The Australian Army History Unit (AAHU)  is responsible for developing policy and programs for the  collection, conservation, interpretation and promotion of Australian Army history. AAHU operates 16 Military Museums across Australia, Army History Grants , CEW Bean Prize and has over 200 books in publication . Chief of Army’s History Conference . Since 1994 the Australia Army History Unit has conducted the Chief of Army's History Conference, and in that time it has evolved to be a leading event on the …

War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944 By Ian, W. Toll WW Norton and Company, 2015. 688. Paperback ISBN: 9780393353204 Hardcover ISBN: 9780393080643 Reviewed by Sam Baumgarten The Conquering Tide is an outstanding book for those wishing to understand the American conduct of war in the Pacific. It examines the war in the Pacific islands from the aftermath of the Battle of Midway to the Battles of Saipan and Guam in mid-1944. This is the second part of a trilogy. The other two books cover firstly the war in …

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win. Sun Tzu Introduction The Australian Army has an extensive history of conducting train, advise and assist (TAA) missions. These missions represent a flexible, scalable and low-risk component of national strategy.  The Defence Strategic Update [i] (DSU) highlighted the requirement to shape, deter and respond to challenges within the Indo-Pacific region. In describing the shaping function, the DSU …

The Oboe landings – well planned, resourced and executed – were, and are, rightly considered the acme of amphibious operations. Dayton McCarthy Introduction to The Oboe Landings 1945 Australian Army History Unit, Campaign Series 32 “G’Day Sir, I’m looking for your support to attend a staff ride.” These were my hopeful words to my boss shortly after learning of an opportunity to travel to Borneo to study a series of 1945 amphibious operations. A staff ride wasn’t something I had previously heard of, and I …

Lieutenant Temma Perry is an RAAMC General Service Officer. When she isn’t providing tactical health solutions to supported units, domestically and internationally, she can be found playing golf, scuba diving local reefs or learning to fly a Cessna 172 at the local air strip. … Temma …

Over the past decade, the Australian Army has established itself as the ‘preferred partner’ within the Indo-Pacific region. The Indo-Pacific region covers the area from India to Papua New Guinea, extending to North Korea in the North, our greatest footprint landing within the archipelagos of the Pacific Ocean north of Australia. The importance of maintaining or gaining the ‘preferred partner’ status with the countries in the region is highlighted by the meagre 800km stretch of ocean that separates the …

Introduction Since 2017, measles outbreaks have been surging around the globe, with many Indo-Pacific nations experiencing disease outbreaks due to low vaccination rates [i] . A targeted vaccination program provides opportunities for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to supplement its traditional train, advise and assist missions with a low-risk and cost-effective public health intervention while delivering a strategic deterrent effect within our region. Measles vaccinations provide a legitimate reason …

CAPT Amanda Plant enlisted in the ADF in 2004 within the geospatial intelligence trade prior to transferring to a nursing officer in 2012. She has continued to combine both medical and intelligence disciplines and is passionate about the inclusion of health intelligence to identify strategic opportunities to influence and shape current and emerging global theatres. … Amanda …

The Forging of a First World War By Elizabeth Greenhalgh Cambridge University Press, 2011. 550. Online ISBN: 9780511835254 Reviewed by BRIG Chris Roberts AM, CSC (Retd.) Within the English speaking world, many volumes have been written on Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, Commander in Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, with seven biographies devoted to him in the decade prior to the centenary of the Great War. One such volume attributes him as ‘The Architect of Victory.’  This is not surprising given …

In the public mind, there is an inherent connection between deterrence and lethality. In the Cold War, nuclear weapons were the foundation of how the great powers deterred. So too today, much of the deterrence debate has centred on long-range strike options. Yet firepower is not everything. In 1982, the British Government sent three of its nuclear submarines south to warn Argentina against threatening the Falkland Islands. Those submarines were far more capable than anything the Argentineans possessed, yet …