Abstract This article examines the key role that junior commanders and their soldiers must play in the execution of force concepts necessitated by the emergence of modern counterinsurgency warfare. Now more than ever, platoon teams and sections have the moral, legal and strategic imperative to analyse and apply force concepts at a rate and magnitude equal to, if not in excess of, their higher command. This article discusses approaches to this increased pressure by drawing on experiences from platoon teams …

Abstract This article identifies the opportunity, if not the necessity, for the Australian Defence College to offer a larger pool of mid-ranking Army officers a mission-focused part-time ACSC program. To do this the article will assesses one of the current part-time ACSC options, the Army Reserve ACSC course (ACSC(R)), against its ability to build and develop the skills required of a mid-ranking ‘mission-focused’ officer. This analysis is Army focused; however, the concepts are applicable to a tri-service …

Abstract The Australian Defence Force has a need for procedural medical specialists in garrison healthcare, on major exercises and on operations. Employing such specialists in the full-time component of the ADF has proved largely impossible, leading to reliance on civilian contractors. However, the ADF Reserves include many procedural medical specialists who could potentially perform this work. Underemployment of the Reserves is a costly lost opportunity. This article proposes a method of better matching …

Abstract The Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team, an element of 20 EOD SQN, is among the Australian Defence Force’s most effective weapons in the fight against the improvised explosive device (IED), the tool of the modern insurgent. The crucial communications element of the EOD team is currently managed by a Regimental Signaller, a non-specialist operator with all-corps training. Replacing the Regimental Signaller with a specialist Communications Systems Operator (COMSYSOP), however, would significantly …

Abstract This article discusses the effect of the acquisition of the Amphibious Deployment and Sustainment (ADAS) System, acquired under JP 2048. It is argued that the project is largely ignoring the need to control river systems and shallow water areas that dominate our region’s geography. The article also discusses the training implications associated with the raising and sustaining of a world class amphibious force. A small but highly trained [amphibious] force striking ‘out of the blue’ at a vital spot …

Abstract Chris Forbes-Ewan has twenty-five years’ experience as a Defence nutritionist with the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO). He is based at DSTO-Scottsdale (aka Defence Nutrition and Food Technology). In this response to an article in the Winter 2010 issue of the Australian Army Journal , Chris argues that, although it is far from perfect, the Combat Ration One Man does make adequate nutrition available for ADF members. A man’s ration is part of his pay. As we do not pay him in …

Abstract As the battle to contain the insurgency in Afghanistan continues, it is important that the current generation of soldiers, and their leaders, thoroughly understand the principle of distinction and the legal concepts that makes one person a legal target and another not. Current international law recognises only two categories of persons with respect to conflict: combatants and civilians. This article analyses relevant international law and clarifies what has become a confused and often …

Abstract This article discusses the unconventional thoughts of H John Poole and his advocacy of small teams as the key to success in counterinsurgency conflict, and whether with modification they may find application in our own ongoing counterinsurgency effort in Uruzgan. Introduction The ADF is currently entering its ninth year of the ongoing campaign to eliminate terrorist safe havens and assist in the removal of a resurgent Taliban in order to create a democratic Islamic state in Afghanistan under the …

Abstract Any suggestion of the employment of Australian tanks in Afghanistan is frequently confronted with the sentiment that tanks are not applicable in the counterinsurgency environment. This sentiment, however, is historically inaccurate. The experiences of the Canadians and the Danes in their employment of tanks in Afghanistan highlight the impressive effectiveness of tanks in the combined arms environment in a counterinsurgency. Regardless, the topic is plagued by multiple fallacious theories. As a …

After eight years of war, more than 907 Americans dead and 4,400 wounded, and $227 billion in aid from the United States alone, Afghanistan was “deteriorating” badly, according to the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commander, General Stanley McChrystal, in an August 2009 report to the Secretary of Defense. 1 Although General McChrystal has been more optimistic of late, the fact remains that the Taliban’s reach is more extensive now than at any time since being expelled from Kabul eight …