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The principle of mission command, though not described as such, was practised by naval forces for centuries, and continues to be into the 21st century. [1] Exercise of command varies greatly depending on the context, and is highly dependent on the mix of organisational culture and enabling technology present. Since the development of radar, and reinforced by the advent of combat data systems and guided weapons, the volume of information available to a naval commander, and the speed with which command …

There is no more challenging role in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) than to command in war.        ADF-P-0 Command [1] Command is not easy. In peace or war, command is one of the most difficult activities we do as military professionals. Command in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) is unique—very few organisations can knowingly order subordinates into life-threatening situations. It takes a great deal of training, education and experience to be ready to command, and then the execution of command takes …

The Utility of Mission Command within Domestic Security and Response Operations   The land domain is where people live, where decision makers reside and where human, physical and technical access to all other domains begins. It is where military action intersects with populations and audiences. It encompasses decisive terrain and hosts critical infrastructure. [1] Domestic operations have unique characteristics and considerations. [2] Introduction Associate Professor David Stahel’s ‘ Auftragstaktik : The …

This paper draws on material covered in John Blaxland, The Australian Army from Whitlam to Howard (CUP, 2014). [1] Soldiers of today’s Australian Army draw on the inspiration of their predecessors. Following British tactics and procedures for the first half of the 20th century and beyond, Australian soldiers have fought at the direction of their government in conflicts and places ranging from the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa from 1899 to 1902, to Gallipoli in 1915, Beersheba in 1917 and Amiens in 1918, …

The Australian Army’s current organisational structure is reminiscent of the fable of the rally driver who would not change his Cooper S Mini after he gave up racing and married. When the rally driver’s first child arrived, he retained the Mini as the family car on the assumption that he would eventually return to racing. A second child soon followed and the family could barely fit in the car. Yet the rally driver refused to dispose of his beloved racing vehicle. A third child duly arrived and the family …

Like many Australian soldiers who have served large parts of their careers between the end of the Vietnam War in the early 1970s and the deployments to East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq since the end of the 1990s, I have not participated in a combined arms assault. The long years during which the Army was confined to continental defence resulted in a dichotomy between our doctrinal theory and military practice. Since the adoption by the Army of a maritime concept of strategy, there has been considerable …

Crafting a Vision for the Future Australian Army The fall of Singapore opens the Battle for Australia … what the Battle of Britain required, the Battle for Australia demands. Prime Minister John Curtin, 1942 [1] Introduction By late 1941, Australia had deployed more than 22,000 soldiers across its northern approaches in preparation for a possible Japanese advance on the mainland. By February 1942, Singapore, Malaya and The Dutch East Indies were all under Emperor Hirohito’s control. New Guinea and the …

An Enduring Strategic Challenge On 24 May 2024, the Australian Government quietly designated Ansar Allah (also known as the Houthis) as a terrorist organisation. [1] The Australian terrorist designation was made long after the Houthis initiated attacks on Red Sea shipping in solidarity with Hamas following the 7 October 2023 attacks, and long after the Houthis became the de facto government for northern Yemen (circa 2014), emulating the governance models of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. …

Introduction The 2023 Defence Strategic Review (DSR) brought Australia’s strategic context into sharp focus. As a rising power, China is challenging the rules-based global order, and great power competition threatens Australia’s national interests. Australia faces the most challenging set of strategic circumstances since the Second World War, making the potential for short-warning large-scale combat operations (LSCO) in the Indo-Pacific a real possibility. [1] The 2024 National Defence Strategy (NDS) …

Introduction The Defence Strategic Review of 2023 (DSR) underlined the importance of the littoral environment in Australia’s future defence needs. [1] As part of this, the DSR outlined an operating concept for army fires as a form of mobile coastal artillery (what Alfred Thayer Mahan would have called a ‘fortress fleet’) designed, in part, to deny use of the littoral environment to hostile forces. [2] This concept tracks closely with the rationale for the marine littoral regiments outlined in the US Marine …