Introduction Although there are many pathways to becoming an officer in the Australian Defence Force (ADF), this essay focuses specifically on the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) located in Canberra. ADFA’s Charter is: To provide Australian Defence Force Midshipmen and Officer Cadets, and other international partners, a balanced and liberal university education within a military context and environment; positively develop their character, leadership and professionalism; and enable them to build a …

‘Team learning’ refers to a set of shared understandings, practices and processes that occur within a team as a collective and, fundamentally, can provide solutions to difficult operational problems. For example, when LTCOL (retired) Bruce Cameron was asked what his most important leadership lesson was, he answered: [N]ot to be predictable. Four tank squadrons were deployed to Vietnam between 1968 and 1971. Each of them trained using exactly the same tactical drills (contact, defile and mine). By the time …

  Written by: Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis Penguin Press , 2021, 303 pp Paperbook ISBN: 9781405966429 Ebook ISBN: 9781405966436   Reviewed by: Albert Palazzo In 1978 the retired British general Sir John Hackett published an account of a fictional war between the United States and the Soviet Union. For me, reading it is a distant memory, but at the time it formed a part of my foundation as a scholar of war. The Cold War was ongoing, and growing up in New York City nuclear annihilation was …

    Written by: RA Howlett Crown Agents for the Colonies on behalf of the Government of Fiji , 1948, 267 pp   Reviewed by: Sonya Russell and Atonio Nagauna In the years since former Prime Minister Morrison’s ‘Pacific Step-up’ foreign policy shift, the Australian Army has enhanced its engagement with security forces across the Pacific. As engagement continues and combined operational deployments become regular, The History of the Fiji Military Forces 1939–1945 is essential reading for any personnel seeking …

  Written by: Christine Helliwell Penguin Random House , 2021, 512 pp Paperback ISBN: 9780143790020 Reviewed by: Peter J Dean We read books with predetermined ideas and biases. I approached Christine Helliwell’s book Semut: The Untold Story of a Secret Australian Operation in WWII Borneo firmly cloaked in the regalia of my academic background as a specialist in Australian strategy and military operations. As well as studying the Borneo campaigns closely, I have walked the battlefields at Tarakan, Brunei …

Introduction Project Land 400 Phase 3 aims to introduce into service an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV). This will replace Army’s aged armoured personnel carrier (APC) capability, which has been in service since 1965. The IFV acquisition provides Army’s infantry with enhanced firepower, mobility and protection to enable them to fight, win and survive close combat in the contemporary threat environment. However, discourse on the acquisition has often suffered from a poor and incomplete understanding of the …

The Australian Army’s understanding and employment of both surprise and deception are poor. This is despite both concepts being used extensively and to devastating effect in contemporary conflicts. It is telling that the effective use of surprise and deception almost invariably occurs when playing the enemy as the opposing force during major exercises, when the aversion to risk and imprisonment by doctrine is temporarily suspended. This deficiency is due in no small part to the lack of education and …

Introduction Understanding defeat is vital to understanding the Australian Army approach to warfare. Land Warfare Doctrine 1 states that the Army denies and defeats threats to Australia and its interests. [1] While the 2020 Defence Strategic Update modified the terminology somewhat, [2] to defeat an enemy is still central to the Army’s purpose. Yet, despite its importance, doctrine is strangely quiet on exactly what defeat is, and how it relates to other warfighting concepts.  For example, doctrine exhorts …

Introduction Change is a constant in war. But the chaos of constant change can be minimised by the act of planning. Doctrine advises that, to be effective, planning must facilitate movement through the adaptation cycle more quickly than the enemy. [1] This proposition is often mistaken for implying that success in war demands only quick adaptation. This conclusion is a misconception that tends to unnecessarily constrain military thinking. Success in war is dependent on the achievement of superior …

If a military force and its leaders have failed to prepare themselves and their forces with honesty, imagination, and a willingness to challenge fundamental concepts, then they will pay a dark price in the blood of their sailors, soldiers, marines, and airmen. Williamson Murray, ‘US Naval Strategy and Japan’ [1] [W]hat people think cannot be separated from the question of how they think. Azar Gat, A History of Military Thought [2] Introduction Australia’s geopolitical circumstances are changing. [3] The …