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Journal Articles/Papers

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 United Service, Volume 75, Number 3, September 2024

Autumn 2024 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Colonel Joe Matthews Ret'd

Institute Affairs

National President's Column - Paul Irving

Institute Proceedings

The conflict in Ukraine - His Excellency Vasyl Myroshnychenk, Ambassador of Ukraine to Australia
Ukraine's ambassador provides the historical background to the war between Russia and Ukraine, before outlining progress in the war to date and describing how he and his family have experienced it. Next, he emphasises the importance of international aid to Ukraine, including from Australia, pointing out the relevance of the conflict to Australia resulting from the threat Russia poses in the Pacific and globally. He concludes by summarising the cost of the war to Ukraine so far and suggesting a potential role for international diplomacy in ending the conflict.
Revitalising Australia's defence industry and national service scheme: Lessons from Sweden and the AUKUS initiative - Lincoln Parker
This paper describes the current state of the Australian defence industry, highlighting its achievements, threats, and opportunities. Also discussed are the importance of having a robust national service scheme with regard to the manufacturing industry, and implications of the AUKUS (Australia United Kingdom United States) initiative on Australia's defence industry and national security.

Contributed Papers

Industry is our last line of defence - Christopher Skinner
The growing appreciation of the critical importance of domestic industry in national security resilience has led to the recent issue of the Defence Industry Development Strategy (DIDS). This article outlines the DIDS strategy and discusses the seven priority areas for industry development and several topical policy areas, notably naval shipbuilding and autonomous systems. Throughout this discussion the development of skilled workforce is an important challenge with no clear resolution in sight.
Risk Management Re-appraisal for AUKUS Submarine Plan-B - Kevin Beard
A debate in the Australian Financial Review emerged recently between James Curran and Jennifer Parker on the merits and demerits of a "Plan-B" nuclear powered submarine proposed by an independent naval expert group. Their Plan-B is intended to supersede the 'optimal pathway plan' for the production of the SSNAUKUS submarine in the UK and later in Australia. This article's author is an engineer who proposes that, whilst the risks identified are genuine, a professional engineering approach obliges us to apply a Risk Management discipline in place of a single Plan-B.

Book Reviews

Anzac sniper - reviewed by Bob Treloar
The book describes the story of Lieutenant General Sir Stanley Savige, KBE, CB, DSO, MC, ED starting as a soldier from the trenches of Gallipoli to the Western Front at Fromelles, Pozieres, Passchendaele, and Bullecourt where was awarded the Military Cross. After the war, in 1920 Savige joined the Militia and progressed from the ranks to become a Colonel in 1938. While in the Militia, Savige established the Legacy organisation. At the outbreak of WW II, Savige commanded the 17 th Infantry Brigade and saw action at Bardia, North Africa. After return to Australia, as a Major General, Savige commanded the 3 rd Division, charged with preparing it for war.
The Sydney Cove naval surgeons 1788 - 1794 - reviewed by David Leece
This book is "an eclectic collection of commentaries, some separately published, derived from various researches within 18 th century British medical history" of four naval surgeons despatched by the Home Office in England with the First Fleet to establish a penal colony at Botany Bay in 1788. The book commences by setting the scene for the eventual establishment of a British penal colony in New South Wales with a chapter on Captain James Cook's expedition to the Pacific from 1768 to 1771.
The Winning Culture: Lessons from the Indian Army to transform your business - reviewed by Joe Matthews
The theme song of this thoughtful book by an army and corporate veteran is this: culture is the life force that plays the most critical role in the success or failure of organisations. Culture is the prime mover of our collective behaviour. It is the engine that drives human beings, rewarding them with a sense of identity they unremittingly seek. The author has leveraged a four-decade uniformed experience to build a bridge between the robust culture of the Indian Army and the lessons that can be transported to bolster the culture of companies in the business world.
Hit my smoke: Australian pilots targeting the enemy in Vietnam - reviewed by Bob Treolar
TThis is the story of 36 Australian airmen who fought in Vietnam from 1966 to 1971 when Royal Australian Air Force pilots served as airborne Forward Air Controllers (FAC) with the primary role of directing the precise delivery of aerial ordnance by tactical strike aircraft against targets on the ground.

Cover

The Italian Navy frigate Alpino F-594 arriving at the Kuru Wharf at HMAS Coonawarra in Darwin, Northern Territory, ahead of Exercise Pitch Black 24. Exercise Pitch Black 24 is the Royal Australian Air Force's biennial capstone international engagement exercise, with forces drawn from a wide range of regional, coalition, and allied nations. Held from 15 July to 2 August 2024, the exercise was concentrated on military airspace in the Northern Territory, with participants flying from RAAF Bases Darwin, Tindal, Amberley, Curtin, and regional airfields in the Kimberley region. Exercise Pitch Black 24 is the largest iteration of the exercise since first held in 1981, with 21 nations and over 140 aircraft involved, and approximately 4600 personnel from Australia and overseas participating. Source: Department of Defence, Images: https://images.navy.gov.au/Home/ Photographer: LACW Annika Smit; Filename: 20240709raaf8672247_0056.jpg

 United Service, Volume 75, Number 2, June 2024

Autumn 2024 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Colonel Joe Matthews Ret'd

Institute Affairs

National President's Column - Paul Irving

Institute Proceedings

The Defence Strategic Review - Strategic Implications - Adam Lockyer
This paper examines the Australian Defence Strategic Review (DSR) released in April 2023, focusing on the broader geopolitical trends in the Indo- Pacific Region and how it supports the United States' strategy vis-a-vis China. Australian defence strategy has historically been on the premise that Australia's security is best ensured by the presence of a reliable, established, and powerful ally, which involved sending our defence forces for overseas wars and conflicts (forward defence); and the traditional defence approach to defend the nation's borders and their approaches (Defence of Australia). The author opines that the DSR addresses both concepts.
Field Marshal Sir Thomas Albert Blamey: A Career of Challenges, Conquests, and Controversies Part II - Thomas E (Ted) Blamey.
Thomas E (Ted) Blamey, the grandson of Field Marshal Thomas Albert Blamey recounts the life and times of his grand father, Australia's only Field Marshal who served in both, World War I and World War II as a wartime Commander. (Part I of this article was published in the previous United Service, Volume 75, Number 1, March 2024).
Indian Army in Gallipoli Campaign, 1915 - Joe Matthews
Gallipoli (Dardanelles) Campaign in 1915 included significant contributions in men, mules, and material by the (British) Indian Army. Over 16,000 Indian Army combatants and non-combatants were deployed in the campaign, initially with the British 29 Division in Helles Sector of the Dardanelles peninsula, and later with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) in the Anzac Sector for the 'August Offensive'. The Indian Army comprised the 29 Indian Infantry Brigade, 7 Indian Mountain Artillery Brigade with two Mountain Batteries, the Indian Mule Corps, and two Field Ambulances which included a Hospital Ship. Approximately 1600 Indians sacrificed their lives and over 3000 were casualties.

Contributed Essay

The Defence Strategic Review and the importance of the Australian Defence Force Reserve - Michael Annett
An overview of the submission provided by the Defence Reserves Association (DRA) to the Defence team conducting the Defence Strategic Review (DSR) into Australian Defence Force (ADF) is described in this paper. The DRA has long advocated for a better resourced and more integrated Reserve component to boost ADF capacity, both in current and contingency operational tasks. The effectiveness of the Reserve in recent regional deployments and in domestic disaster relief operations has often been acknowledged and praised, but no one would contend that resourcing of the Reserve or integrated planning for their optimisation has been a priority at the strategic centre in Canberra.

Book Reviews

The Gathering Storm: Prelude to the Spitfire Summer of 1940 by by Dilip Sarkar - reviewed by Bob Treloar
The Gathering Storm provides a comprehensive backdrop to the strategic circumstances, political climate, military situation and the miscalculation that resulted in Britain being so ill equipped to defend itself in World War II. The book provides the prelude to the coming Battle of Britain and is the first book in an eight volume series being published in association with the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust.

Cover

Photo image: Anzac Cove, Gallipoli; Gallipoli Campaign, 1915. The landing beach with Indian Army soldiers in the foreground. (Donor Mrs S.N. Lawrance). Image obtained from the Australian War Memorial, Canberra; Reference AWM H13745; https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C355871?image=1.

