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Abstract This article has been written to address the poor application of planning processes by junior commanders. Decision-making is explored through the biological functions of the human brain to understand what occurs at the fundamental level of decision. This will demonstrate how junior commanders can harness this knowledge to improve their military decisionmaking. The article explains the importance of both analytical and instinctive processes that occur during decision-making, concluding that …
Abstract This article explores what kind of ‘Swiss Army Knife’ Australia’s future land force should look like in relation to its foundation warfighting capability. This discussion is crucial amid ongoing debates about the ‘Army After Afghanistan’. In one respect, developing a niche specialisation in Army’s skill sets is appealing for the potential monetary, time and other resource-efficiency savings. Yet, given a future operating environment that is generally predicted to be complex, uncertain and varied …
Abstract The Australian Army is on the cusp of its most challenging period since the end of the Vietnam War. Following twelve years of unprecedented operational tempo, Army is steadily shifting towards a ‘peacetime army’. Its training focus has shifted from attaining expertise in counterinsurgency operations towards achieving mastery in combined arms warfare. It has entered a period of fiscal austerity. The future will not be easy. This article will argue that Army can readily, confidently and successfully …
Listed below is a select group of books recently or soon to be published that either contribute to the discussions initiated in the articles in the Australian Army Journal or on subjects that may be of interest in the near future. Some of these books may be reviewed in forthcoming editions of the Journal. Charles A Kupchan, How Enemies Becomes Friends: The Sources of Stable Peace , Princeton University Press, 2012, ISBN 9780691154381, 442pp, US$24.95 Using historical case studies as evidence Kupchan …
Alan Bishop Stretton (1922–2012) Alan Bishop Stretton (b. 1922 Elwood, Victoria) enlisted in the Australian Army in 1940 and was assigned to the 2nd Cavalry Division. In 1941 he was promoted to lance sergeant, before being discharged from the 2nd Cavalry Division in 1941 and accepted as a staff cadet at the Royal Military College, Duntroon. Following his studies he graduated in December 1943 as a lieutenant, and in July 1944 he joined the 2/9th Battalion, 7th Division. At this the 2/9th Battalion was …
Major General Cedric Maudsley Ingram ‘Sandy’ Pearson AO, DSO, OBE, MC (1918–2012) Major General Cedric Maudsley Ingram ‘Sandy’ Pearson AO, DSO, OBE, MC (24 August 1918 – 7 November 2012). Pearson was born in Sydney and educated at Newington College, where he acquired his distinctive nickname after an eponymous brand of pumice soap popularly known as ‘sand soap’. He entered RMC Duntroon in January 1937, the year in which the college relocated back to Canberra from its enforced move to Sydney during the …
Listed below are a select group of books recently or soon to be published that either contribute to the discussions initiated in the articles in the Australian Army Journal or on subjects that may be of interest in the near future. Some of these books may be reviewed in forthcoming editions of the Journal. Nathan Mullins, Keep Your Head Down , Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2011, 347 pp, ISBN 9781742377940, AU$24.99. The war in Afghanistan has been the subject of many first-person narratives offering insights …
Abstract Field training time in the Australian Army is a precious commodity. It is also unlikely to increase in the near future. Fighting echelon units must examine ways of improving their training yield if they are to improve their combat effectiveness. This paper examines three ways that fighting echelon units can improve their training yield. First, by using regimental training to turn their junior leaders into better collective trainers. Second, by using early evaluation of whole-task training to …
Paratus Papers started in 1997, an initiative of the Commanding Officer of the 1st Armoured Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel (now Major General) Craig Orme. The Regiment has a long and proud history of excellence in officer training, and Paratus Papers sought to build on this tradition. Named after the unit’s motto, the Latin term for ‘prepared’, the Papers aim to inspire officers to ‘think up-front’, that is, ensure that the intellectual preparation for innovation and adaptation is done so that officers are …