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Abstract Canadian author Gwynne Dyer was recently in Australia to promote his latest book The Mess They Made: The Middle East After Iraq , which is available from Scribe Publishing. In an interview with the Australian Army Journal he discussed the issues raised in his new book, as well as the strategic concerns facing Australia today. Innumerable books have been written, pundits have held forth on what should and should not be done, and around the globe the television news each night brings the story of a …

  Fighting for Fallujah,  Written by: John R. Ballard,   Praeger Security International, Westport, CT, 2006,   ISBN: 9780275990558, 152 pp.     No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle of Fallujah   Written by: Bing West,  Bantam Book, New York, 2006,  ISBN: 9780553383195, 378 pp.     We Were One: Shoulder to Shoulder with the Marines who took Fallujah   Written by: Patrick K. O’Donnell,  Da Capo, Cambridge, MA, 2006,  ISBN: 9780306815737, 244 pp.   For much of 2004 the most consistent problem spot …

General John Stuart Baker AC, DSM (1937–2007) General Baker was born in Melbourne in 1936. He joined the Australian Army in 1954, and graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon into the Royal Australian Engineers. General Baker was a highly intelligent and dedicated military officer. He saw operational service in Papua New Guinea and undertook two tours in Vietnam. For his work in Vietnam with the 1st Australian Civil Affairs Unit, he was Mentioned in Dispatches for his devotion to duty, …

How do you study military history? How often have I been asked that question, and how often have I found that all the enquirer wanted to learn was how to pass an examination? If that is all you want to do don’t bother to read any further, for I am afraid that I don’t know any short cuts, I don’t know of any substitute for work. But if you want to enrich your mind with the military experience of the ages, if you want to broaden your professional knowledge and enhance your capacity to command, if you want to …

Abstract This article reflects on the operation of the Australian Army’s 1st Reconstruction Task Force, which deployed to Afghanistan’s Uruzgan Province in August 2006. The author highlights the importance of civil affairs, such as reconstruction, education and capacity-building, in an overall counterinsurgency effort. As for the character of our enemies, they have been unusually ruthless and nihilistic. Their only purpose in violence has been to tear down, not to build up an alternative vision they …

Abstract While the experience in Iraq has generated a degree of political caution in the West towards mounting military-led interventions, it will inevitably only be a matter of time before fading memory and circumstances reverse this reluctance; this article offers a conceptual construct for such deployments. It first considers the nature of military-led interventions intended to effect regime change, and then develops a conceptual construct for reconstruction and societal reform that intervention forces …

Abstract At its highest operational tempo since the Vietnam War, the Australian Army in 2006 was deployed widely for a range of tasks. Two of these, East Timor and Solomon Islands, were short-notice deployments to provide security and stability for regional neighbours. The lessons of these missions, explored in this article, relate to the nature of the contemporary conflict environment, operating with international and interagency partners, the role of the media, and the skills that Army soldiers require …

Abstract This article reflects on the increased prominence of ISTAR and reviews the spectrum of ISTAR functions for land-based operations, demonstrating the effects of networked technology and the need for improved ISTAR management for complex warfighting. These developments indicate that a visionary repositioning of ISTAR within Army’s warfighting concepts is called for to harness the greater significance and growing range of ISTAR capabilities. A way ahead is offered to better manage the ISTAR functions …

Abstract As our modern army is called upon to operate in complex battlespaces against non-traditional enemies, or to undertake activities other than traditional warfighting, is the training provided to Staff Cadets applicable to the situations junior commanders will face in their future careers? This article assesses the Part Time General Service Officer First Appointment Course and highlights possible changes that would make it more relevant to the challenges facing junior officers today. It is 1130 …

Abstract In a post-Cold War, post-11 September world, the field of biosecurity has increased, both in importance and scope, as a concern for military and civilian authorities. This article explores some of those nascent threats, and their implications for military forces. Introduction In the immediate aftermath of the attacks of 11 September 2001, the threats posed by the new world order that emerged shifted Defence and First Response agencies out of their post–Cold War comfort zone. Familiar threats, …