 United Service, Volume 75, Number 1, March 2024

Autumn 2024 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Colonel Joe Matthews Ret'd

Institute Affairs

National President's Column - Paul Irving

Institute Proceedings

Australia preparing for an uncertain and fractious world - D. E. Duncan Lewis
As Australia prepares for life in an uncertain and fractious world there are five key challenges that it faces: great powerivalry; threats to the rules-based world order; the assault on democracy; the vulnerabilities of modernity; and the cost of addressing those challenges. Those of us who are involved in the defence sector must pay great attention to these challenges. We have the job in front of us and there is much work to be done.
2023 Sir Hermann Black Lecture: the year in review - Aaron Patrick
Mr Patrick comments on several issues which have had an impact on the global strategic outlook in 2023, including the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, social division in the United States, and the need for facts to underpin strategic assessments as illustrated by the David McBride Afghan Files affair in Australia. He concludes that 2023 shows us that trade does not guarantee peace; nations always need to be prepared for war; and socially divided nations, like the United States, are more likely to suffer decline. That said, another way to look at 2023 is that it was a turning point for the West, to a time of ascension.
Field Marshal Sir Thomas Albert Blamey: A Career of Challenges, Conquests, and Controversies - Thomas E (Ted) Blamey.
Thomas E (Ted) Blamey, the grandson of Field Marshal Thomas Albert Blamey recounts the life and times of his grand father, Australia’s only Field Marshal who served in both, World War I and World War II as a wartime Commander.

Contributed Essay

How did technological advancement in artillery alter soldiers' experiences of the First World War? - Alex Hands
16 This essay investigates the progression of artillery prior to and during the First World War, and examines how soldiers' and nurses' experiences of combat were transformed by the development of artillery. Psychological trauma caused by prolonged artillery bombardments, the cause and cost of attritional warfare, and the devastation of environment are also explained. It highlights the link between technology and the artillery experiences, asserting its ability to transform military doctrine, societal expectations, and responses to adversity.

Book Reviews

F-35: The inside story of the Lightning II - reviewed by Bob Treloar
The book provides a detailed account of the most expensive and controversial military program in history, on the development of the F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft. The concept that drove the development of the F-35 Lightning II was on the premise that if all three US services and major allied air forces and navies could operate the same aircraft, global security would be significantly enhanced, and at a lower cost to all concerned. Four authors, together have created an excellent insight into the unique, and often troubled development of what is arguably the most sophisti cated and effective fighter aircraft yet built.
Life so full of promise, further biographies of Australia's lost generation - reviewed by Paul Simadas
This book contains biographies, each a book in its own right, of three Australian men who died on active service in the Great War, two who served as officers and one as a private soldier. It follows on from the author’s earlier, "Farewell, Dear People: Bio graphies of Australia's Lost Generation" that contained ten shorter biographies of Australians in the Great War.
The dragon's bite: strategic continuum and Chinese PLA's evolving fire and teeth - reviewed by Joe Matthews
The book assesses the likely future trajectory of the PLA (all its arms), based on the essential hypothesis that 'Grand Strategy' leads to 'Military Strategy' and concomitant 'Tasking', which enjoins the necessary 'Capability Develop ment', leading to 'Modernisation' that dictates the 'Reorganisation and Re structuring', from which the 'Assessed Current Status' and the 'Likely Future Trajectory and the Implications' for the region are analysed.
Andrew Delfosse Badgery: Australia's most significant aviation pioneer - reviewed by Bob Treloar
A Biography of Australia's most significant aviation pioneer, recounts Delfosse's upbringing in a pastoral family in New South Wales; early working life; travel to England to learn to fly; construction of the first Australian built aircraft; exhibition flying in Sydney and Tasmania; military service in the Middle East with the Australian Flying Corps; challenges instructing in England; and finally, return to Australia. The biography provides a wonderful insight into the blossoming world of flight when single seat, flimsy aircraft that could get airborne if the wind was gentle and little turbulence. Despite many setbacks, his adventurism and enthusiasm were never dampened.

Cover

Portrait of Field Marshal Sir Thomas Albert Blamey, GBE, KCB, CMG, DSO, CStJ, ED, by Captain Sir William Alexander Dargie, CBE. Field Marshal Blamey is Australia's only Field Marshal to date, and a wartime commander in both, Word War I and II. [Source of portrait: Provided by Thomas E (Ted) Blamey, grandson of Field Marshal Blamey. The article on Field Marshal Blamey on pages 10-15 is a presentation made by Ted on Field Marshal Blamey at the Royal Institute for Defence and Security Studies (New South Wales) on 30 January 2024].

 United Service, Volume 74, Number 4, December 2023

Summer 2023 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Colonel Joe Matthews Ret'd

Institute Affairs

National President's Column - Paul Irving

Opinion

Editorial: Military power, international humanitarian law and public opinion - David Leece

Institute Proceedings

Command relationships: Australian war leadership from Gallipoli to Iraq - David Horner
Against a synopsis of the role Western political leaders and their top military advisers in the 'war game', Horner reviews the actions and decisions of Australia’s political leaders and their top advisers who took Australia into nine wars – from the First World War to Afghanistan and Iraq. From this analysis, he derives ten rules of war leadership and concludes that war leadership continues to be the crucial factor in considering Australia’s experience of war.
AUKUS: a tripartite foundation for Indo-Pacific security - Chris Skinner
AUKUS is an agreement among Australia, Britain and the United States to enable Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines (Pillar 1) and to undertake research and development of novel defence technologies (Pillar 2). This paper describes the AUKUS tripartite relationship; outlines the eight AUKUS Pillar 2 technology and collaboration initiatives; and looks in detail at the planning for Australia's acquisition of nuclear-powered attack submarines under AUKUS Pillar 1. Strategic implications for Australia and the Indo-Pacific region are noted and the author concludes that AUKUS will provide a foundation for enhanced national and regional security.
The Solomon Islands: a target for foreign influence in the Pacific - John Howells
Drawing on his experience as a military history tour guide in the Solomon Islands, the author outlines the historic background, geographic and cultural characteristics, and ethnic tensions that predispose this emerging Pacific Islands nation to foreign influence and intervention. He instances the nation's colonial history and World War II experience; the internal ethnic tensions that led to the Regional Assistance Mission from 2003 to 2017; and the renewed unrest leading to a further Australian intervention in 2021, coupled with the 2022 China-Solomon Islands Bilateral Security Pact.
Strategic review of Australian Defence Force reserves - Douglas Laidlaw
As a consequence of the Defence Strategic Review which reported publicly in April 2023, Major General Laidlaw has been tasked with conducting a comprehensive strategic review of Defence Reserves in Australia. The review is to investigate innovative ways to adapt the current structure, shape, conditions of service, and role of the Reserves to determine how the Reserves can best complement the total defence workforce and provide an expansion base and followon forces in time of crisis. The paper outlines the key issues that the review will need to address before it reports in 2025.

Book Reviews

Chastise: the Dambusters story 1943 by Max Hastings - reviewed by Bob Treloar
On a clear moonlit night on 16 May 1943, 19 Lancaster heavy bombers of No 617 Squadron Royal Air Force took to the skies on a mission to destroy the dams above the Ruhr Valley, the heartland of Nazi Germany’s industrial might. The success of the mission has become legend. In this book, historian Sir Max Hastings reviews the outcomes of the raid and gives the reader cause to consider the brutal decisions made by wartime leaders in a circumstance of total war.
the Classic: F/A-18A/B Hornet aircraft in Australian service by John Quaife - reviewed by Bob Treloar
The F/A-18A/B Hornet, a tactical fighter and ground attack aircraft, was introduced into Royal Australian Air Force service in May 1985. It became Australia's frontline fighter for 35 years. In the Classic, John Quaife has meticulously covered the history of the aircraft and its development, its operations, the aircrew who flew these planes and the technical personnel who maintained them. Woven into the history is the story of those people who took the aircraft to war.

