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 …

The recently released Chief of Army’s statement,  Army in Motion , is a critically important document for the Army’s future, even if it appears neither remarkable nor awe-inspiring at a first glance. In its mundanity, however, it is exactly what Army needs to do. As a statement of intent for the entire force to embrace,  Army in Motion  is highly relevant for the future of land power in Australia. I for one am all in. As General Angus Campbell has observed, Australia is facing a  more disruptive future , …

Introduction On May 8, 1864, Ulysses S Grant’s Union soldiers clashed with the Confederate troops of Robert E Lee at the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse on the road to Richmond. For the next two weeks the two sides fought it out as Union soldiers braved the fire swept ground that separated the two armies to close with the Rebels. Thousands fell in the attempt. A few weeks later, the process repeated itself at the even bloodier Battle of Cold Harbor. Today’s commanders face a challenge similar to that …

The Land Power Forum papers,  The canon and four generations of warfare Parts 1, 2 and 3 , [1]  note that in June 2004, the writer William S. Lind published an article titled  Two Marine Corps  [one the manoeuvre warfare Marine Corps, the second the programs, budgets and policy Marine Corps], which introduced the idea of  the canon  to military professionals: …the seven books [that]…take the reader from the first generation of modern war through the second and third generations and into the fourth. [2] …

The Land Power Forum papers,  The canon and four generations of warfare Parts 1 and 2 , [1]  note that in June 2004, the writer William S. Lind published an article titled  Two Marine Corps  [one the manoeuvre warfare Marine Corps, the second the programs, budgets and policy Marine Corps], which introduced the idea of  the canon  to military professionals: …the seven books [that]…take the reader from the first generation of modern war through the second and third generations and into the fourth. [2] This …

The 2016 Land Power Forum paper,  The canon and four generations of warfare , [1]  notes that in June 2004, the writer William S. Lind published an article titled  Two Marine Corps  [one the manoeuvre warfare Marine Corps, the second the programs, budgets and policy Marine Corps], which introduced the idea of  the canon  to military professionals: …the seven books [that]…take the reader from the first generation of modern war through the second and third generations and into the fourth. [2] This paper …

  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" …

Sound Military Conclusions for the Modern Era     Editor :  Benjamin Armstrong Naval Institute Press , Annapolis, 2013. 179 pp  Reviewed By : Jennifer Parker   Benjamin F. Armstrong’s 21 st Century Mahan revisits the works of Rear-Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, an influential American maritime strategist whose ideas shaped maritime thinking in the late 19th and early 20th centuries – and arguably the 21st. Mahan is best known for the often quoted, yet impenetrably written ‘The Influence of Sea Power Upon …

The Transformative Effects of Military Intervention on Grand Strategy   by Rebecca Lissner Oxford University Press, 2021, 240 pp Paperback ISBN: 0197583199 Reviewed By : William Westerman   According to US political scientist Barry Posen, a state’s grand strategy is its theory of how it will achieve security and stability for itself in both times of peace and times of war. [1] Once established, grand strategies usually change in two ways: when they are completely overhauled in response to shifts in the …

Executing What Has Been Started Eighteen months ago, Army released its capstone narrative, ‘Army’s Contribution to Defence Strategy’ , which defined the current and future operating environment as well as its vision, frameworks and culture. These documents and Army’s modernisation design principles of Connected, Protected, Lethal and Enabled seek to balance the current and expected readiness demands of being both ‘Ready Now’ and ‘ Future Ready’ . Strategic Environment The Defence White Paper states the …