Fifty Years of Service   Edited by William A Taylor University Press of Kansas , 2023, 344 pp Hardcover ISBN 9780700635382 Paperback ISBN 9780700634811 eBook ISBN 9780700634828 Reviewed by Brian Washam 1968 was a tumultuous year for the United States as the unpopular Vietnam War reached a crescendo with North Vietnam launching the Tet Offensive. Though a military victory for American and South Vietnamese forces, the American public watched the offensive play out live on the news. They concluded that the …

Foreword We stand at another inflection point in our Army’s history. In April this year, our government delivered clear direction for our Army in response to the Defence Strategic Review. The review recognised a pressing need for our ADF to adapt more quickly to the changing character of war to ensure we are best positioned to fulfil our purpose of deterring conflict and protecting Australia’s national interests. While we must adapt to war’s changing character, we know that war remains an enduringly human …

Assessing Civilian Employer/Manager Support for Employees’ Part-time Military Service Over the past decade, there has been an increasing recognition of the importance of the Australian Army Reserves for Defence capability and greater utilisation of individual reservists and reserve units for major conflict deployments and humanitarian operations. However, as foreshadowed in the Australian Defence Strategic Review recommendation for “[a] comprehensive strategic review of the ADF Reserves…” there are …

  The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has been traditionally been viewed as a predominantly military institution focused on conventional warfighting. However, over the past few decades, this perception has broadened significantly. The ADF's remit now includes a variety of non-military tasks, such as disaster relief and support during public health emergencies. These activities have highlighted the inadequacies in our existing legal and policy frameworks, particularly the ambiguous term "domestic violence" …

The Australian government’s intent to increase the defence workforce to 100,000 personnel by 2040 affects the Army’s future force structure, capability, and training. [1] Yet, before the implications of this target can be properly considered, the issue of recruitment must be addressed. The changing threat within the Indo-Pacific, and the lack of 10-year warning time, means that recruitment for the future is more important than ever. From the impacts of COVID-19 to ongoing natural disasters, there has been …

‘Army’s Role in Train, Advise and Assist Missions’ Australia’s strategic environment is complex, increasingly contested and rapidly evolving. Major power competition, militarisation, disruptive technological change and other evolving threats pose challenges to Australia’s national security. These developments test Army’s capacity to generate highly trained, disciplined and fit tactical units; preserve its capacity to operate within the integrated force; while simultaneously delivering Army forces in …

Building solid relationships conducive to mutual force preservation is at the forefront of international missions. Individual attention and deliberation needs to be applied to all aspects of this relationship in order to determine the most appropriate operational response. There must be an understanding of the potential impact of delivering military training to another nation, the extent to which it will support both the donor and recipient nations’ strategic interests, and the degree to which it will …

Five Ideas to Strengthen Civil-Military Coordination Before a Crisis Recently, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) headed off to again to support another humanitarian response, this time in Vanuatu . The ADF has a long history of supporting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR) operations overseas and providing defence assistance to the civil community (DACC ) in Australia. The 2023 Defence Strategic Review reiterated that ‘climate change is now a national security issue’ and this reality will …

In April, the AARC launched a ‘ Short Thoughts Competition ’. The purpose was to encourage authors to communicate ideas about land power to Army’s senior leadership and a wide range of readers, and in the process help to inform and shape Army’s future, under the theme of ‘Transforming Land Power’.  The number and quality of responses reflected positively on the authors’ willingness to take on the challenge of helping to shape Army’s future.  Contributors ranged from current serving to retired ADF members, …

Domestic security operations cannot be separated from the conduct of operations offshore. The increased reach of enemies allows them to attack targets directly in the homeland ……and involves not only protection of militarily important targets but also actions to deny the enemy the ability to strike civilian targets. [1] 23 March 2022 marked a step change in military thinking. State-on-state conflict was back in Europe.  Advanced, peer competitors slugged it out in the forests and cities of Ukraine with …