Cover

Official 1941 black-and-white photographic portrait of the Right Honourable John Curtin, Prime Minister of Australia during World War II - in office from 7 October 1941 to 5 July 1945. Curtin was Australia's war leader throughout the Pacific War - he died in office just six weeks before the war ended. David Horner in his paper discusses Australian war leadership. [Photo: National Archives of Australia, NAA: A1200; L8949]

 United Service, Volume 74, Number 3, September 2023

Spring 2023 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Colonel Joe Matthews Ret'd

News

National President's Column - Paul Irving

4th International Defence and Security Dialogue Proceedings

Managing Strategic Tensions in the Indo-Pacific Region

Opening address - Margaret Beazley
The Honourable Governor Beazley notes the Indo-Pacific is currently considered as the most important geostrategic region in the world. Given the strategic environment in the Indo-Pacific and lacking an established regional security architecture, there is real potential for increasing volatility. Australia's 2023 Defence Strategic Review recommends that Australia's defence and strategic thinking 'must go back to fundamentals' that need to be understood and strategised in a geopolitical context that is uncertain.
BLAMEY ORATION: Australia's defence and national security policies - Matt Thistlethwaite
The Honourable Minister Thistlethwaite notes the Commonwealth Government's defence and national security policies are being formulated in the context of Australia facing the most challenging set of strategic circumstances since the World War II. To this end, the government commissioned an independent strategic review of defence in 2022 and received the reviewers' report last February. A public version of that report, together with the government's response to it, was released in April. The government is resolved to safeguard Australia’s national interest while supporting regional security and stability founded on sovereignty, the global rules-based order and international law.
The Strategic Outlook: Australia How might Bradley, Roosevelt and Dunlop manage strategic tensions in the Indo-Pacific - David Fawcett ...
The Honourable Senator Fawcett notes the challenge posed by great-power competition in the Indo-Pacific region. He explores the role that Australia, a middle power, might play in this context, drawing on lessons from the Dam Dusters, President Theodore Roosevelt, General Omar Bradley and Dr 'Weary' Dunlop. He considers the deterrence value of military capability, the 'big stick'; the importance of logistics, supply chains and procurement; and the provision of medical aid to nations of the Southwest Pacific.
India, Australia and the Indo-Pacific - Manpreet Vohra
His Excellency High Commissioner Vohra noters that India has major stakes in the Indo-Pacific region that also brings to it the same set of values, liberties and rule of law that much of the world wishes to guard but which are increasingly under threat from other different systems with their alarming ambitions and monochromatic vision of how the world should be ordered and how people and societies should be governed. It is essential that the Indo-Pacific endures and flourishes to ensure future security and prosperity not just of us in the region, but also of our friends and partners beyond it. That is why the region must be governed by commonly agreed international norms, rules and practices, and that is why those who desire this end-state must work together.
The Strategic Outlook - Japan - Lauren Richardson
This article discusses Japan's perspective on defence, deterrence and Japan's shifting security policy since World War II where it was under the influence of the United States, to post-Cold War dynamics, to the current Indo-Pacific security dilemma brought about by increasing Chinese footprint in the region. Japan's longest serving Prime Minister, the late Shinzo Abe has been the architect and driver of the current Japanese outlook to defence and security, and institutionalised security partnerships like the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) between the United States, India, Australia and Japan.
ASEAN in the Indo-Pacific: Continuity and Change - Sarah Teo
This article discusses the elements of continuity and change that have characterised the approach of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), amid the evolving geopolitical dynamics in the Indo-Pacific. Even as ASEAN works towards keeping its role as the convenor of broad-based regional multilateral initiatives, it has also had to adapt to emerging challenges such as the political crisis in Myanmar and the growing non-ASEAN options for cooperation. As ASEAN navigates the emerging trends in the Indo-Pacific, support from partners such as Australia would be crucial.

Cover

The U.S. Navy's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) transits the Indian Ocean during Talisman Sabre, July 22, 2023. ‘Talisman Sabre’ is the largest bilateral military exercise between Australia and the United States, advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific by strengthening relationships and interoperability among key allies and enhancing our collective capabilities to respond to a wide array of potential security concerns. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Class 1 Ryre Arciaga [Source: Department of Defence] .

 United Service, Volume 74, Number 2, June 2023

Winter 2023 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Colonel Joe Matthews Ret'd

News

National President's Column - Paul Irving

Institute Proceedings

The Australian Industry and Defence Network and its role in improving Australia's regional security - Brent Clark
The operational readiness and effectiveness of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) is crucially dependent on the functionality and the technological capability of the equipment onboard our ships, aircraft and those held by the land forces. Much of the equipment is sourced from overseas, thus not providing the impetus for our domestic industry to develop and compete to provide industrial support to the ADF. Given Australia's isolated geographical position and the unreliability of international supply chains, a sovereign industrial capability is vital to our defence and national security. The Australian government should prioritise the uilding of our sovereign industrial capability.
Shaping Australia's international environment by Sea Power - Adam Lockyer
This paper is a brief examination of how Australia can use sea power to shape its strategic environment. It addresses how sea power can affect the future behaviour of regional actors through shaping their expectations of the likely consequences of their choices and actions. The Author emphasise the deterrence side of Sea Power dynamics, and how operational exercises can be used to shape observer' expectations on the likely consequences and reactions of others to their potential actions.

Seminar Proceedings

AUKUS: A Year On - Margaret Beazley
The AUKUS agreement is best seen as a reflection of accelerating complexity in Australia's strategic environment and as a component in the package of responses addressing it.
AUKUS: A Year On: What to make of AUKUS after 365 days? - Thomas Corben
One year on, while AUKUS is not yet a game-changer, it is now clear that America is prepared to trust Australia with its most protected defence industrial secrets. The technologies developed under AUKUS Pillar II, like artificial intelligence, will be more critical, particularly in the medium term, than the submarines developed under AUKUS Pillar I. Regardless, legal, policy and regulatory hurdles to co-operation between Australia and America remain, especially the US. International Traffic in Arms Regulations and Export Administration Regulations, and they may constrain the rate of progress. Further, the extent to which Australia wishes to achieve defence industrial self-reliance and retain sovereignty of intellectual property remains to be resolved.
AUKUS: A Year On - Matthew Pearce
The Australian Defence Force needs to be an integrated force, relevant and credible in all domains, and must continue to grow together with our allies and partners, imbibing new technologies to become a multi-directional, multi-dimensional, and multi-domain force.

Book Reviews

Operation Kingfisher: the cancelled rescue mission that sacrificed Sandakan POWs to the Death Marches by Gary Followill - Reviewed by Tim Ford
This book is a scholarly work that delves deeply into a very wide range of Australian, British, and American archives, including some recently released; plus, books, articles, speeches and other publications that throw light on the historical reasons behind the tragedy of the Sandakan POWs and the Death Marches.
Digital influence mercenaries: profits and power through information warfare by James Forrest - Reviewed by Christopher Skinner
This thoughtful book describes in extraordinary detail the current and rapidly increasing activity of online actors of all kinds to influence people as individuals and as communities and societies through deliberately false information.
The Armenian rebellion at Van by Justin McCarthy, Esat Arsian, Cemalettin Taskiran and Omer Turan - Reviewed by David Leece
This is an academic treatise tracing the history of attempts by Armenian nationalists to create an independent state in southeastern Anatolia which culminated in a rebellion by Armenians in the Ottoman province of Van during the Great War.
The Rag Tag Fleet: The Unknown Story of the Australian Men and Boats that helped win the War in the Pacific by Ian Shaw - Reviewed by Bob Treloar
The book recounts the development and sustainment of a logistics support organisation comprising requisitioned Australian fishing boats impressed into service by the US Army in April 1942.
Thinks He's a Bird - From Postal Clerk to Pathfinder Pilot by Ian Campbell - Reviewed by Bob Treloar
The book chronicles the life of Keith Watson, when an 18-year-old postal clerk working in the Biloela Post Office, Queensland, enlisted in the RAAF in August 1941. Through the opportunities of war, he became a Pathfinder pilot in RAF Bomber Command flying Lancaster bombers in the dangerous skies over Germany.
War Transformed by Mick Ryan - Reviewed by David Leece
The book is published that projects relevant historic trends forward to see how war may change and to propose commensurate changes to military education.

Cover

The catafalque party is mounted during the 2023 ANZAC Day commemoration service at the Lone Pine Cemetery on the Gallipoli Peninsula, T rkiye. [Source: Department of Defence] .

 United Service, Volume 74, Number 1, March 2023

Autumn 2023 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Colonel Joe Matthews Ret'd

News

National President's Column - Paul Irving

Institute Proceedings

The 2022 Sir Hermann Black Lecture: 2022 - the year in review Paul Kelly
The year 2022 witnessed governance by the previous Liberal coalition, and the current Labor governments after the recent federal elections. Both the governments faced and continues to face significant political, diplomatic, economic and social challenges in the dynamic national and inter national environment. Increasing Chinese foray in the Pacific region have rewired the strategic alliances between Australia, United States, United Kingdom, Japan and India. AUKUS and Quad are two significant strategic engagements impacting the defence and national security of Australia. In light of these challenges, the previous Liberal and the current Labor governments have chartered their respective responses wherein bipartisanship between the two in the defence and national security space have upheld the Australian strategic vision and values.

