Abstract ‘Accelerated Warfare’ describes both the operating environment and how the land force must respond. The changing character of war requires a shift in traditional attitudes towards land force operations and an approach that is unhindered by dated frameworks, in particular the belief in the absolutes of ‘war’ and ‘peace’. This is most apparent in the information environment in which the land force is least comfortable yet can most effectively target decision-making and the will of the people. …

Abstract Strategic brinkmanship, the preparedness to take a country to the edge of war without having to ultimately do so, has a powerful historical basis in the United States and China and is on the rise between those nations in the Indo-Pacific. Although their competition is multifaceted, the most significant security risk for Australia appears likely to play out in the race for technologically sophisticated autonomous systems and artificial intelligence (A/AI), where risk-taking could confer a decisive …

Abstract The operational level of warfare provides the logic and rationale that determines the tactical actions necessary to achieve strategic goals. The Australian Army’s approach to operational design—embodied in the Military Appreciation Process—has not kept pace, however, with the increasing scope and complexity of contemporary military operations. However, ‘design’—a new approach to operational planning now on the ascendant in the US Army and Marine Corps—promises to incorporate the elements of …

Abstract This article contends that the Army’s Adaptive Campaigning - Future Land Operating Concept has important implications for the Army’s doctrine, culture and officer education because, despite recent updates, current and developing doctrine has not yet fully reconciled some legacy linear concepts with Adaptive Campaigning ’s non-linear foundations. While doctrinal metaphors and planning methodologies such as ‘centre of gravity’ and the Military Appreciation Process have enduring relevance, the …

Abstract While organisational culture can act as an impediment to change, its relative conservatism plays an important role in guarding against change that may be ill-conceived and radical. The great strength of military culture, however, is that it is well suited to driving adaptation, particularly in time of war. Change within the military should therefore be seen as a process of adaptation and renewal, maintaining what has proven successful without being tied to tradition. This concept of adaptation is …

Abstract In 2008, the Australian Army launched its Adaptive Army initiative, an ambitious program that seeks not only to pursue a systemic approach to adaptation, but also to inculcate a culture of adaptation across all levels of the Army. Much of the success of this initiative will be contingent on the Army’s ability to monitor the progress of implementation and adjust— adapt — where necessary. That process of monitoring and adjusting requires clear measures of success and failure. This article analyses …

Abstract The Australian Army’s success in force generation and preparation and the conduct of contemporary and future operations will be determined largely by its capacity to learn and adapt. Only through a continual cycle of reviewing and adapting in response to a changing environment will the Army retain its ability to fulfil its operational charter while also creating a culture that is capable of encouraging innovation and creativity. The ‘Adaptive Army’ initiative is more than a simple reorganisation. …

Abstract This articles examines the provenance and utility of two metaphors commonly used to help describe the dynamics of contemporary combat. It argues that, although it shares the weaknesses of all metaphors in being partially inappropriate and incomplete, the ASDA cycle has greater contemporary relevance than the earlier Boyd or OODA cycle. In 2006, the first edition of the Australian Army’s concept Adaptive Campaigning,  capturing the lessons of nearly a decade of Army experimentation, introduced the …

Abstract This article contends that the experience of the early twenty-first century has highlighted a long-term systemic weakness in the formulation and execution of Western military strategy. The need for strategists to focus on people, culture and society is not just a counterinsurgency requirement; rather it should be an indispensible and enduring strand in all strategic calculations. There is a need to immigrate the thinking, methods, products and approach of anthropology into the formulation and …

Abstract The Victorian bush fires of February 2009 swiftly destroyed nearly two thousand homes and took over 170 lives. Yet, equally as swift, and in spite of the extensive damage, the ADF responded quickly and efficiently to this disaster with Operation VICTORIAN FIRES ASSIST. While the success of this operation was obvious for all to see, the author identifies several lessons that can be drawn from this unique experience, examining what worked as well as what did not—and how matters could be improved. To …