Reading Time: 4 minutes In the Australian Defence Force (ADF), Harmony Week arrives each year with its message of cultural inclusion and respect. Yet this year it feels
Reading Time: 4 minutes Juggling competing demands and expectations we place on ourselves, or that others place on us, is a natural part of the stress
Reading Time: 3 minutes Within the three combat brigades there is a bias towards combat corps officers and SNCO’s when filling key appointments. This can be
Reading Time: 3 minutes Technology has become ubiquitous within the modern world, in particular with communication systems. There are few people in Australia today who do
Reading Time: 4 minutes Marching in to my first unit as a Lieutenant (LT) and Platoon Commander (PLCOMD), one of the first tasks I was told
Reading Time: 3 minutes We talk about continuous learning and how it is important to be a professional soldier, sailor oraviator, regardless of trade. We have
Reading Time: 6 minutes As part of the Ukraine conflict we have been watching an increased use of civil space capability. At the Inaugural Space Summit
Reading Time: 6 minutes I know that look. I see myself in her eyes. I know that woman intimately. It’s a portrait of me – a portrait of
Reading Time: 8 minutes Artillery Reading List for the intellectual component of fighting power and to learn lessons from others’ experiences.
Reading Time: 5 minutes I am currently serving with one of the most diverse organisations in the world – the United Nations. My role as a
Reading Time: 7 minutes Founded in 1941 by Charles Bean, the latest custodian of the Australian War Memorial (AWM) is Matthew Anderson, PSM who was announced in
Reading Time: 2 minutes Bite sized leadership lessons, featuring reader-submitted stories of no more than 100 words In 2018, I learned the power of authenticity. I
Reading Time: 2 minutes Bite sized leadership lessons, featuring reader-submitted stories of no more than 100 words An SGI at RMC-D, nearing four decades on this
Reading Time: 2 minutes Bite sized leadership lessons, featuring reader-submitted stories of no more than 100 words To be right, or nice? I have asked myself
Reading Time: 2 minutes Bite sized leadership lessons, featuring reader-submitted stories of no more than 100 words I remember once being told by my old corporal
Reading Time: 10 minutes Director of the Australian War Memorial (AWM) since April 2020, Matthew Anderson, PSM had a distinguished career with the Department of Foreign
Reading Time: 2 minutes Bite sized leadership lessons, featuring reader-submitted stories of no more than 100 words Would it help? We have all experienced our fair
Reading Time: 2 minutes Bite sized leadership lessons, featuring reader-submitted stories of no more than 100 words Priming is a phenomenon where introduction to a certain
Reading Time: 3 minutes ‘What the Americans lacked, or lost somewhere along the way, was imagination… It was not a failure of intelligence, but of imagination.’
Reading Time: 23 minutes As a nation – and as an important regional leader in the global community – Australia is experiencing significant changes to our
Reading Time: 2 minutes Bite sized leadership lessons, featuring reader-submitted stories of no more than 100 words The Greatest Weapon – Mom I used positional/personal power
Reading Time: 2 minutes Bite sized leadership lessons, featuring reader-submitted stories of no more than 100 words Most days we pounded the hot pavement seemingly only
Reading Time: 2 minutes Bite sized leadership lessons, featuring reader-submitted stories of no more than 100 words Fatigue will break metal. Fatigue is defined as weakness caused
Reading Time: 5 minutes “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.” – Albert Einstein
Reading Time: 5 minutes The rise of Result Oriented Work Environments, or ROWEs, across the globe has sparked a shift in organisational management and culture. Conceptualised
Reading Time: 6 minutes “…in Burma our Armies are advancing on the wings of the Allied Air Forces.” – Air Chief Marshal Keith Park Introduction The
Reading Time: 6 minutes Recently, I had the pleasure of seeing a LinkedIn post from an American Army colleague, on a photo of a group of
Reading Time: 2 minutes “Be grounded by what we are good at – exceptional leadership and passing on these leadership skills to Army’s next generation.” –
Reading Time: 4 minutes During a promotion course at Canungra, I recall an instructor posing a simple question to the audience: “How many of you have
Reading Time: 6 minutes The Falklands War was “a close-run thing”, noted Admiral Sir John ‘Sandy’ Woodward, the British commander for Operation Corporate (the British name for the operation
Reading Time: 6 minutes As a member of the Royal Australian Air Force, I am often asked what I do for a living and many people
Reading Time: 38 minutes Australia’s region is in the ‘midst of the most consequential strategic realignment since World War II and trends, including military modernisation, technological
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Part Time Army is growing – now with a combined force of over 15,000 – and on a steady upward trend
Reading Time: 5 minutes This is Part II of an interview with David Kilcullen. Find Part I here. David Kilcullen is Professor of International and Political Studies
Reading Time: 3 minutes An overused- but often cited- definition of leadership is “the art of influencing people to willingly achieve the team or organisational goal”.