Seminar Proceedings

Technological dimensions of security in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean - the Oceans, Space and Near Space - Malcolm Davis
The strategic importance of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean is becoming an issue for major power competition, particularly as a rising China expands its presence across the continent. Preserving the spirit and letter of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) through greater use of advanced air, maritime and space capabilities provides an opportunity for greater transparency of activities by all Antarctica Treaty System states, and in turn acts as a deterrent against any one state circumventing the treaty by exploiting grey zone activities.
The geopolitical lessons from the Arctic to Antarctica - Nengye Liu
The two Polar Regions Arctic and Antarctica are geographically different, the Arctic, an ocean covered by ice and Antarctica, a landmass surrounded by waters of the Southern Ocean. The Arctic is governed by the 'Arctic Council', comprising the five Arctic littoral countries who have their respective national jurisdictions over the Arctic region and function under various international treaties and conventions. The Antarctic continent does not belong to any single country as per the 'Antarctic Treaty'; it "freezes" territorial claims of the continent and devotes Antarctica to peace and science. Though the Treaty takes a "bifocal" approach to neither recognise nor deny territorial claims, however there are currently 55 contracting parties associated to research activities on the continent. Though the Polar Regions are increasingly getting securitised due to their natural wealth and resources, this paper concludes that the regions should be a place of peace and cooperation to preserve its vulnerable and unique environment for humanity.
Geopolitical scenarios examining the potential for militarisation of Antarctica - Jeffrey McGee
Since the formation of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, the Antarctic Treaty parties have been obligated to ensure the Antarctic remains non-militarised. As a result, Antarctica has often been considered as a region remote from military pressures and entirely devoted to peaceful activities, such as scientific investigation. This paper seeks to challenge this perception, firstly by noting the not insignificant history of military activities in the Antarctic region prior to 1959, and, secondly, by explaining how geopolitical scenario analysis might be used to identify and manage current and future pressures that could lead to militarisation of the region.
Security challenges of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean: Australia s Antarctic interests - A. J. (Tony) Press
The Antarctic Treaty has significant strategic and security interests for Australia. Australia claims 42 per cent of the continent, and the Antarctic Treaty established the area below 60o S as a non-militarised region where military manoeuvres, weapons testing and nuclear explosions are prohibited. The benefits to Australia of maintaining the strength of the Antarctic Treaty System are manifold. This paper sets out the importance to Australia of the Antarctic Treaty System; Australia's Antarctic activities; and current geopolitical tensions in the system. It argues that Australia should continue to invest practical and diplomatic efforts to secure its Antarctic interests and the strength of the System into the future.

Cover

Map of Casey Station, Antarctica. Refers to Seminar Proceedings articles from page 8 to 24. [Source: Department of Defence, Images: https://images.defence.gov.au.

 United Service, Volume 73, Number 4, December 2022

Summer 2022 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Colonel Joe Matthews Ret'd

News

National President's Column - Paul Irving

Opinion

A Perspective on Australian Industrial Contribution to National Defence - Christopher Skinner

Policy Contribution

2022-23 Defence Strategic Review: a submission prepared for the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies - Australia D. R. Leece, I. E. Pfennigwerth, R. B. Treloar, R. P. Irving and D. J. Deasey
Australia's current defence policy broadly follows the seminal 1987 defence white paper which sought self-reliance in the defence of Australia and its neighbourhood. The current policy, however, departs from the 1987 white paper in terms of force size, structure and posture, focusing more on supporting allies abroad rather than defending Australia. As the government again seeks self-reliance in the defence of Australia, it is timely to reconsider the 1987 white paper in light of present strategic realities. Our submission attempted that exercise. We found that the 1987 policy and its underlying prescriptions remain relevant, notwithstanding significant geostrategic changes over the last 35 years. We concluded that, to achieve self-reliance now, a major expansion of the ADF and a mobilisation of the whole Australian community would be required. The submission details actions needed over the next decade (the scope of the review) to position Australia for self-defence.

Cover

The publication of the Defence Strategic Review. [Source: Department of Defence, Images: Images: https://images.defence.gov.au]

 United Service, Volume 73, Number 3, September 2022

Spring 2022 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Colonel Joe Matthews Ret'd

News

National President's Column - Paul Irving

Opinion

Implications of China's foray into the Pacific - Ian Pfennigwerth

Institute Proceedings

Translating Australia's defence strategy into land warfare capability - Ian Langford
Outlines Australia s post-2020 defence policy and describes how the Army is being modernised in the context of forward staging of logistics, littoral power projection, upgraded army aviation, establish ing a health brigade, information war fare, armoured vehicle replacement programme, redesign of the brigades in Darwin and Adelaide, and a transformation of the fires systems.
Significance of Army Aviation Capability Upgrades - Steven Jobson
The Australian Army's Army Aviation Command formed in December 2021 nests with the current strategic context as well as with Defence and Army's modernisation initiatives. Army's aviation capability under its own command will opti mise army aviation to better support land, amphibious and special operations forces. Current plans for the introduction into service of new helicopters and uncrewed aerial systems, as well as how Army Aviation Command will enhance and assure the effectiveness and the sustainability of current aircraft by transforming the organisation s training and workforce structures are key focuses for the Army Aviation Command.

Submitted Paper

Progress in Implementation of the AUKUS Agreement - Christopher Skinner
Provides update and interim progress commentary on AUKUS and the technology aspects mentioned in the tri partite technology information agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America (AUKUS) announced on 15 September 2021, (published, Chris Skinner's paper in the Autumn 2022 edition of United Service) and the further implications of the use of highly enriched Uranium (HEU) as submarine nuclear reactor fuel, and the broader geopolitical implications of AUKUS as it relates to the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty.

Obituary

Lieutenant Colonel A T (Bushy) Pembroke, MC - David Leece

Book Reviews

The tiger has many lives: the story of Rod Wells compiled by Pamela Wells - reviewed by David Leece
The book is an the autobiography/biography of Lieutenant Colonel Roderick Graham Wells, Royal Australian Corps of Signals, who served as a citizen soldier during World War II, becoming a prisoner of the Japanese in Singapore, and as a regular soldier post-war.
Battle of the Atlantic: RAAF in Coastal Command 1939-45 by John Quaife - reviewed by Bob Treolar
The book describes the battles fought by the Allied Coastal Command and the Royal Navy against the relentless U-boat campaign by Germany in their strategy to isolate Britain from the support available from the United States and the rest of the world for control of the Atlantic Ocean.
Call Sign VAMPIRE by Rod Searle, Denise Bell, Paul Danaher, Gregory Anderson - reviewed by Russell Linwood
The book presents a human face in healthcare during the Vietnam War and documents Australian military medicine literature in context.
Havoc 06, A Combat Controller on Operations by Troy Knight, with Brooke Strahan - reviewed by Bob Treloar
An autobiography of a former Australian Combat Control - ler, Troy Knight; a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Airfield Defence Guard, who sought more adventurous activities than defending military airfields, and found them on combat opera tions in several theatres around the world.
Strategy and Command, issues in Australia's Twentieth-century Wars by David Horner reviewed by Ian Wolfe
The book provides insight into the strategic decisions, and military commanders who shaped the history of the Australian Army from the Boer War to date. It also charts the evolution of the command structure for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) over the period.
Sleepwalking to War; Australia's Unthinking Alliance with America - Reviewed by Ian Wolfe
The book emphasises the complexities and contradictions of defending the Australian continent, and enhancing national defence capabilities in the context of Australia's strategic alliance with the USA.

Cover

The flag of the newly established Army Aviation Command flies over Blamey Square at Russell Offices, Canberra. [Source: Department of Defence, Images: https://images.defence.gov.au]

 United Service, Volume 73, Number 2, June 2022

Winter 2022 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Colonel Joe Matthews Ret'd

News

National President's Column - Paul Irving

Opinion

China's development of potential military bases in our neighbourhood - David Leece

Seminar Proceedings - Part II

The contribution of universities and research in improving resilience - Alex Zelinsky
The Australian university system, and organisations like the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, working with the Defence Science and Technology Group and defence industry, can contribute to giving Australia the competitive edge it must have in defence in an age of high-technology defence platforms, weapons systems and equipments.
The contribution of the Australian Defence Force to civil resilience - David Thomae
The Australian Defence Force contributes to civil resilience by assisting the civil community when requested to do so by state and territory governments when those governments are responding to natural disasters such as bushfires, floods, storms, cyclones and pandemics. Headquarters Joint Task Force 629, with task groups in each state and territory, has been raised to command and control assistance provided to the civil community.
The contribution of New South Wales-based industry to improving resilience - Chris Jenkins
Changing strategic circumstances, especially technology changes, and weaknesses in global supply chains, necessitate a strong domestic defence industry which is agile, innovative, costeffective and globally competitive. Industry and universities must link through networks as partners with the Australian Defence Organisation to generate solutions rapidly to meet the capability delivery challenges that may lie ahead.
The New South Wales defence industry strategy and resilience - Kym Osley
The resilience of the Australian Defence Force comes mostly from the support provided by Australian defence industry which provides some operational and almost all deeper maintenance of Defence platforms and equipment across the warfare domains - air, land, sea, space and cyber. New South Wales-based defence industry has been instrumental in delivering the capabilities through a variety of programmes and activities.

