The French Army and the First World War   Written by: Elizabeth Greenhalgh Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2014,  ISBN: 978-1107605688469pp Reviewed by: Brigadier Chris Roberts (retd) In a conflict in which the French bore the greatest burden on the Western Front, the English-speaking historiography of the Great War includes few books that describe the French contribution. Naturally, Australia’s focus on that conflict is predominantly Anglo-centric with a consequent na-tionalistic flavouring of …

The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East   Written by: Eugene Rogan,  Basic Books, New York, 2015,  ISBN: 9780465023073, 485pp Reviewed by: Dr William Westerman With much of the attention of the First World War focused on the Western Front (both when it was being waged and ever since), it is a welcome change to explore a different theatre of that immense conflict. To the Entente powers, the war in the Middle East served simply to divert both their attention and, importantly, their …

To Kokoda   Written by: Nicholas Anderson Australian Army Campaigns Series 14 Big Sky Publishing, 2014,  ISBN: 9781922132963 186pp, 186pp, Reviewed by: Wing Commander Mark Smith The Kokoda campaign ranks second to the Gallipoli campaign in the national psyche and also probably in the number of Australian military history books devoted to a single campaign. With the approach of the 75th anniversary of the Kokoda campaign in 2017, there are likely to be more dissertations published and the myth versus …

Australia and the Vietnam War   Written by: Peter Edwards New South Publishing, 2014, 338pp, ISBN: 9781742241678 Reviewed by: Wing Commander Mark Smith The year 2015 saw a number of commemorations of significant military events culminating in the April commemoration of the centenary of the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli. The year 2015 was also the 200th anniversary of Wellington’s victory at the Battle of Waterloo. Lesser known, and largely overlooked by most Australians, were the 50th anniversaries of the …

Abstract The twenty-first century is increasingly challenging the efficacy of Cold War era non-proliferation regimes intended to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). There are significant limitations to the contemporary reliance on these regimes and associated interdiction activities intended to prevent proliferation. The existing controls have failed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons to states that previously did not possess such weapons, and there are also continuing concerns …

Abstract The release of the Defence White Paper 2016 marked a tectonic shift in attitudes to international engagement, elevating it to an ‘integrated core function’ of Australian Defence Force business. This article proposes a human resources framework for the Australian Army to allow it to generate specialist planners with the ability to enhance the capability of local partners. It proposes the development of ‘generalist plus’ officers with regional specialisation, termed ‘strategic planners’ within this …

Abstract The Defence White Paper 2016 articulated a specific requirement for the Australian Army to respond to the challenge of innovation. This article constitutes a response to that requirement, initially defining innovation and then summarising the 10 characteristics that are central to innovation. Employing these characteristics, the article moves to examine two concepts that would enable Australian Army innovation: improving collaboration and realising people’s potential. Importantly, and aligned to …

Abstract The history of the Australian Army tends to neglect the development of ‘officership’, particularly during both world wars. The development of officers in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), for instance, presents an excellent opportunity to examine the evolution of the professional Australian combat officer, particularly in terms of battalion command, and to explore the role of structured training and education in the development of command. This progressed in three broad stages. The first …

Supported by the Army Research Scheme, Dr Charles Miller conducted a review of the significance of cultural sensitivity training. His method of research and the results of his findings are contained within this article. This article will challenge your opinion of the way in which our Army conducts and manages cultural sensitivity training. And challenge is a good thing. We are all, by virtue of our voluntary service in the Australian Army, students of the profession of arms. This study requires us to value …

Abstract The rapid advances in robotic technologies and the successful use of existing unmanned and autonomous platforms has generated significant debate on the use of autonomous weapon systems (AWS). The debates surrounding AWS have centred primarily on legal and ethical concerns and also whether machines can ever emulate the psychology of the human decision-making process. Incredibly, this discourse occurs in the absence of a common or accepted legal definition of ‘AWS’, including what criteria or …