduction Although there are many pathways to becoming an officer in the Australian Defence Force (ADF), this essay focuses specifically on the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) located in Canberra. ADFA’s Charter is: To provide Australian Defence Force Midshipmen and Officer Cadets, and other international partners, a balanced and liberal university education within a military context and environment; positively develop their character, leadership and professionalism; and enable them to build a …

‘Team learning’ refers to a set of shared understandings, practices and processes that occur within a team as a collective and, fundamentally, can provide solutions to difficult operational problems. For example, when LTCOL (retired) Bruce Cameron was asked what his most important leadership lesson was, he answered: [N]ot to be predictable. Four tank squadrons were deployed to Vietnam between 1968 and 1971. Each of them trained using exactly the same tactical drills (contact, defile and mine). By the time …

  Written by: Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis Penguin Press , 2021, 303 pp Paperbook ISBN: 9781405966429 Ebook ISBN: 9781405966436   Reviewed by: Albert Palazzo In 1978 the retired British general Sir John Hackett published an account of a fictional war between the United States and the Soviet Union. For me, reading it is a distant memory, but at the time it formed a part of my foundation as a scholar of war. The Cold War was ongoing, and growing up in New York City nuclear annihilation was …

    Written by: RA Howlett Crown Agents for the Colonies on behalf of the Government of Fiji , 1948, 267 pp   Reviewed by: Sonya Russell and Atonio Nagauna In the years since former Prime Minister Morrison’s ‘Pacific Step-up’ foreign policy shift, the Australian Army has enhanced its engagement with security forces across the Pacific. As engagement continues and combined operational deployments become regular, The History of the Fiji Military Forces 1939–1945 is essential reading for any personnel seeking …

  Written by: Christine Helliwell Penguin Random House , 2021, 512 pp Paperback ISBN: 9780143790020 Reviewed by: Peter J Dean We read books with predetermined ideas and biases. I approached Christine Helliwell’s book Semut: The Untold Story of a Secret Australian Operation in WWII Borneo firmly cloaked in the regalia of my academic background as a specialist in Australian strategy and military operations. As well as studying the Borneo campaigns closely, I have walked the battlefields at Tarakan, Brunei …

Introduction Project Land 400 Phase 3 aims to introduce into service an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV). This will replace Army’s aged armoured personnel carrier (APC) capability, which has been in service since 1965. The IFV acquisition provides Army’s infantry with enhanced firepower, mobility and protection to enable them to fight, win and survive close combat in the contemporary threat environment. However, discourse on the acquisition has often suffered from a poor and incomplete understanding of the …