Obituary

Major General Premangsu Chowdry, PVSM, FRGS, MiD** - Joe Matthews

Book Reviews

Viking boys: Beaufighters, bravery and lost airmen by John Quaife - reviewed by Bob Treloar
The book illustrates the operational activities of the RAAF No. 455 Squadron in Europe during World War II, from 1943 until the end of the war in 1945.
Fighting Australia's Cold War: the nexus of strategy and operations in a multipolar Asia, 1945-1965 edited by Peter Dean and Tristan Moss - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
The book examines Australia's security history from the end of World War II to the Cold War era.
How to defend Australia by Hugh White - reviewed by Ian Wolfe
The book provides an appreciation of Australia's strategic and defence dilemmas, emphasising the complexities and contradictions of defending the Australian continent, and enhancing national defence capabilities.
Dare to be free by W. B. 'Sandy' Thomas - reviewed by David Leece
Dare to be Free is the escape and evasion memoir of Second- Lieutenant W. B. 'Sandy' Thomas, a New Zealand rifle platoon commander captured by the Germans in Crete in May 1941.
Untraceables: the mystery of the forgotten diggers by John Gillam and Yvonne Fletcher - reviewed by Bob Treloar
The book describes the adverse administrative effects on veterans and their families of the Australian Imperial Force after World War I.
I, Warbot - The Dawn of Artificially Intelligent Conflict by Kenneth Payne - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
The author emphasises that new thinking is required for a new era of Artificial Intelligence (AI), focussing on AI during wars and conflict situations.
Mau Mau whitewash: Britain slandered: a critique of the revisionist account of Mau Mau by Lee Boldeman - reviewed by David Leece
In this book, the author uses the Mau Mau Uprising in 1950s Kenya as a case study to enable him to debunk the rewriting of history by revisionist academics.
After the blood cools: the warrior s dilemma by Gary McKay, MC - reviewed by David Leece
The book is a military memoir of Lieutenant Colonel Gary McKay, MC (Ret'd), an Australian infantryman. The book's focus is his war service as a rifle platoon commander in South Vietnam in 1971 and the lessons he has derived from this combat experience and its long aftermath.

Cover

Royal Australian Navy sailor Petty Officer Boatswain Jordan Bradshaw plays the didgeridoo at the commencement of the Australian commemorative service at Lone Pine on Anzac Day 2022 in Gallipoli, Turkey.[Source: Department of Defence, Images: https://images.defence.gov.au]

 United Service, Volume 73, Number 1, March 2022

Autumn 2022 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Colonel Joe Matthews Ret'd

News

National President's Column - Paul Irving

Opinion

Editorial: Joe Matthews

Institute Proceedings

The 2021 Sir Hermann Black Lecture: 2021 - 2022 - Peter Hartcher
The history of the AEGIS combat system - Lee Rollins
AEGIS is an air-defence combat and weapons system, originally developed by the United States Navy in the 1960s, to defend ships at sea from air and missile attack. It detects threats to the ship, controls the weapons system's response and manages the engage ment of the target. It has been upgraded nine times and the penultimate version, has been fitted to the Royal Australian Navy s Hobart-class air-warfare destroyers. This paper describes the AEGIS system's components and traces its evolution to the present day.
Nuclear-powered submarines and other AUKUS technologies for the Australian Defence Force - Chris Skinner
A tripartite technology information agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America (AUKUS) was announced on 15 September 2021. This paper provides an overview of AUKUS and the four technology aspects explicitly mentioned in the announce ment: artificial intelligence; cyber; quantum computing; and undersea technology. It then provides an overview of the nuclear submarine issue, including the more stringent safety and design issues that are mandatory for a nuclear submarine.

Seminar Proceedings

Island Australia: improving resilience in a rapidly changing region: opening address - Margaret Beazley
This seminar provides an excellent opportunity to delve deeper into our defence strategy, given a rapidly-changing region and a much-less benign security environment.
The contribution of the Royal Australian Navy to improving resilience - Mark Hammond
During the COVID-19 pandemic of the last two years, the personal and professional resilience of the personnel of the Australian Navy, together with that of their families, has been an important contributor to the economic and security resilience of Australia and its neighbourhood and region.
The contribution of the Australian Army to improving resilience - Matt Pearce
Army contributes to the building of national resil ience through investing in its most important asset, its people, to develop them and their moral and intellectual attributes, to make Army more operationally relevant and competent both nationally and internationally.
The contribution of the Royal Australian Air Force to improving resilience - Joe Iervasi
The Royal Australian Air Force is inherently resilient. Forward looking, alert and ready, it adapts to change and, through the professionalism of its personnel and systems, remains relevant, credible and reliable.

Book Reviews

The hero maker: a biography of Paul Brickhill by Stephen Dando-Collins - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Biography of Australian author Paul Brickhill best known for his Wold War II dramas, The Great Escape, The Dam Busters or Reach for the Sky.
Marine maxims: turning leadership principles into practice by Thomas J. Gordon - reviewed by Kim Turner
A collection of fifty principle-based leadership lessons that Thomas J. Gordon acquired in a career spanning three decades in the United States Marine Corps.

Cover

HMAS Adelaide embarks Australian Army CH-47 Chinook Heavy-Lift helicopters to provide humanitarian assistance to the Government of Tonga, OP TONGA ASSIST 22; in context with the seminar held by RUSIDSS NSW, [Source: Department of Defence, Images: https://images.defence.gov.au]

 United Service, Volume 72, Number 4, December 2021

Summer 2021 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece AM PSM RFD ED (Retd)

News

NSW President's Column - Michael Hough
National President's Column - Paul Willee
Defence News: The AUKUS security partnership - Department of Defence

Opinion

Editorial: AUKUS: its strategic and diplomatic implications - David Leece

Institute Proceedings

The evolving role of the 2nd Division within Australia's defence mobilisation strategic framework - David Thomae
Planning on a 10-year warning of a major conventional attack on Australia is no longer appropriate. The 2nd Division, an Army Reserve formation, has evolved beyond maintaining an expansion base as a strategic reserve. Its role now is principally operational. It maintains foundation warfighting skills; raises, trains and sustains a battle group to reinforce Army's full-time ready brigade; commands, controls and contributes force elements to domestic operations; and contributes force elements for the ongoing defence of the nation's maritime approaches.
Rebuilding Australia s maritime fleet - Tim Barrett
Australia s economy and national security are heavily dependent on globalised maritime trade with its unfavourable trade practices and the potential for supply-chain disruption. Australia's heavy dependence on foreign-flagged merchant shipping poses strategic risks for Australia. In contrast, major maritime nations have well-planned and co-ordinated national shipping industries well-supported by government policy. Australia needs a cohesive government-led maritime strategy with aligned regulation and policy coupled with enduring oversight of the industry.

Contributed Short Communication

Social media: the new intelligence collection platforms - Brant Johnston
Mr Johnston demonstrates that intelligence collected from social media can have tactical value in a kinetic conflict.

Biography

Who was ...... Vernon Sturdee? - David Leece
Lieutenant-General Sir Vernon Sturdee KBE CB DSO, President of the Institute in 1939-40, was twice Chief of the General Staff and took the Japanese surrender at Rabaul in 1945.

Obituary

Max Willis 1935 - 2021 - David Leece
Institute member, Brigadier The Honourable M. F. Willis RFD ED CSI, politician, citizen soldier and lawyer, has died in Sydney aged 85 years.

Book Reviews

Habits of highly effective maritime strategists by James R. Holmes - reviewed by Ian Wolfe
This book aims to develop current and aspiring strategists, regardless of the domain of interest.
Genesis of the Grand Fleet: the Admiralty, Germany, and the Home Fleet, 1896-1914 by Christopher M. Buckey - reviewed by Ken Broadhead
This is the story of Admiral Sir John Fisher's creation of the British Home Fleet in 1907 and its evolution into the Grand Fleet of 1914.
The Gallipoli evacuation by Peter Hart - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
The successful withdrawal of Allied forces from the Gallipoli Peninsula in late 1915 and early 1916 remains one 'bright spot' in an otherwise costly, some say futile, campaign.
The Royal Australian Air Force history: 1921-1996 by Dr Chris Clark, Dr Alan Stephens and Dr Mark Lax - reviewed by Bob Treloar
The RAAF's history, except for World War II (covered elsewhere), is presented in three-volumes to commemorate the centenary of the RAAF.
The battle of the Bismarck Sea by Michael Veitch - reviewed by David Leece
In March 1943, Japan's final attempt to reinforce its position in New Guinea was turned back by a force of land-based American and Australian fighter and bomber aircraft.
Strategy shelved: the collapse of Cold War naval strategic planning by Steven T. Wills - reviewed by Ian Pfennigwerth
This book provides a clear insight into how the United States Navy designs and implements strategies to meet United States requirements and circumstances.

