Abstract This article, based on personal observations and experiences during this time, highlights the complex nature of reconstruction and development operations in Afghanistan (particularly in the southern province of Uruzgan), examines the approaches of the two Provincial Reconstruction Teams and proposes a way ahead for future PRTs and the Australian RTF. It is better to let them do it themselves imperfectly than to do it yourself perfectly. It is their country, their way, and our time is short. - T. …

Abstract A need for a cultural shift in the application of Australian air power is gaining wide acceptance. Reach and precision were seen as the key enablers for the application of future air power—an attempt to re-focus on more than the air-to-air approach that has guided air power theory for numerous decades. Without actually recognising it, these concepts are starting to parallel land manoeuvre theory. The drive for reach and precision at the strategic level will offer great benefit to the application …

Abstract Has contemporary strategic thought really not produced a significant idea, concept or thinker in the last half-century? The author argues that van Creveld’s proposition is distinctly unfair to the contributions of a number of other modern military writers. This article refutes van Creveld’s argument through a survey of post–Second World War strategic thought. It explores the continuing evolution of military theory through the contributions of five principal contemporary military strategists: John …

We in the Australian Army are acutely aware of our history and traditions. We honour our past and seek to learn from it. We also honour the service of those who wear our uniform today and serve the nation all across the globe. On this, our 106th birthday, I believe we have much to celebrate. We are one of the nation’s oldest and most revered institutions. We hold a special place in our nation’s consciousness and we are all proud to wear the slouch hat and Rising Sun badge. Above all, we are proud of the …

To the Editors In December of 2003, the Australian Army Journal (AAJ) editorialised that ‘the place of intellectual mastery in preparing armies for warfighting is now well established and Western military journals have often played a key role in shaping change’. It posed a series of questions linked to army personnel, education, training, force structure and how best to meet the challenges of the complex battlefield of the 21st-century. The AAJ has proven itself to be ‘the main forum for such an exchange …

Listed below is a selection from the review copies that have arrived at the Australian Army Journal . Reviews for many of these books can be found online in the relevant edition of the Australian Army Journal at: http://www.defence.gov.au/army/lwsc/Publications/journal/journal.htm Barefoot Soldier, Johnson Beharry, VC, Sphere, ISBN 9780751538793, 434pp.     A Devil’s Triangle: Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destructions and Rogue States, Peter Brookes, Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 0742549534, 272pp.     A …

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 …