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As the summer holidays approach, full of the promise of reading (or listening) time, it is worth looking at some of the books, articles, and other writings that have inspired members of the Australian Army Research Centre (AARC) over the last year. There are other resources out there, with no end of professional reading lists to choose from, including from the AARC: a littoral focused list from earlier this year, and the 2019 Army reading list . A new Army Reading List is being developed and will be …
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has been traditionally been viewed as a predominantly military institution focused on conventional warfighting. However, over the past few decades, this perception has broadened significantly. The ADF's remit now includes a variety of non-military tasks, such as disaster relief and support during public health emergencies. These activities have highlighted the inadequacies in our existing legal and policy frameworks, particularly the ambiguous term "domestic violence" …
Reflecting on recently introduced ADF-wide policy on respite, author Phillip Hoglin identifies areas for further improvement in Occasional Paper 21, Respite Periods in the ADF . He outlines factors that contribute to enduring challenges to the achievement of consistent respite policy, with reference to both Australian and overseas experience. Hoglin identifies a spectrum of applied and academic approaches to address these issues and, based on his analysis, provides several workable options for …
Michael Evans is the General Sir Francis Hassett Chair of Military Studies at the Australian Defence College and a Professor in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Deakin University in Victoria. He is a former Head of the Australian Army’s Land Warfare Studies Centre at the Royal Military College, Duntroon. He has held fellowships at King’s College London and at the universities of York, Cape Town and New South Wales and is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the New Zealand Defence Force Command and …
This paper argues that, despite being the world’s largest island, the greatest paradox of Australia’s existence is that the country lacks a maritime consciousness to guide defence policy. National development has been marked by several historical characteristics which have created an ingrained culture of sea-blindness. These include a long tradition of maritime dependence on great powers; the growth of a martial cult centred on Anzac; a schism between continental and expeditionary approaches in strategic …
This paper argues that, despite being the world’s largest island, the greatest paradox of Australia’s existence is that the country lacks a maritime consciousness to guide defence policy. National development has been marked by several historical characteristics which have created an ingrained culture of sea-blindness. This paper argues that, despite being the world’s largest island, the greatest paradox of Australia’s existence is that the country lacks a maritime consciousness to guide defence policy. …
This paper examines the development of Australian Army doctrine from the end of the Vietnam War in 1972 to the publication of Land Warfare Doctrine 1, The Fundamentals of Land Warfare in March 1999. It analyses the rise of Army doctrine for continental defence operations in the 1970s and dissects the trend towards low-level conflict in the 1980s. The paper looks closely at the logic behind the Army in the 21st Century (A21) Review and the Restructuring of the Army (RTA) initiative in the 1990s. The …
This paper uses a historical case study of the Ambon disaster of 1942 to try to determine lessons for the development of Australia's maritime concept of strategy in the early 21st century. The paper examines how, in 1941–42, Australia embarked on the strategy of a forward observation-line, using troops to secure bases for air forces in the northern archipelagos. The failure of this strategy is viewed through the lens of the Ambon disaster of February 1942. The study examines how, with respect to defending …
This monograph analyses modern land power through examining the continental school of strategy that emerged in early 19th-century Europe at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The continental school of strategy is important because it has provided the essential knowledge for the theory and practice of land power over the past two centuries. Many of the continental school's principles continue to remain fundamental to an understanding of the use of ground forces in the early 21st century. The argument advanced …