Reading Time: 6 minutes David Kilcullen is Professor of International and Political Studies at UNSW Canberra, Professor of Practice at Arizona State University, and CEO of
Reading Time: 5 minutes In 2020, I deployed as the gender advisor for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), as part of Australia’s ongoing commitment to the global
Reading Time: 6 minutes Much has been written about women in leadership. There are countless books and articles on leadership written by women specifically for women.
Reading Time: 3 minutes What a difference a year makes – or does it? As the world struggles to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is
Reading Time: 6 minutes Firstly, I apologise that this article might not be the best writing I’ve produced. I’m currently sitting here at work shivering while
Reading Time: 5 minutes I hugged them tight, so tight that my four year old complained she couldn’t breathe. But I didn’t want to let go,
Reading Time: 4 minutes “Realistically, simply saying ‘you should commission’, whilst humbling, is largely ignorant of the fact that many enlisted personnel actually love (or really
Reading Time: 8 minutes While in some ways the context in which the land force functions has evolved, the demands have not[1]. The persistent features of
Reading Time: 23 minutes “where more than twenty interpretations take to the field, the addition of one more cannot be deemed an impertinence” – Isiah Berlin Introduction
Reading Time: 4 minutes The pros and cons of cadet hierarchies have been debated at length. The Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) removed cadet hierarchies in
Reading Time: 12 minutes Spotlight Her 2021 Propel Her is shining a spotlight on silent achievers who contribute in inspirational ways to the Defence of Australia
Reading Time: 3 minutes The recent Chief of Army Symposium 2021, held at the Brisbane Convention Centre from April 19-20, highlighted regional engagement, technology and the
Reading Time: 3 minutes 19 April 2021 saw a world first. A helicopter took flight for 40 seconds. A short hover before turning and landing. It’s
Reading Time: 5 minutes Editor’s Note: This is Grounded Curiosity’s 2nd most read article of all time. One of the most useful phrases to emerge from
Reading Time: 20 minutes Failure at Fromelles, 19-20 July 1916: Examining failures against the nine tactical considerations for the attack Fail: c. 1200, ‘be unsuccessful in
Reading Time: 5 minutes In January the Australian Defence College published a paper by Dr Peter Layton under the title “Fighting Artificial Intelligence Battles: Operational Concepts
Reading Time: 3 minutes As a junior commander, I am a recent graduate of training designed to formally instruct me in command, leadership and management. In
Reading Time: 3 minutes 2020 saw increased operational demands for some members of the part time Army. Members were deployed on Operation BUSHFIRE ASSIST, with little notice,
Reading Time: 5 minutes Data is the future. Few tropes receive more uncritical acceptance. Pick any rubric of military assessment– take PMESII (political, military, economic, social,
Reading Time: 4 minutes “The last of human freedoms—the ability to choose one’s attitude in a given set of circumstances.” Victor Frankl So, what if you
Reading Time: 3 minutes I recently returned from the 16-day CIMIC Planner and Operator Course (CPOC) which targets those looking to post into Army’s Civil-Military Cooperation
Reading Time: 6 minutes What if you could build a stronger team by building a shared picture? What if you could increase enthusiasm by reorienting someone’s
Reading Time: 3 minutes The divide between officers and non-commissioned officers (NCO) is sometimes described as the difference between ‘book learning’ and practical experience. While many
Reading Time: 4 minutes This article is part of the Propel Her – Defence Women’s Leadership Series. Follow the series and join the conversation via #PropelHerAus. A
Reading Time: 5 minutes “They provide inspiration, purpose, motivation, direction, and discipline to the troops they lead” US Army Command Sergeant Major, John Wayne Troxell –
Reading Time: 4 minutes At the time the Australian Defence Force (ADF) announced it was dissolving individual service values and uniting the Army, Navy and Air
Reading Time: 5 minutes As a maths-teacher-turned-infantry-officer, there are some parts of military planning that I’ve particularly enjoyed. For example, I’ve always been able to quickly
Reading Time: 5 minutes In his speech for the launch of the 2020 Defence Strategic Update, Prime Minister Scott Morrison expressed to the audience: “We must
Reading Time: 3 minutes You may have heard during Officer training to quickly build a relationship with your Sergeant (SGT), take in their perspective and respect
Reading Time: 3 minutes In September, I celebrated one year since my first article was published. When I posted to Twitter about this fact, the always
Reading Time: < 1 minuteBenjamin has an idea The Royal Australian Navy’s recent rollout of the ‘Personal Wi-Fi Access’ (PWA) system on several Australian warships is accompanied
Reading Time: 4 minutes This article is part of the Propel Her – Defence Women’s Leadership Series. The main message that I took away from my phone
Reading Time: 4 minutes This article is part of the Propel Her – Defence Women’s Leadership Series. Airpowerment: Athletes of air and space power; mentally, physically and
Reading Time: 5 minutes This article is part of the Propel Her – Defence Women’s Leadership Series. The Authentic Leader: Know yourself, build your team and ask
Reading Time: 6 minutes Combined Arms Training Centre Combat Commander’s Reading List This series addresses battle command, decision making and combat culture, in order to distil
Reading Time: 3 minutes I must admit to being taken aback by the appearance of the ‘Australian Army Leadership Levels’ (‘the Levels’) as published in Army
Reading Time: 2 minutes As a junior commander, I have made the mistake of stacking my presentations and back briefs with detail for my higher commanders.