Cover

AUKUS: an historic partnership. [Source: Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet]

 United Service, Volume 72, Number 3, September 2021

Spring 2021 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece AM PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute News

President's Column - Michael Hough
Defence News

Opinion

Editorial: China's ambitions for Taiwan - Ian Pfennigwerth
Letter: RUSI needs to stay focused - Max Sheridan Wilkinson

Institute Proceedings

Australia s sovereign capacities and resilience in crisis and disaster: a defence and industry partnership - Chris Smallhorn
Resilience embraces preparation for and management of crises, disasters and calamities. A co-ordinated federal response, with appropriate command-and-control structures and mechan isms, can best mitigate crises and enhance the community trust in our emergency-response capabilities.
Scouting: creating resilient youth and communities - Neville Tomkins
Empirical data show the positive role Scouting plays in building young people s resilience. Scouting strives to develop resilience and equip its youth members to make positive contributions to society. Scouting, too, is enhancing the disaster resilience of local communities.
Australia's defence and national security: how Defence is enhancing Australia's cyber security - Susan Coyle
Information and cyber constitute a 5th warfighting domain, which can be either an enabler for the traditional sea, land, air, and space warfighting domains or the primary one on which the other domains are dependent. A Defence cyber worthiness framework seeks to ensure warfighting capabilities survive against adversary actions in cyberspace.

Book Reviews

Aircraft of the Royal Australian Air Force by RAAF History and Heritage Branch - reviewed by Bob Treloar
This story of the RAAF's first 100 years describes the aircraft flown by the RAAF.
Australia's first campaign: the capture of German New Guinea, 1914 by Robert Stevenson - reviewed by David Leece
This is a concise description of Australia's military occupation of German New Guinea in 1914.
Pompey Elliott at war - in his own words by Ross McMullin - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Brigadier-General H. E. Elliott's letters record the Great War deeds of the 15th Brigade A.I.F.
Japan s Pacific war: personal accounts of the Emperor's warriors by Peter Williams - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Herein are the World War II memoirs of over 100 Japanese soldiers, sailors and airmen.
Semut: the untold story of a secret Australian operation in WWII Borneo by Christine Helliwell - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
A history of Operation Semut in Sarawak in mid-1945.
Secret & special: the untold story of Z Special Unit in the Second World by Will Davies - reviewed by Bob Treloar
This is a history of Australia's Special Reconnaissance Department in World War II.
Shadow wars: the secret struggle for the Middle East by Christopher Davidson - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Davidson claims Britain and America are opposing progressive forces in the Middle East.
Red zone: China's challenge and Australia's future by Peter Hartcher - reviewed by David Leece
This is an experienced journalist's views on Australia's relations with China and the United States.

Cover

Sergeant Taryn Allen, an Airborne Electronics Analyst of No. 11 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, onboard a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft on 25 July 2021 during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2021. Major General Susan Coyle discusses cyber and electronic warfare. More information on Talisman Sabre 2021. [Source: LACW Emma Schwenke, Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 72, Number 2, June 2021

Winter 2021 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece AM PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute News

President's Column - Michael Hough

Opinion

Editorial: Afghanistan at a crossroads - David Leece and Ian Wolfe
Letter: Taiwan and the Chinese threat - Bryn Evans

Institute Proceedings

Bushfire: the recovery phase, path to resilience and future readiness - Vince di Pietro
The 2019-20 summer bushfire on the New South Wales south coast caused massive damage to public and private property, bushland and livestock. The author, now the Shoalhaven Recovery into Resilience Project Co-ordinator, provides personal insights into the recovery effort and the follow-on path to resilience and future readiness. He discusses futuristic scenarios and alternative pathways and concludes by describing the biggest threats now faced in the aftermath of the bushfires.
Leadership and resilience in a crisis: life in the time of coronavirus - Andrew Robertson
With limited guidance in the literature on leadership and resilience in a crisis, Dr Robertson has managed the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic in Western Australia based on his prior experience of disaster management. Herein, he describes how he did this. He recounts the mistakes made and lessons learned as a guide to the management of future crises. Decision-making involves taking risks and you need to understand your risk appetite and that of those to whom you report.
Resilience: preparing for and recovering from crisis and disaster - Shane Fitzsimmons
Resilience embraces crisis prevention and mitigation, dealing with crises decisively, and then societal rebuilding, repairing, reconstructing and healing. The New South Wales government established Resilience NSW in 2020 in the wake of the state's worst ever bushfire season to guide the preparation for and recovery from future natural disasters, disease epidemics and the like. Herein, the Commissioner for Resilience describes the 2019/20 bushfire crisis and recovery processes, stressing the importance of emotional resilience and social cohesion.

Book Reviews

Soldiers and civilisation: how the profession of arms thought and fought the modern world into existence by Reed Robert Bonadonna - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Soldiers and Civilisation examines the history of the military profession in the West from the ancient Greeks to the present day in the context of both literary and cultural history.
Knight of Germany: Oswald Boelcke German ace by Johannes Werner - reviewed by Bob Treloar
This is a biography of one of Germany's true heroes. In World War I, Oswald Boelcke was the top-scoring scout pilot in the German air forces with 40 victories at the time of his death.
Airmen s incredible escapes: accounts of survival in the Second World War by Bryn Evans - reviewed by Bob Treloar
Evans has drawn together extraordinary stories of the escape from capture of British, Commonwealth and American airmen who were shot down in the European and Pacific theatres.
Lucky pommie bastard by Don McNaughton - reviewed by Bob Treloar
Lucky Pommie Bastard is the story of three Lancaster bombers with mixed crews of Australians and Britons who trained and flew together over Europe in World War II.
AI at war: how big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning are changing naval warfare edited by Sam J. Tangredi and George Galdorisi - reviewed by Chris Skinner
AI at War provides a practical understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) and its application to warfare, especially naval warfare.
Courage under fire by Daniel Keighran VC with Tony Park - reviewed by David Leece
Corporal Daniel Keighran, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during the Battle of Derapet, Afghanistan, on 24 August 2010.

Cover

A Victorian State Emergency Service vehicle drives off an Air Force C-17A Globemaster III aircraft, after being delivered from Melbourne to Geraldton in Western Australia, along with four other vehicles and stores on 19 April 2021 to assist with the clean-up in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Seroja. The theme of this issue of United Service is preparing for, managing and recovering from crises and disasters. [Photo: LSIS Kieran Whiteley, Department of Defence].

 United Service, Volume 72, Number 1, March 2021

Autummn 2021 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece AM PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute News

President's Column - Michael Hough

Opinion

Editorial: Strategic challenges ahead for Australia - David Leece

Institute Proceedings

The 2020 Sir Hermann Black Lecture - A year of crisis: climate, coronavirus and China - Hervé Lemahieu
The three challenges with the greatest bearing on Australia's security and prosperity each came to a head in 2020, viz. climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and China. The world has become poorer, more dangerous and more disorderly. Post the pandemic, Australia's ability to project itself globally will start with its strength and vitality at home. Its favourable geography gives it the potential to become a leader in renewables. Given our geopolitical challenges, this is a strategic imperative. Yet, for now, the gap between reality and expectations has never been greater.
The Australian Defence Force s response to the bushfire and COVID-19 crises of 2020 - Kathryn Campbell
The Australian Army s 2nd Division is responsible for leading domestic operations and did so during the 2020 bushfire and COVID-19 pandemic crises. The Division's commander describes the Australian Defence Force's joint response to the two crises, the command and control arrangements, and interactions with civilian agencies and the wider community. Concurrently, the Division continued to fulfil its other operational and readiness training responsibilities.
Improving resilience in Australia - Keith Suter
Over the past century, economic theory and public policy based thereon has oscillated between big and small government, with economic rationalism now the driving force. Unintended consequences, including an unequal society, have resulted. New thinking is required informed by scenario planning. Using the latter, we could plan for the future knowing we could cope with whatever it might hold.

Contributed Essay

Forward operating bases: is there a place for them in Australia's new defence strategy? - David Leece and Ian Wolfe
Australia's defence posture has been refocused on our immediate region, but with the intent of holding any potential enemy forces as far from the Australian mainland as is practicable. A similar strategy in World War II saw Australia deploying operating bases in the Indonesian-Melanesian archipelago. This paper examines that experience, compares more successful with less successful uses of forward bases [Norfolk Island is used as an example of the former], and seeks to draw enduring lessons from that experience for Australia's current defence.

