Humanism & Religion: A Call for the Renewal of Western Culture Jens Zimmermann, Oxford University Press, New York, 2012, ISBN 9780199697755, 392pp, RRP US$150.00 The question of who ‘we’ are and what vision of humanity ‘we’ assume in Western culture lies at the heart of hotly debated topics on the role of religion in education, politics and culture in general. The West’s cultural rootlessness and lack of cultural identity are also revealed by the failure of multiculturalism to integrate religiously vibrant …

Abstract Military organisations struggle with defining culture, a problem exacerbated by the lack of agreement on when cultural training should occur and what it should consist of. In the Australian Army cultural training is typically delivered to personnel during operational force preparation. This paper argues that cultural skills need to be developed much earlier, preferable at points throughout a soldier’s entire career. This paper uses the seemingly unrelated issues of mental health, insider threat …

Abstract This article is written as an element of future war analysis conducted at the US Marine Corps School of Advanced Warfighting and uses primarily US doctrine and concepts relating to cyberspace. Such concepts may not correlate specifically to those used by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) or Australian Army as open source US military perspectives on cyberspace consider both defensive and offensive aspects, while Australia generally provides only a defensive view. However this article aims to …

Abstract This article examines the combined arms imperative driving Plan Beersheba. It begins by describing the major organisational changes occurring in the regular manoeuvre formations of Forces Command as background to discussion of the combined arms imperative behind these organisational changes. Evidence of this imperative is supported by historical analysis of combined arms warfare during the twentieth century and the Australian Army’s experience of employing tanks in Vietnam. The more recent …

Abstract The conclusion of combat operations in Afghanistan opens the debate over how land forces can be best structured, equipped and manned for future tasks. In conditions of substantial uncertainty roughly equivalent to those that prevailed in the lee of the Cold War, the British Army must shape the broader defence debate if it wishes to remain relevant. While this will present a challenge given current resource constraints, this article offers a potential roadmap for the journey ahead, building on the …

Abstract The traditional Army capability-based approach to the 2014 Force Structure Review (FSR), no matter how coherent, is likely to continue to see Army as comparatively worse off than the other Services. For greater success, Army requires a long-term strategy, over a number of years, to break down decades of strategic culture and defence policy trends. Most importantly, Army needs to redefine the current (albeit undeclared) defence policy priority of providing niche combat forces to United States-led …

Pacific 360°: Australia’s Battle for Survival in World War II 1   Written by: Roland Perry, Hachette, 2012, ISBN 9780733632778, 512pp   Reviewed by: Wing Commander Mark Smith When I first pick up a book I usually read the cover flap to gain some understanding of its subject matter. The cover flap of Roland Perry’s Pacific 360° told me that, ‘In the dark days following the 1941 fall of Singapore ... Churchill was demanding our troops stay in North Africa and Greece ...’ This did not bode well! Next, with …

Abstract Threat forces are becoming increasingly familiar with the capabilities of information and communications technology devices. Given their ability to store and rapidly disseminate data and information, these devices will only become more prevalent in the battlespace. While they have been exploited as methods of intelligence- gathering and within intelligence-led operations, little attention has been paid to the potential use of digital evidence in the prosecution of offenders. This article will …

Abstract Army’s incremental approach to the ingress of women into combat roles is arguably incompatible with its objective of achieving increased operational capability. This approach will also take too long to make a meaningful contribution to operational capability. This article argues that Army should consider altering its current approach by raising a predominantly female infantry battalion instead of relying on an incremental model. This would deliver a more tangible capability in a shorter time-frame …

Abstract Recent operations would have us believe that Combat Service Support (CSS) personnel have not previously been required to protect themselves. On closer examination it seems that throughout history, support services of armies have been targeted by enemy forces. These lessons are somewhat conveniently forgotten as armies only equip and train their fighting echelons for close combat while largely ignoring the requirement in CSS units. Contemporary and past operations have demonstrated that danger is …