Reading Time: 3 minutes Actions on are designed to equip the recipients of orders to quickly react to a series of situations that may be encountered
Reading Time: 5 minutes This is the fourth article in the Propel Her – Defence Women’s Leadership Series by Lyndsay Freeman and Shamsa Lea. The term ‘networking’ will invariably turn some
Reading Time: 3 minutes In the same way that humans historically praise animals and vehicles that have served in combat, soldiers form bonds with their robots.
Reading Time: 5 minutes At times, the role of a Staff Officer seems to be the furthest you can get from the field. Posted to a
Reading Time: 4 minutes In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the US Department of Defence announced on April 1st the commencement of enhanced counter-narcotics operations
Reading Time: 7 minutes This is the seventh and final article of a series on the Twelve Urban Challenges. You can access the series here. Previous articles have introduced
Reading Time: 5 minutes Robotic weapon systems with autonomy in their critical functions of selecting and attacking targets raise novel legal, ethical and operational questions for
Reading Time: 6 minutes This is the sixth article of a series on the Twelve Urban Challenges. You can access the series here. In previous articles,
Reading Time: 5 minutes Most ADF members don’t realise the value of mentoring until late in their careers – with the common reflection being ‘Why didn’t I do this sooner!?’ Mentoring can change your career and life trajectory. It can open up networks and opportunities beyond your immediate reach, and can give you the tools and confidence to develop and promote yourself.
Reading Time: 9 minutes Considerations for Data Workforce 2028 This article details the author’s experience in a first-of-its-kind attempt for an Army Reservist in an Operations
Reading Time: 7 minutes This is the fifth article of a series on the Twelve Urban Challenges. You can access the series here. The very idea
Reading Time: 3 minutes July 30 saw the launch of the Mars 2020 mission, the latest to the Red Planet. The mission aims to explore the
Reading Time: 4 minutes We (Paul and Nick) previously considered the Warfighting Health Effect in 2040 supported by Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS) in a deployed environment.
Reading Time: 4 minutes Private Richard Alexander “Dick” Henderson MM was forever immortalised in the now famous painting by Horace Moore, which shows a stretcher bearer
Reading Time: 5 minutes This is the fourth article of a series on the Twelve Urban Challenges. You can access the series here. The previous and
Reading Time: 4 minutes So, if you have read Part 1 of this blog, you will know that emotions are transmitted from one person to another
Reading Time: 3 minutes Women in Future Operations Holds Its First Working Group What do you see when you conceptualise the future of unconventional warfare? What
Reading Time: 6 minutes This is the third article of a series on the Twelve Urban Challenges. You can access the series here. The previous blog
Reading Time: 5 minutes “Magic’s just science that we don’t yet understand” – Arthur C. Clarke How many times have you walked into the morning’s briefing
Reading Time: 5 minutes I was recently selected for a sub-unit command appointment and as with all significant milestones, this selection made me pause and look
Reading Time: 7 minutes This is the second article of a series on the Twelve Urban Challenges. You can access the series here. Urban conflict presents
Reading Time: 4 minutes The current social and economic crisis has seen record applications for enlistment into the Australian Defence Force (ADF) by skilled workers who
Reading Time: 5 minutes ‘Do not confuse Command with Leadership; command is a responsibility to the organisation and leadership is looking after your people so you
Reading Time: 4 minutes This is the first article of a series on the Twelve Urban Challenges. You can access the series here. Armed conflict is
Reading Time: 2 minutes This article is a junior leader’s framework for mission command and complements Understanding Mission Command. Mission Command is a commander’s assessment of
Reading Time: 3 minutes Being an outward facing Liaison Officer (LO) is high tempo, reactive and enables the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to achieve an appreciable
Reading Time: 4 minutes Every conflict in human history has been accompanied by a wave of non-combatant suffering. The proliferation of militarised autonomous systems in this
Reading Time: 11 minutes When faced with a crisis, people and organizations often turn toward the familiar. The US military is no exception. The US military uses familiar
Reading Time: 4 minutes In his book A History of Warfare, John Keegan wrote of the relationship between warfare and society: “both worlds change over time, and the warrior
Reading Time: 3 minutes If the 2004 ADF Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Roadmap foresaw the requirement for a tiered UAS capability to be realised by 2020,
Reading Time: 4 minutes Last year, Australia’s Chief Scientist, Professor Alan Finkel, warned that emerging technologies are “poised to disrupt almost every fabric of Australian society”.