Book Reviews

An Australian band of brothers: Don Company, Second 43rd Battalion, 9th Division: Tobruk, Alamein, New Guinea, Borneo by Mark Johnston - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This book follows, in particular, three Australian infantrymen who served throughout World War II in D Company, 2/43rd Battalion, 24th Brigade, 9th Division, AIF.
Pathfinder, 'kriegie' and gumboot governor: the adventurous life of Sir James Rowland AC, KBE, DFC, AFC by Air Marshal Sir James Rowland and Dr Peter Yule - reviewed by Bob Treloar
James Rowland was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) bomber pilot in World War II. Post-war, he became a RAAF test pilot, Chief of the Air Staff, and Governor of New South Wales.
China's grand strategy and Australia's future in the new global order by Geoff Raby - reviewed by David Leece
China is shaping a new global order based on its own interests. To understand China's role one needs to view the world from Beijing's perspective and the grand strategy it is pursuing.
China as a twenty-first century naval power: theory, practice, and implications by Michael A. McDevitt - reviewed by Ian Pfennigwerth
McDevitt has made a reasoned contribution to our understanding of China's 21st century naval power. As he points out, China s warships are not 'coming', they are already 'here'.

Cover

Commander of Joint Task Group 629.4, Colonel Graham Goodwin CSC, speaks with South Australia Police during a visit to a border crossing checkpoint in Renmark, South Australia, during Operation COVID-19 Assist. [Photo: Department of Defence]. [Photo: Department of Defence].

 United Service, Volume 71, Number 4, December 2020

Summer 2019 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Dr David Leece AM PSM RFD ED

Institute News

President's Column - Michael Hough

Opinion

Editorial: Australia s relations with China - Ian Pfennigwerth
Letter: Training army officers in tactics - Ian Wolfe

Institute Proceedings

The state of transatlantic relations - Gorana Grgić
Transatlantic relations have reached a nadir under the presidency of Donald Trump and, if he is elected to a second term as United States president on 3 November 2020, may continue their downward spiral. Should, however, Joe Biden become the next United States president, transatlantic relations and inter- national governance norms and institutions can be expected to experience a recovery, though with some caveats.
The Battle of the Bismarck Sea - Peter Sweeney
The pivotal Battle of the Bismarck Sea was fought on 2-4 March 1943. The United States Army Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force attacked an Imperial Japanese Navy convoy transporting 6900 Japanese army reinforcements from Rabaul to Lae. Eight Japanese transports, four of eight destroyers, and 20 of 100 fighter aircraft were destroyed for the loss of four allied aircraft. Only 1200 Japanese reinforcements reached Lae and 3000 perished at sea.
Australia's national security over next 100 years: opportunities and challenges - Jim Molan
While Australia is now the world's 14 most economically powerful nation, it has only been able to focus on its economic development because, heretofore, it has not had to provide for its own defence. With United States power diminishing and China s power increasing, Australia s historic grand strategy is becoming unsustainable both militarily and economically. To craft a way forward for the next century, Australia needs first to develop a national security strategy.

Obituary

Colonel John Malcolm Hutcheson, MC - John Hutcheson Jnr and Paul Irving
John Hutcheson, Vice-President of the Institute and a life member, has died aged 92 years.

Book Reviews

H.M. Bark Endeavour by Ray Parkin - reviewed by Ken Broadhead
This is a beautifully-produced volume about H.M. Bark Endeavour and her first voyage to the south Pacific under the command of Captain James Cook RN in 1770.
An interesting point: a history of military aviation at Point Cook by Steve Campbell-Wright - reviewed by Bob Treloar.
This is the 2nd edition of a centenary history of RAAF Base Point Cook, which also blends in the histories of the Australian Flying Corps and the Royal Australian Air Force.
William Holmes: the soldiers general by Geoffrey Travers - reviewed by Jon Breen
This is a biography of an eminent Australian citizen soldier and public administrator, Major-General William Holmes, CMG, DSO, VD, who was born in Sydney in 1862.
Coalition strategy and the end of the First World War: the Supreme War Council and war planning, 1917-1918 by Meighen McCrae - reviewed by Luke Holloway
This book, through its analysis of the Supreme War Council and its subordinate committees, provides a detailed insight into the formulation of global allied strategy for 1918-19.
The Marshall Plan: dawn of the Cold War by Benn Steil - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
As World War II ended, General Marshall feared that, without American aid, key allies would be unable to build strong democracies. Steil provides a new perspective on the Marshall Plan.
Written in the sky by Mark Carr - reviewed by Bob Treloar
Written in the Sky is an autobiography of one man's desire to fly, recording his efforts to achieve a boyhood dream and the challenges and rewards of realising his ambitions.
Sad joys on deployment by Greg Bruce - reviewed by David Leece
This is the memoir of an orthopaedic surgeon in the Royal Australian Air Force Specialist Reserve who deployed overseas ten times on operations between 1995 and 2008.

Cover

Japanese, Australian, American and New Zealand naval vessels (JS Ise, JS Ashigara, HMAS Stuart, HMAS Arunta, USS Chafee and HNZS Manawanui) conducting a multinational group passage off Hawaii on 3 September 2020. Senator Molan argues that Australia, in conjunction with regional allies, must develop greater defence self-reliance. [Photo: Department of Defence].

 United Service, Volume 71, Number 3, September 2020

Spring 2020 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Dr David Leece AM PSM RFD ED

Institute News

President's Column - Paul Irving

Opinion

Editorial: Australia's defence strategic update 2020 - David Leece
Letters: United Service June 2020 - Andrew W. Hine; Jono Kempe

Institute Proceedings

Military ethics and its application to the Australian Defence Force - Simon Longstaff
Ethics in the ADF is more than general principles around 'just war' theory. It is strategically vital that we build the capacity of our people to manage the ethical dimension so that they are never put in a position where they do things which bring shame upon themselves or their nation. We never want to lose the war because we lost our moral authority.
Defence Science and Technology's research goals, workforce and infrastructure plans for the next decade - Tanya Monro
Australia's Chief Defence Scientist outlines the Defence Science and Technology Group s strategic plan for the decade ahead, covering its eight research goals, STEM workforce needs, and infrastructure provisions. The goals will prepare Defence for the 'fourth industrial revolution'; workforce development will be dependent on enhanced STEM education in the community; and the infrastructure plan will establish Defence S&T precincts with industry and academia.
Climate change as an important component of national security - Chris Barrie
A 2017 Senate inquiry urged urgent action on climate change, but the Government is yet respond other than by acknowledging the issue in a 2020 strategic update. Research indicates that, in the worst case, Earth may reach a climate tipping point within 18 months which would pose an existential threat to humankind. Short of that, no other country on the planet will be as affected by the consequences of climate change as Australia. Time is running out for Australia to act!

Background Briefing

Training army officers in tactics - David Leece
The training of staff and regimental officers in common tactical doctrine (the 'drills') is essential to developing teamwork within formations, headquarters and units. But developing tactical thinking (the 'skills') is more difficult. A range of tools presented in this paper have been formulated by Western armies over two centuries to develop the skills and the drills separately and then merge them to create combat-ready formations.

Book Reviews

The last 100 days - the Australian road to victory in the First World War by Will Davies - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This book recounts the Australian Corps' contribution to the final allied offensive of the Great War on the Western Front in 1918.
Horrie the war dog: the story of Australia s most famous dog by Roland Perry - reviewed by David Leece
This is a re-telling of the story of an Egyptian Terrier puppy, befriended in Libya by signallers of 6th Division A.I.F. in 1941, who became an exceptional war dog in Greece and Crete.
In that rich earth by Brad Manera with Craig Wilcox and Chris Clark - reviewed by Bob Treloar
Sydney's Anzac Memorial now contains a Hall of Service. On the floor are soil samples collected globally from 100 Australian battlefields. The book describes each of the battles.
Legends of War: the AIF in France 1918 by Pat Beale - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Beale critically examines seven 'legends' relating to the AIF through the lens of seven battles in which the Australian Corps fought during 1918.
Right man, right place, worst time: Commander Eric Feldt, his life and his coastwatchers by Betty Lee - reviewed by Ken Broadhead
This is a biography Commander Eric A. Feldt, OBE, RAN, who set up and maintained a coast watch service in New Guinea and the Solomons in the critical early period of the Pacific War.

Cover

Corporal Natalie Ekonomopoulos, a cyberspace systems network technician, in a communications cabinet for cyber research and development systems at No. 462 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, on 1 June 2020. Professor Tanya Monro, Chief Defence Scientist, outlines the Defence Science and Technology strategic plan in her paper above. [Photo: Corporal Brenton Kwaterski, Department of Defence].

 United Service, Volume 71, Number 2, June 2020

Winter 2020 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Dr David Leece AM PSM RFD ED

Institute News

President's Column - Paul Irving

Opinion

Editorial: The compulsory call-out of Army reservists in January 2020 - David Leece
Letter: The 2019-20 bushfires and COVID-19 crises - Ken Broadhead

Background Briefing

Recent provision of military assistance to civil authorities in Australia - David Leece
The Australian Defence Force assisted the Australian community during the major bushfires and then the COVID -19 global pandemic in 2019 -20. This briefing explains the difference between 'aid to the civil power' and 'assistance to the civil community'; and the constitutional basis for providing such assistance. It then summarises the assistance provided up to midMay 2020.

