On 8 August 2018, the Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Rick Burr, released the Army’s Futures Statement for an Army in Motion - Accelerated Warfare. [1]  This paper articulates four imperatives for change, based on four alternate views, enabling Army’s consideration and implementation of Accelerated Warfare.  These alternate views are examples of the diversity of ideas available to Army as we consider Accelerated Warfare’s place in our dynamic futures. The four imperatives for change and four alternate …

Volumes are devoted to armament; pages to inspiration. George S Patton [1] The Australian Army’s replacement or enhancement of its equipment and the introduction into service of new technologies is a continuous process that consumes the labour of hundreds of staff across several organisations. The starting point for this modernisation effort is the Army’s Land Capability Division whose personnel guide nine Army programs through various gates on behalf of the Chief of Army, the end-point being the …

The  Defence White Paper 2016  challenges us all, specifically the Australian Army, to innovate and to integrate reform into our core business processes in the face of a more complex future strategic environment. How do we respond to the White Paper’s challenge and how can the Army fulfil the exacting innovation requirements articulated in its pages? The logical starting point for this discussion is to create a common understanding of the term ‘innovation’. From this understanding we can examine two ideas …

As the summer holidays approach, full of the promise of reading (or listening) time, it is worth looking at some of the books, articles, and other writings that have inspired members of the Australian Army Research Centre (AARC) over the last year.  There are other resources out there, with no end of professional reading lists to choose from, including from the AARC: a littoral focused list from earlier this year, and the 2019 Army reading list . A new Army Reading List is being developed and will be …

Welcome to the Australian Army’s Land Power Forum . The forum, now six years old, exists to sustain a conversation about Army and its future. It is a place for the stakeholders of this future to offer their perspectives, whether they be serving military personnel, civilian officials, academics, members of industry and other partners invested in Army’s growth as an institution. These perspectives may include discussion on topics extending from the theoretical to the immediately practical; from perspectives …

    This edition of the Australian Army Journal (AAJ) examines the foundations of professional mastery and doctrine, and reinforces the proposition that how we think inevitably affects how we perform. Opening with articles by Mark Gilchrist, Mark Mankowski and Nick Bosio, the journal considers how the ADF can maximise the effectiveness of joint operations, particularly in the context of Australia’s rapidly evolving strategic circumstances. Nicholas Mahr, Mark Sargent and James Casey challenge elements of …

It has become somewhat par for the course, in any discussion of professional reading in a military context, to quote United States Marine Corps General James Mattis (retired). Mattis commands much respect, both within the US military and in the Australian Army. He is often viewed as the modern-day soldier-scholar par excellence . His books frequently appear on Professional Military Education (PME) Reading Lists, and his quotes on the importance on military literacy are often thrown about. This is because …

AAJ Vol XXI, Number 3 Timeline Deadline for article submissions: Monday, 24 March 2025 Planned Publication Date: November 2025 Submission form at the bottom of this page Description Have you ever wanted to write on issues important to Army? Is there something that Army could ’do’ better? Or is there something you wish people understood about Army now and in the future? The Australian Army Research Centre (AARC) invites submissions for the third edition of the Australian Army Journal (AAJ) for 2025. The AAJ …

2(AS) Division PME Program 'The Defence Strategic Review and National Defence Strategy: Implications and Outcomes for the Australian Army' Crafting a National Defence Strategy is an immensely challenging task. At its core, it requires a theory of victory – or a theory of success – so that practitioners can deliver it. [1] Within military education institutions and elsewhere, the development of strategy is often reduced to a formula that allocates available resources against efforts. This is wrong-headed …

2(AS) Division PME Program ‘Information Warfare: recent history and irregular futures’ Information Warfare: recent history and irregular futures. What the Australian Army can learn from Russia and Violent Extremists During February and March of 2014, Ukraine’s Crimea region was annexed by Russian ‘Little Green Men’. [1] The internet and news media were awash with images and reports of these Russian speaking soldiers who carried Russian arms and equipment driven in Russian plated vehicles. Russian state …