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Australian Army’s newly adopted Decisive Action Training Environment (DATE) has significantly broadened the complexity of the threat picture away from the
Reading Time: 3 minutes In December 1918, General Sir Douglas Haig wrote that tanks “are incapable of effective independent action. They do not in themselves possess the power
Reading Time: 5 minutes American society has entered an era of “magical realism” with real-world consequences. It is an era tainted by decay, diminishment, and dilution
Reading Time: 4 minutes Humans have always sought to enhance themselves. The history of humanity is a story of that pursuit for greater improvement and ultimately,
Reading Time: 3 minutes How officer training prepared me for Operation COVID-19 Assist. If you’d told a newly commissioned Lieutenant (LT) what they could expect as
Reading Time: 4 minutes There’s a new frontier of science that is having far reaching implications for the world. Gene editing, more commonly known by its new
Reading Time: 5 minutes Drugs have a long history in war. In fact, drugs and war may have always existed together in some form, leading Wes
Reading Time: 6 minutes When former acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly announced he was relieving Captain Brett Crozier from command of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, Modly noted
Reading Time: 4 minutes Counterterrorism (CT) will increasingly be a vector for access and influence in our region. In May of 2017, ISIS aligned militants seized
Reading Time: 3 minutes On March 30, 2020, the media pounced on a leaked, controversial letter of a U.S. Navy Captain commanding the USS Theodore Roosevelt,
Reading Time: < 1 minuteBLUF: Click >here< or on the image above to access the PME Prezi. Grounded Curiosity is pleased to bring you the Professional
Reading Time: 5 minutes What Can we Learn from Kids Shows? We’ve previously published an article by Tom Bittner on Sci-Fi TV as a lazy, but meaningful
Reading Time: 12 minutes Policy at the ‘speed of relevance,’ considered broadly in the context of domestic and international politics, provides a sketch of the vast challenges we face. Time is of the essence. In a future epoch, historians will consider this period a transitional era. Will it be an era in which informational and technological advancements outpaced the intellectual capacity of politicians to understand and harness the revolution that has been wrought?
Reading Time: 5 minutes The mystique surrounding the current buzzwords of information advantage and manoeuvre is unnecessary and counter-productive, it is simply the cognitive degradation of an opponent’s ability to act. Degrading the enemy’s cognitive ability is not the end, rather it is merely an enabler for military action – part of the plan, not the plan itself. Time flies, but it flies higher and faster for the confused and blindfolded.
Reading Time: 5 minutes This is the third and final article in a three-part series from the Australian Defence Force Liaison Officer (ADFLO) to the New
Reading Time: 3 minutes ‘If [people] cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them.’ – George Orwell Professional military education (PME) underpins the study
Reading Time: 6 minutes A ‘notice to move’, or as it is known by its military acronym ‘NTM’, serves as a useful planning tool to manage expectations for both force elements and commanders. But in dynamic, unpredictable circumstances, a notice to move can sometimes be the source of confusion and friction between various levels of command. This needn’t be so.
Reading Time: 7 minutes Mission command is a philosophy for command and a system for conducting operations that is widely understood within the Australian Army to
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe Chief of Army Scholarship Program reinforces Army’s intellectual foundation as an Army in Motion. Applications are due NLT 31 March 2020.
Reading Time: 5 minutes Why is the U.S. Army so bad at delivering new weapon systems? Is this merely a function of excessive ambition, budgetary friction, or changes to the operational environment? The likely culprit is a system designed to minimize risk to users, risk to mission, risk to budget, and risk to industry.
