As a Catholic Military Chaplain, I have always felt a deep-seated desire to go on a pilgrimage to  Lourdes  at the foot of the Pyrenees Mountains in France, or Fatima in Spain; both sites of Marion apparitions. When I found out that 2018 was the 60th anniversary of the military pilgrimage to Lourdes, a pilgrimage for military personnel initiated by the Knights of Columbus in 1958 but with its origins during WW1, my wife and I began planning to go on this pilgrimage. We were then able to join in with the …

“The ultimate goal of a military operation is to ensure that a person no longer poses a threat to the troops by putting that person out of action in combat, by taking that person prisoner, or by detaining him… we can no longer solely rely on intelligence based operational planning; we must use Evidence Based targeting to ensure these criminals are brought to justice…” COL Voetelink, Norwegian Army, 2014 Military operations over time have seen tactics, techniques and procedures evolve and adapt to suit a …

The world has already missed the opportunity to prevent many of the most serious consequences of Climate Change. Although much has been written on the topic of Climate Change and its causes (manmade or otherwise), the climate is changing and Defence is not prepared for this reality. The modernisation of the Australian Defence Force to counter climate effects is often couched in terms of the readiness of forces to utilise their current capabilities to conduct disaster relief operations. The only direct …

Any meaningful discussion of future land warfare should include enhancing combat effectiveness by integrating technology with the soldier.  While such discussions usually involve the  exciting ethical dilemmas presented by the ‘super soldier’ , the complementary discussion about the practicalities of how Army is to get from the present to the ‘super soldier’ receives less attention.  The  Future Land Warfare Report 2014  indicates Army’s willingness to consider technology being ‘ in ’ the soldier (e.g. …

Mass When employing force “the best strategy is always to be very strong; first in general, and then at the decisive point.” [1]  “Strength” is constrained by resources, demographics and will; in turn these  factors respond to the perceived importance of the objective that the force seeks to obtain. [2]  Because militaries and governments seek empirical measures, “strength” is measured often in numbers of soldiers, units and fighting vehicles. Measuring force in this way ignores other components of …

In the movie  Batman versus Superman , Batman concludes that the era of a single superhero is over. To face the threats of the future, he realises he needs to assemble a super team, people with widely different skills but who, in common, are good and strong of heart. Reinvigorated by the example of Superman’s purity, Batman sets off to create the  Justice League .  DC Comics continue this theme in the related film  Suicide Squad . Here we see an eclectic bunch of oddballs and societal rejects, who – …

The words culture and strategy are full to overflowing with meaning, non meaning and contested ideas. I ask the reader to skirt this semantic swamp and accept culture as “the ideas, customs and social behaviour of a group” and strategy as “purposeful behaviour to realise an end.” Accepting these general definitions allows for a brisk consideration of the relevance the idea that “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” The specific phrase “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” has been variously attributed to …

If there are two words guaranteed to generate an emotional response in professional Army officers – young and old, junior and senior – it is ‘Mission Command’. Who has not heard these statements? We  –  subordinate commands  – don’t have enough of it; They  –  the higher headquarters  – don’t give it; We  – Army  – don’t practice it; and why won’t  they  – commanders  – just let  us  – hard working subordinate  – get on with  it  –  what ever the task is the subordinate is sure they can do better with less …

Understanding the Need for Balance between Information and Physical Dimensions In  the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. [i] In the dystopian future of the Warhammer 40,000 wargame, the forces of humanity understand that war, conflict and competition are linked. Their military machine must be used to both influence and coerce, for competition and conflict is everywhere: internal coalition bickering; posturing and positioning with allies; border skirmishes and ‘policing’ operations within …

State actors have lagged non-state opponent use of media in recent decades. Such proficiency in the realm of  traditional media pales in comparison to recent circles run around state efforts in the  social  media arena, the recruiting success of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) providing a prime example. Observations from Israel’s 2014 Operation Protective Edge (OPE) suggest a number of lessons relevant to any in government – Defence or otherwise –seeking to redress the imbalance. Backdrop: …