Abstract This article reflects on the increased prominence of ISTAR and reviews the spectrum of ISTAR functions for land-based operations, demonstrating the effects of networked technology and the need for improved ISTAR management for complex warfighting. These developments indicate that a visionary repositioning of ISTAR within Army’s warfighting concepts is called for to harness the greater significance and growing range of ISTAR capabilities. A way ahead is offered to better manage the ISTAR functions …

Abstract As our modern army is called upon to operate in complex battlespaces against non-traditional enemies, or to undertake activities other than traditional warfighting, is the training provided to Staff Cadets applicable to the situations junior commanders will face in their future careers? This article assesses the Part Time General Service Officer First Appointment Course and highlights possible changes that would make it more relevant to the challenges facing junior officers today. It is 1130 …

Abstract In a post-Cold War, post-11 September world, the field of biosecurity has increased, both in importance and scope, as a concern for military and civilian authorities. This article explores some of those nascent threats, and their implications for military forces. Introduction In the immediate aftermath of the attacks of 11 September 2001, the threats posed by the new world order that emerged shifted Defence and First Response agencies out of their post–Cold War comfort zone. Familiar threats, …

Abstract As the contemporary battlespace evolves, consideration needs to be given to the requirements for Army Health. This article critiques the existing structure and use of health capabilities in the Army and suggests future developments to improve how Army cares for the medical needs of its members against the backdrop of complex warfighting. I went over to Brizzo, who was still alive at this time. He was laying down and he had no wounds from his knackers up, but every square inch of his legs was just …

Abstract This article, based on the 2006 Australian War Memorial Anniversary Oration, examines a recent issue in the Australian military history debate, the idea of the Battle for Australia. The author challenges the reality of the Battle for Australia and locates how and why such a grand narrative emerges into a nation’s consciousness. For Australia, 1942 was the year of greatest losses, a year of crises confronted and overcome. It was a year in which war briefly touched Australia’s shores. What does this …

Abstract The author contends that significant gains are being made against the insurgency in Iraq, especially in the political realm and in light of the recent ‘surge strategy’, and yet these advances are poorly reported in Western media. At the same time, domestic pressures are growing within the United States and Coalition partners for withdrawal timetables regardless of Iraqi stability and self-sufficiency. Consequently, the author argues, a precipitous withdrawal would create greater chaos and loss of …

Contemporary Perspectives on Private Military Contractors Betraying Our Troops: The Destructive Results of Privatizing War   Written by: Dina Rasor and Robert Bauman, Palgrave Macmillan, New   York, 2007, ISBN: 9781403981929, 274pp.   Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army   Written by: Jeremy Scahill,  Serpent’s Tail, London, 2007, ISBN: 9781568583945, 438pp.   Reviewed by: Antony Trentini The role of private contractors in war is no longer considered solely in terms of the …

Vietnam: The Australian War   Written by: Paul Ham,  HarperCollins, Sydney, 2007, ISBN: 9780732282370, 813 pp. Reviewed by: Brigadier John Essex-Clark (Retd) The Australian reading public have been presented over the past few years with books about Australia’s military history. Paul Ham, who previously authored Kokoda , has now contributed again with another blockbuster and tour de force in Vietnam . Like his previous book, this is a weighty tome, figuratively and literally, with 813 punchy pages including …

The Torch and the Sword: A History of the Army Cadet Movement in Australia   Written by: Craig Stockings,  UNSW Press, Sydney, 2007, ISBN: 9780868408385, 328pp. Reviewed by: Lieutenant General John Coates (Retd) For those among the reading audience who were never school cadets, this book is unlikely to be a riveting read. It is a subject that has not been handled comprehensively before, and as part of the frequently febrile defence debate, it deserves its place in Australia’s military and social history. …

Everyday Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam Among Palestinians in Lebanon   Written by: Bernard Rougier, Harvard University Press, Cambridge: Massachusetts, 2007, ISBN: 9780674025295, 298 pp. Reviewed by: Lieutenant Colonel Jason Thomas This is not a text that will find its way onto the shelves of your local bookshop, though the reason is not because it has a title that raised a few eyebrows when I carried it onto some domestic airline flights. Bernard Rougier is a French academic who appears to have spent …