Reading Time: 5 minutes This is the second article in a three-part series from the Australian Defence Force Liaison Officer (ADFLO) to the New South Wales Rural
Reading Time: 5 minutes From late 2019 through early 2020, I had the opportunity to serve as an Australian Defence Force Liaison Officer (ADFLO) to the
Reading Time: 4 minutes On 27 November 2019, several Australian Army soldiers gathered in Melbourne the day after a Defence Innovation Hub Phase , Unmanned Aerial
Reading Time: 17 minutes 20 0145 APR 2030NATO Training CentreUndisclosed Location To: Jackson Randolf, Col. (Ret.)From: Everyn Randolf, 2nd Lt.Subject: Evergreen How the hell did you do
Reading Time: 4 minutes Military history is often seen as the go-to resource for military professionals to learn about and understand their trade. It is full
Reading Time: 7 minutes Why can’t they see the enemy? As an Observer Trainer shadowing the lead section, I could see the enemy up ahead. As
Reading Time: 19 minutes This narrative is designed to explore the difference that robotics, artificial intelligence, autonomy and augmented reality spatial computing could achieve with technologies
Reading Time: 8 minutes This narrative is designed to explore the difference that robotics, artificial intelligence, autonomy and augmented reality spatial computing could achieve with technologies
Reading Time: 6 minutes Western militaries are struggling to comprehend how to effectively manage the rapidly changing character of contemporary warfare because the multi-domain model used
Reading Time: 4 minutes I was fortunate to be able to visit Edinburgh Castle recently and as I was walking around learning about the history of
Reading Time: 2 minutes A beluga whale approached a Norwegian fishing boat in late April of this year wearing a harness with ‘Equipment of St Petersburg’
Reading Time: 7 minutes About nine months ago, I knew nothing about online publishing. Now I’m sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly of my
Reading Time: 7 minutes What follows is Part 3 in the fictitious future warfare serial ‘Virtual Command’ from Australia’s newest professional military education platform The Strategic
Reading Time: 7 minutes What follows is Part 2 in the fictitious future warfare serial ‘Virtual Command’ from Australia’s newest professional military education platform The Strategic
Reading Time: 3 minutes It is hard to be optimistic about the ongoing U.S. led peace talks with the Taliban. After nearly 18 years of conflict, the
Reading Time: < 1 minuteA new version of the PME Prezi has been released – PME Prezi 2.0 – go to https://groundedcuriosity.com/pme-prezi-2-0/
Reading Time: 4 minutes Sir Michael Howard, the British military historian, once said that although it was impossible to know the future character of war, the trick was not to be far from the mark when it came, misrepresenting changes in character as changes in nature and misunderstanding the available evidence will act to almost guarantee that the trick is missed.
Reading Time: 5 minutes “The nature of war is changing, so you don’t have to have two tanks shooting at each other to call it war.
Reading Time: 8 minutes History’s first duel between ironclad warships during the American Civil War ushered in the beginning of a new era of naval warfare In
Reading Time: 6 minutes Cis-lunar space and militarisation of the Moon is the impending next chapter in an evolving astrostrategic contest for dominance of space beyond geostationary
Reading Time: 4 minutes In launching last week’s inaugural Army Leadership Seminar (31 Jul – 01 Aug 19), LTGEN Rick Burr, the Chief of Army, explained
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s important, but is it accessible? This month was all about the Senior Non-Commissioned Officer (SNCO), as the professional military education (PME)
Reading Time: 6 minutes ‘This is only a foretaste of what is to come, and only the shadow of what is going to be.’ – Alan Turing
Reading Time: 4 minutes “There is a lack of consciousness of the importance of professional education in many members of the Army, and consequently it has
Reading Time: 3 minutes All methodologies fail at prediction but they also can all produce relevant future scenarios that will keep your mind adaptive and your organization better prepared for any surprising future that might arise. It is okay to get the future wrong. Just do it a hundred different ways.
Reading Time: 5 minutes ‘Our archers are so numerous, said the envoy, that the flight of their arrows darkens the Sun. So much the better, replied King Leonidas,
Reading Time: 3 minutes A visit to Integrated Personnel Protection Group, DST We see a lot of sketches, concepts and science-fiction about tomorrow’s soldier – but
Reading Time: 3 minutes Speed is currency in the digital age, and success is determined by winning the contested decision cycle in less time and space
Reading Time: 3 minutes Since our last instalment of My Curious Month, the team at GC have been enamoured with the final season of Game of Thrones.
Reading Time: 5 minutes This series is based on lessons learned from leading innovation in the New Zealand Army and New Zealand Defence Force. Up, up,
Reading Time: 3 minutes This is the first of a new monthly serial titled ‘My Curious Month’, where we will explore common themes that pop up across the PME network, summarise them and signpost resources if you’d like to explore the topic further.
Reading Time: 3 minutes Innovation needs to be a way of doing business, not a reaction to effective enemy fire
Reading Time: 3 minutes History must be studied in breadth, depth and arguably most importantly in a proper context, not least because conflict is essentially between
Reading Time: 5 minutes With all this attention on innovation how do we stop innovation becoming another cheap buzz word? Or has it already succumbed to its tragic fate?
Reading Time: 12 minutes Ambiguity—‘the quality of being open to more than one interpretation; inexactness’.[1] Numerous modern warfare journals refer to the ‘hybrid’ nature of various
Reading Time: 7 minutes As the Australian Army reconceptualises the way in which it can ensure dominance on the battlefield, it must be acknowledged that, noting
Reading Time: 8 minutes Covered in sweat, and emerging from his Type 97 Medium Tank, Lieutenant Watanabe of the Imperial Japanese Army must have been surprised.
