A study of Army’s education, training and doctrine needs for the future Introduction The Army lives in the school house. The quote above, from Lieutenant General Frank Hickling (retired) in January this year, has been at the forefront of my mind since I commenced this appointment. This study was established in order to gain an appreciation of the current strengths and weaknesses of Army’s approach to education, training and doctrine, and to then propose how we might rectify the challenges identified. There …

Lessons for the ADF       … Southeast Asia’s Security Landscape …

Australian Beach Groups, 1943-1945 The process of getting men and vehicles ashore during an assault landing and maintaining them at their full fighting efficiency is complicated by the very nature of the operation … it is no exaggeration to say that once a beach head has been secured, the success of the operation will depend very largely on the early establishment and smooth running of an efficient beach organisation. [i] Introduction and Context By 1943, the American and Australian forces had gained the …

The Australian Army’s Past, Present and Future Do not try to do too much with your own hands. Better the Arabs do it tolerably than that you do it perfectly. It is their war, and you are to help them, not to win it for them. Actually, also, under the very odd conditions of Arabia, your practical work will not be as good as, perhaps, you think it is. [1] TE Lawrence, August 1917 Introduction [2] The public release of the Defence Strategic Review (DSR) in April 2023 and National Defence Strategy (NDS) in …

Land Power’s Contribution to the Integrated Force Introduction Australia is on the precipice of the most significant change in military strategic policy since the end of the Cold War. The 2023 Defence Strategic Review (DSR) recommended the Australian Defence Force (ADF) ‘maximise the deterrence, denial, and response options for the Government’ by evolving into an ‘integrated force’ that harnesses effects across all domains’. [i] The 2024 National Defence Strategy (NDS) advances this direction by …

Major Sam Sherrin is an Australian Army Officer currently serving in Army Headquarters as the SO2 Strategic Plans and Concepts, Future Land Warfare. … Sam Sherrin …

Context Australia’s strategic geography will continue to present new challenges and opportunities into the future. The nation will remain an enormous landmass with a small population at the bottom of Asia. Yet, no longer is our region a strategic backwater with geographic depth. Our historic geographic advantage is being eroded by grey zone actions, the reach and lethality of modern weapons, the potency of anti-access and area-denial (A2AD) systems, and the broader modernisation of other nations’ military …

Deborah Jeppesen commenced her PhD research as a part time candidate in 2014 while continuing to work as a psychologist in the Department of Defence. Jeppesen was inspired to examine the attributes of influence in military advisors after contributing to research with Defence Science and Technology Group on threats posed to soldiers through ‘insider attack’ from foreign security force personnel they were advising. Jeppesen received the Royal United Services Institute Leo Mahoney Bursary in 2017 on the basis …

Executing What Has Been Started Eighteen months ago, Army released its capstone narrative, ‘Army’s Contribution to Defence Strategy’ , which defined the current and future operating environment as well as its vision, frameworks and culture. These documents and Army’s modernisation design principles of Connected, Protected, Lethal and Enabled seek to balance the current and expected readiness demands of being both ‘Ready Now’ and ‘ Future Ready’ . Strategic Environment The Defence White Paper states the …

Lieutenant Colonel Robin Smith from the Robotic and Autonomous Systems Implementation & Coordination Office (RICO), Future Land Warfare Branch of Land Capability Division presents on the technology that the Australian Army is exploring for the battlefield of the future. … Robotic and Autonomous …