Numerous single-service training adversaries have been developed by the Australian Army over the past 70 years. This process has created a variety of training adversaries, all of which have rapidly become out-dated. These training adversaries usually represented either opponents the Army was actually fighting, or opponents it had just fought. This led the Army to train for operations against an adversary it was unlikely to fight, rather than preparing for probable future conflict against a reality-based, …

LTCOL Jim Sinclair is an Army Reserve Intelligence Corps Officer with an interest in combat intelligence, tactics and military history. LTCOL Sinclair authored LWP-G 7-5-5 Training Adversary, the last Musorian-inspired training adversary doctrine, released in 2018. LTCOL Sinclair is posted to Director General Reserves (DGRES) at HQ FORCOMD, and assists the HQ FORCOMD DATE Team as Reserve Workforce Manager. LTCOL Sinclair retired from the NSW Public Service in October 2016. … Jim …

Lieutenant Colonel Kane Wright is the Commanding Officer of the 1st Combat Service Support Battalion. He is an Art of War Scholar and Distinguished Honour Graduate of the United States Army’s Command and General Staff College, and Honour Graduate of the United States Army War College’s Strategic Art Program. He has served in regimental, staff and command positions in 1st and 3rd Brigades, 17th Sustainment Brigade and Army Headquarters. He is published in the Australian Army Journal , The US journal …

Major Will Viggers has served in the Australian Army for 21 years as a RAEME officer, and has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in management from UNSW at ADFA. He completed a master’s degree in political and social science at the University of Paris II Pantheon-Assas while attending the French War College. It was during these studies that he decided to further examine this topic, after forming an opinion that Western doctrine did not satisfactorily define the ‘levels of war’. … Will …

Major James Roberts is the Officer Commanding of the 5th Royal Australian Regiment, Logistics Company. He is a graduate of the Royal Military College and has served in regimental, staff and command positions across 1st, 3rd and 7th Brigades. He is an accomplished Indonesian linguist, having won the Australian National Tournament in 2018. He is an advocate of modernisation and contributed to the recent winning pitch at the 2019 Defence Entrepreneurs Forum (DEFAus19) to introduce a deployable 3D printing and …

Captain Toni Pachernegg is a part-time Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps officer and works full-time as an Assistant Director in the Department of Defence. She is undertaking her Masters in Strategic People Management at the University of New South Wales and has an interest in understanding the dynamics of organisational design and culture to increase performance in organisations. Toni Pachernegg is currently posted to Sydney University Regiment. … Toni …

Lieutenant Colonel Scott Denner has served for 20 years as a regular and reserve officer. He is currently the Commanding Officer of Queensland University Regiment, and has operational service in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds the degrees of Bachelor of Management and Professional Studies and Master of Management. … Scott …

Major Nathan Bradney is an intelligence officer with a particular interest in violent extremism. Currently based at the Pentagon, he is a liaison officer within the United States Joint Staff with a focus on global counterterrorism. He holds a Masters of Strategy and Security and is completing a Masters of Special Operations and Irregular Warfare, both through the University of New South Wales, Canberra. … Nathan …

Colonel Martin White is a Canberra-based Army officer with previous operational experience in Timor Leste, Iraq and Afghanistan. He has recently been awarded a PhD from Latrobe University. … Martin White …

The dawn of a new financial year brought the release of the 2020 Defence Strategic Update (DSU) and its companion, the 2020 Force Structure Plan. Released as a ‘ guide for our nation through one of the most challenging times we have known since the 1930s and the early 1940s.’ The DSU dictates adjustments to Australia’s strategic defence posture to tackle a scale of regional change described as the ‘most consequential strategic realignment since the Second World War’. While the ‘C’ word of 2020 must sadly …