Reading Time: 3 minutes Effective short learning loops support high readiness contingency forces, the development of new capabilities, the generation of forces for known operations and
Reading Time: 4 minutes We do not rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training. —Archilochus, Greek soldier and
Reading Time: 6 minutes When it comes to meritocracy and diversity, the symbolic is real. And that means that simple actions that reduce bias, such as
Reading Time: 7 minutes Let me give you my bottom-line up front: simulation is not about technology – it’s about culture. Major General Craig Orme, AM,
Reading Time: 5 minutes For the last two years I have written ‘Letters from HAMEL’ for Grounded Curiosity. The idea was always to take my own
Reading Time: 8 minutes ‘Don’t shoot till you see the glint of their electro-optic sensors‘ Armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) designers employ a multilayered systems approach to
Reading Time: 5 minutes This article is the second in a two part series that seeks to generate discussion and debate on military experimentation. Part 2,
Reading Time: 5 minutes This article is the first in a two part series that seeks to generate discussion and debate on military experimentation. Part 1,
Reading Time: 6 minutes The sweeping effects of the fourth industrial revolution are readily evident in the exponential increase of emergent and disruptive technologies becoming commercially
Reading Time: 3 minutes ‘Most modern armed forces equip their personnel with the latest body armour, the best protected vehicles, and the most sophisticated counter explosive
Reading Time: 5 minutes The future of Australian Army Aviation lies in its ability to successfully integrate manned and unmanned aerial vehicles in the tactical and
Reading Time: 7 minutes ‘However beautiful the strategy, one should occasionally look at the results’[1] Great power competition and not the fight against terrorism is now
Reading Time: 8 minutes In a time of increasing emphasis on the information domain, perhaps the words ‘See first, understand first, disseminate decisively’ offer a mantra
Reading Time: 7 minutes Guidelines for Debate as a PME Tool ‘But the human tongue is a beast that few can master. It strains constantly to
Reading Time: 4 minutes There is renewed interest in how Australia should navigate the coming decades of rapid technological change and increasing geopolitical multi-polarity coupled with
Reading Time: 4 minutes The technological advantage currently enjoyed by western militaries will likely decline in the near future as the spread of information and goods
Reading Time: 5 minutes The Russian President recently announced a number of high-tech weapons during his annual address to the nation. Using a combination of speed, delivery methods and size,
Reading Time: 4 minutes Often when the topic of creating a culture of innovation arises, the discussion seems to focus on running activities such as “hack-a-thons”,
Reading Time: 4 minutes There is a profound difference between being an ‘innovative leader’ and being a ‘leader of innovation’. Whereas an innovative leader will drive
Reading Time: 5 minutes ‘There is no reason to believe that leadership will be spared the impact of Artificial Intelligence’ Anyone in the military who has served
Reading Time: 5 minutes ‘Be mysterious to the point of soundlessness, then be the director of your opponents fate’ An Australian Amphibious Task Group (ATG) assembled
Reading Time: 4 minutes Innovation is the key to success in modern military operations, thus it is imperative that the military commander be innovative if they
Reading Time: 5 minutes ‘The next fight will be a battle of signatures. Assume everything we do can and will be observed. We are going to
Reading Time: 4 minutes Generating, Expressing and Implementing ideas – A Framework Part 1 of this blog ordered the terms strategy, concepts and defined big ideas.
Reading Time: 7 minutes The realisation of a human/machine, robotics, autonomous systems and artificial intelligence approach, may represent the biggest single step innovation change our Army
Reading Time: 5 minutes For the past 14 months I have been privileged to serve as an exchange officer with the United States Marine Corps. During
Reading Time: 4 minutes I was shocked recently to read a piece by Major General Mick Ryan covering the pretty spectacular failure of his first year in
Reading Time: 12 minutes Following decades of relative relegation resulting from uncontested airspace, growing trends have invigorated a renewed emphasis on Air Defence as an essential
Reading Time: 2 minutes Not everyone thinks that online games are the realm of the military professional. In my case I don’t feel bad about it
Reading Time: 4 minutes The story of MAJ Jonathan Letterman and the ‘Letterman Plan’ should exist forever in Combat Health lore as one of the professions
Reading Time: 3 minutes The following is based upon my experience over the last five years as a Commanding Officer and Commander of the Combat Training
Reading Time: 5 minutes The Indo‐Pacific region is in a period of unprecedented transformation, accelerated by the shifting distribution of economic and political power[i]. The importance
Reading Time: 4 minutes The commander also strikes and accepts compromises in his [or her] command: not all his men and officers will be perfect, and
Reading Time: 4 minutes Defeating the enemy’s will. That is the essence of manoeuvre warfare, that you defeat the enemy’s will to fight rather than his ability
Reading Time: 4 minutes Army attack aviation is a niche capability possessed by a minority of global militaries. As a capability which had its genesis in
Reading Time: 4 minutes The key to Army’s success on our next battlefield will be ensuring we pay adequate attention now, and applying enough resources to
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Australian Army’s use of drone footage in its recent video of 7 Brigade’s Combined Arms Training Activity (Ex Diamond Run) reinforces
Reading Time: 11 minutes Editor’s Note: This is Grounded Curiosity’s 3rd most read article of all time. INTRODUCTION The Army must be a force capable of exerting ‘land
Reading Time: 3 minutes Air Defence continues to grow as a capability and concept against the increasingly complex array of airborne threats. In Australia, this can
Reading Time: 11 minutes 60 tips to become a more effective advisor Advising and mentoring foreign militaries has been carried out by the Australian Defence Force
Reading Time: 4 minutes Death from above or a crude weapon for a crude war? The utility of the armoured mortar system in future warfare The future operating environment
Reading Time: 19 minutes Keynote Address delivered on 26 October 2017 by Major General Fergus McLachlan AM, Forces Commander – Australian Army, to the Northern Australian Defence Summit,
Reading Time: 21 minutes War is a science covered with shadows in whose obscurity one cannot move with an assured step. Routine and prejudice, the natural
Reading Time: 3 minutes This blog reflects on the important role of the Army Officers’ Mess in the author’s early regimental service. Traditions of the Army
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Australian Army senior leadership team has been articulating the need for our Army leadership style to evolve to take on a
Reading Time: 7 minutes The Benefits of Incorporating Reception, Staging, Onward Movement, Integration and Extraction into the Training Environment INTRODUCTION Whether it is deploying on global
Reading Time: 4 minutes A commander must accustom his staff to a high tempo from the outset and continually keep them to it. If he once
Reading Time: 9 minutes Opportunities for decentralised & informal care to our Veterans & our Wounded, Injured and Ill ‘The day soldiers stop bringing you their
Reading Time: 5 minutes Reflections from the Chief of Army History Conference – and why you should attend. The Chief of Army History Conference is held every two
Reading Time: 3 minutes Survivability of communication systems has been called into sharp focus given technology advances and their use in contested theatres. It is here
Reading Time: 13 minutes The Second Battle of El Alamein was the decisive battle of the North African campaign fought between the Allied 8th Army
Reading Time: 3 minutes This year I was fortunate enough to attend the New Zealand Defence Force’s (NZDF) second annual Army Innovation Competition at Linton Military
Reading Time: 3 minutes Goodbye to all that [1] There comes a time in every career when we will ‘soldier no more’. When one or both
Reading Time: 12 minutes “Australian Soldiers identify with their Battalion. It’s indeed their family: it leads, feeds, clothes, directs and exhausts them. Its veins are its
Reading Time: 5 minutes War is simply a continuation of political intercourse, with the addition of other means Carl von Clausewitz And the nature of the case
Reading Time: 8 minutes Introduction: Ex TALISMAN SABRE and the Beast The Australian military is about to conduct its largest multi-national amphibious operation since the landing
Reading Time: 4 minutes A career officer [or soldier] is going to school as long as he [or she] lives. General Matthew Ridgway & Harold H.
Reading Time: 16 minutes FOREWORD Clare O’Neill 2017 It can be a difficult and daunting activity to visualise the future operating environment when there are a myriad of different
Reading Time: 4 minutes As innovation gains momentum throughout defense forces, a common theme seems to be emerging. Militaries, in particular Western ones, are increasingly seeking
Reading Time: 4 minutes Republished with permission from The Central Blue In this post, Emily Chapman makes the case for increased ‘jointness’ in professional education, outlining a number of proposals to
Reading Time: 4 minutes If our forces in action are to have utility, we need to organise our standing forces to reflect the change in paradigm
Reading Time: 3 minutes In case your head was firmly stuck in the sand looking for the lost city of Ubar in the Empty Quarter, the
Reading Time: 6 minutes The Army builds its intellectual capital in peace and spends it in war Colonel William L. Hauser [1] Introduction I don’t know
Reading Time: 3 minutes There is much discussion and idea exchange about the ASLAV replacement (CRV) and future Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFV). These capabilities are a
Reading Time: 4 minutes BLUF. The Australian Army’s education of junior leaders is heavily focused on general outcomes, rarely fostering an environment that compels us to
Reading Time: 4 minutes Has military thinking or practice seen a separation of two intrinsic command functions: the Commander and the Chief Instructor? This blog expands
Reading Time: 3 minutes Imagine being able to predict enemy patrol and aerial surveillance routes with a high degree of certainty, or an increasing vehicle availability
Reading Time: 4 minutes Last week the Chief of Army came and spoke to the Royal Australian Armoured Corps’ Senior Leadership Group. His opening remarks immediately
Reading Time: 3 minutes Quick thoughts on practically applying professional development How do we practically implement professional development instead of just talking about it? Having observed and contributed
Reading Time: 3 minutes Debating doctrine Two years ago, Army began an intellectual pivot designed to review the lessons of the past 15 years, better understand the
Reading Time: 4 minutes Innovation has always been a factor of military thinking to one degree or another, however in recent years it has been gathering
Reading Time: 6 minutes As the Australian Army seeks methods to improve human performance, cognitive mastery, emotional intelligence, leadership, resilience and innovation it should consider the
Reading Time: 17 minutes “I hold it to be of great prudence for men to abstain from threats and insulting words towards any one, for neither
Reading Time: 4 minutes Last week two French soldiers were wounded and two Kurdish fighters were killed in Iraq by a weaponised Commercial off the Shelf
Reading Time: 6 minutes It was a popular belief in the past that to build a soldier, we must first break the individual down and re-build
Reading Time: 6 minutes The evolution of Russian armoured combat power since 1991
Reading Time: 3 minutes The frequently asked leadership question, ‘Are great leaders born or created?’ consistently creates vigorous, robust discussion. So what is the answer? Warren
Reading Time: 4 minutes Australia and Australians are targets for malicious actors—including serious and organised criminal syndicates and foreign adversaries—who are all using cyberspace to further
Reading Time: 5 minutes The first occasion a soldier faces real fear must not be on the battlefield. Just like any other skill, managing one’s fear
Reading Time: 7 minutes The forces that we prepare today will be the forces that we take into the battle tomorrow. For the Air Defence capability,
Reading Time: 7 minutes ‘In the art of war, lesser men are schemers, who avoid risk with mediocre results.’[i] Napoleon Bonaparte Introduction To an extent unmatched
Reading Time: 4 minutes Space is a domain that is increasingly contested, congested and competitive. As the cost and technical barriers to space diminish, the range
Reading Time: 4 minutes The idea was fantastically, wildly improbable. But like most fantastically, wildly improbable ideas it was at least as worthy of consideration as
Reading Time: 11 minutes Editor’s Note: This is Grounded Curiosity’s most read article of all time. Knowledge is generated anew from connections that weren’t there before.
Reading Time: 3 minutes Like radio, the podcast creates a ‘theatre of the mind’. Imagination is a powerful tool when learning, creating new neural pathways that fuel understanding.
Reading Time: 4 minutes Social media is commonly being used by the future leaders of Army for Professional Military Education (PME). Blogs have been accepted as
Reading Time: 3 minutes After recently embarking on a new phase of professional study I have developed a renewed appreciation of the importance that historical lessons
Reading Time: 3 minutes As I cough and sniffle, suffering the effects of a Canberra winter, I remember that germs have two effects on us. First,
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Op HAMEL intervention is ending. With the Kamarian Armed Forces in retreat and the International Boundary restored, peace is steadily returning to East Cultania. Grateful Cultanians line the streets, thanking
Reading Time: 4 minutes Many of you who read this will be tacticians. Congratulations, and good luck. You’ve volunteered for one of the hardest, most illogical and
Reading Time: 5 minutes I’ve just watched a Rehearsal of Concept (ROC) Drill on Ex HAMEL, and I’m struck by a thought. I had the same thought
Reading Time: 4 minutes This week the Australian Army commenced its annual Exercise Hamel in South Australia. A large scale land, air, sea, info-war and cyber
Reading Time: 12 minutes Army’s logisticians have operated under an obsolescent doctrine for decades that is out of touch with a rapidly accelerating technological arms race between
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe next conflicts will be won by intelligent people with the courage to challenge our current thinking and outlooks. This foundation of innovative people
Reading Time: 5 minutes In 2014, the Australian Army commenced an intellectual pivot designed to review the lessons of the past 15 years, better understand the
Reading Time: 4 minutes Do we know why it works or are we doing what we’ve always done? The current Australian Army leadership model is an
Reading Time: 3 minutes A properly schooled officer never arrives on a battlefield for the first time, even if he has never actually trod the ground, if that
Reading Time: 2 minutes How will you fight in the future? As a junior military commander you are responsible for training your team to meet the
Reading Time: 2 minutes Google ‘entrepreneur’ and what do you get? Besides the offers to study business at a university and the wiki definition, the common
Reading Time: 10 minutes It takes considerable knowledge just to recognise the extent of your own ignorance. Thomas Sowell[1] Introduction The leadership, readiness, resilience, mental toughness
Reading Time: 4 minutes The 1143 year long war had begun on false pretenses and only because the two races were unable to communicate. Once they
Reading Time: 4 minutes Junior officers know the ‘hurry up and wait’ phenomenon well. Common conversations during these delays range from the first thing you’ll eat
Reading Time: 7 minutes Beginning-of-year mandatory briefs are filled with reminders of ‘what not to do’ from alcohol to safety. The social media brief usually delivers
Reading Time: 5 minutes Doctrine Man recently penned the well-known military adage that “no one can manage your career better than yourself”. Deployments, top jobs and
Reading Time: 6 minutes This post was written on Anzac Day in 2014. It flows from thoughts following an Anzac Day Dawn Service in Townsville. Today
Reading Time: 8 minutes This vignette is from my deployments as a military engineer in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan. I was an engineer with Australia’s Reconstruction Task
Reading Time: 3 minutes This image was taken in Uruzgan Province during a patrol by Reconstruction Task Force personnel in 2008. The image depicts the thinking