Institute Proceedings

Assessing the ambitious reforms of the People's Liberation Army - Bates Gill
The Chinese People's Liberation Army has been given a new mission focused on 21st century joint deterrent and warfighting operations up to and beyond the second island chain and into the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is being reorganised accordingly with the reorganisation to be completed between 2035 and 2049.
Australia's Pacific policy: COVID-19, China and community - Graeme Dobell
The South Pacific island nation-states and Timor Leste, vital to Australia's geostrategic interests, face five strategic challenges (in descending priority): human and state security; climate change; natural disasters; natural resource management; and China. Australia and its neighbours must build on their already strong bonds to develop a stronger, more capable Pacific community.

Naval History Essay

Royal Australian Navy beach commandos of World War II - Petar Djokovic
Starting in 1942, around 1000 Australian sailors were trained in amphibious warfare. In May-July 1945, they participated in the liberation of Borneo, providing landing craft crews, beach parties and signals teams for amphibious landings at Tarakan, Brunei Bay and Balikpapan.

Biography

Major-General Premangsu Chowdry, PVSM, FRGS - Joseph Matthews and David Leece
Major-General Chowdry, one of the Institute's few remaining World War II veterans, turned 100-years-old on 1 May 2020. To mark the occasion, the Board made him a Life Member.

Book Reviews

Young Hitler: the making of the Führer by Paul Ham - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Ham considers insufficient weight has been given to the degree to which the Great War shaped Hitler's character. Ham seeks to solve the riddle behind the enigma of the Nazi leader.
Turning point: Battle for Milne Bay 1942 Japan's first land defeat in World War II by Michael Veitch - reviewed by Bob Treloar
This is a superb historical account of Australia's first victory against Japan on land. Had Japan captured the eastern tip of Papua, it could have controlled the northern approaches to Australia.
D-Day: 'Neptune', 'Overlord' and the Battle of Normandy: operations manual: insights into how science, technology and engineering made the Normandy invasion possible by Jonathan Falconer - reviewed by David Leece
This D-Day 'operations manual' focuses primarily on the science, technology and engineering which underpinned key aspects of the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944.

Cover

The Background Briefing discusses, inter alia, the provision by military forces of 'aid to the civil power', such as assisting police forces counter terrorism; and the Essay in this issue is about World War II Royal Australian Navy commandos. The cover photo depicts 21st century naval commandos (RAN clearance divers attached to 2nd Commando Regiment) preparing to board a ship underway during maritime counter-terrorism training in Jervis Bay, NSW, on 24 September 2019. [Photo: ABIS Ryan McKenzie, Department of Defence].

 United Service, Volume 71, Number 1, March 2020

Autumn 2020 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Dr David Leece AM PSM RFD ED

Institute News

President's Column - Paul Irving

Opinion

Editorial: The People's Liberation Army Navy - Ian Pfennigwerth

Institute Proceedings

The 2019 Sir Hermann Black Lecture: the year in review - Andrew Greene
Mr Greene reviews several significant issues that have influenced global defence and security in 2019. They include Chinese interference in Australia, its influence in the South Pacific and Australia's response to it; global implications of the unrest in Hong Kong; the impact of Trump's unpredictability on global security; and the role played by defence policy during Australia's federal election and since.
To shoot or not to shoot: an ethical decision - Andrew Brayshaw
This paper looks at two incidents that took place during the 1982 Falklands War and whether or not the actions taken were ethical. Both incidents involved a combat medical technician shooting an unarmed soldier who was ablaze. The author does not judge the ethics of either action.
Three Vietnam Wars, 1946 - 1975 - David Wilkins
Colonel Wilkins summarises the three wars in Vietnam since the end of World War II: the French War (1946-1954); the American War (1960-1973); and the 3rd Vietnam War (1975). They ended with Vietnam unified and independent under Communist rule. Today, it remains a unified, independent and relatively economically-stable Communist nation.

Obituary

Vice-Admiral David Willoughby Leach, AC, CBE, LVO - Royal Australian Navy, Michael Flynn, David Leece and Paul Irving
Admiral Leach, a former Chief of the Naval Staff (1982 - 1985) and President of the Royal United Services Institute of New South Wales (2002 - 2004), died in Sydney on 19 January 2020.

Book Reviews

Sydney Grammar School and the South African Boer War, 1899-1902 by Mathew Glozier - reviewed by David Deasey
Dr Matthew Glozier, history master of Sydney Grammar School, has produced a superb history of those ex-students of the school who served in the Boer War.
Wellington's history of the Peninsular War: battling Napoleon in Iberia 1808 - 1814 by Stuart Reid - reviewed by David Leece
This is a one-volume narrative of the war in Iberia prepared from four memoranda and seven despatches written by the Duke of Wellington as the war against Napoleon progressed.
Monash's masterpiece: the battle of Le Hamel and the 93 minutes that changed the world by Peter FitzSimons - reviewed by David Leece
Monash's Masterpiece describes the battle of Le Hamel on 4 July 1918, which was a meticulously planned, all-arms deliberate attack by the recently-formed Australian Corps.
South Pacific air war. Volume 3, Coral Sea & aftermath, May-June 1942 by Michael Clarinbould and Peter Ingman - reviewed by Bob Treloar
This book differs from earlier histories of the Coral Sea Battle by providing a complete coverage of the air-sea battles in the South Pacific during the months of May and June 1942.
Savage continent: Europe in the aftermath of World War II by Keith Lowe & reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This is a deeply harrowing account of Europe reeling from the impacts and consequences of World War II. It covers the legacy of war, vengeance, ethnic cleansing, civil war and hope.
The Falklands War: there and back again: the story of Naval Party 8901 by Mike Norman and Michael Jones - reviewed by David Leece
Naval Party 8901, some 50 Royal Marines, was garrisoning Stanley, the Falkland Islands capital, when Argentina invaded on 2 April 1982. This book the tells their story.
The future of war: a history by Laurence Freedman - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
The book examines how societies in each age have anticipated the potential for armed conflict and have considered new technologies and changes to the global order.

Cover

Australian Army Reservists supporting Operation Bushfire Assist 2019-20 worked with the Rotary Club of Corryong to remove and replace 31km of bushfire affected fencing in Corryong, Victoria. [Photo: Trooper Jonathan Goedhart, Department of Defence].

 United Service, Volume 70, Number 4, December 2019

Summer 2019 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute News

President's Column - Paul Irving

Opinion

Editorial: Australia's amphibious capability - David Leece

Institute Proceedings

Does Australia need a 'Plan B' for its Defence policy? - Peter Jennings
The pace of recent strategic change in our region has forced a review of Australian defence policy and force structure. The region's big strategic challenges are likely to be tested much earlier than envisaged by the 2016 Defence white paper and should be the focus of a new 'Plan B'. Herein, Mr Jennings identifies nine short-term measures that the government should now consider.
Australia's capacity to generate naval task groups for amphibious operations and sea control - David Tietzel
Captain Tietzel describes how Australia's Amphibious Task Group has evolved since 2014; and how a Maritime Task Group has co-evolved to enable bluewater maritime manoeuvre/sea control and to protect the Amphibious Task Group.
Force from the sea: Australia's amphibious capability: an update - Kim Gilfillan
The Australian Amphibious Force now is able to employ a landing force of up to battalion-group strength over the spectrum of operations from the provision of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to high-end warfighting, the latter capability having been tested, in conjunction with allies, during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2019. Colonel Gilfillan describes the current capability.

Book Reviews

Duty nobly done: an extraordinary account of 11 family members in the Great War by Adam Holloway - reviewed by Roland Millbank
This book follows 11 members of the one extended family - the Holloways, from Roma, Queensland - who served in the Australian Imperial Force in the Great War (1914-1919).
The dawn of carrier strike: and the world of Lieutenant W P Lacy DSO RN by David Hobbs - reviewed by Michael Flynn
This book traces the birth of the Royal Navy's air arm between the two world wars, with a focus on 'turf' battles with the Royal Air Force.
Angels of mercy: far west, far east by Lynette Ramsay Silver - reviewed by Debbie Case
This is a biography of two nursing sisters - Marjorie Silver, who served in remote Australian communities; and Pat Darling, who served with the 8th Australian Division in World War II.
Greece 1941: the death throes of Blitzkrieg by Jeffrey Plowman - reviewed by Brad Manera and David Leece
Greece 1941 is a significant contribution to the historiography of a campaign that cost the Australian Imperial Force its first combat division of the Second World War. .
The Reich intruders: RAF light bomber raids in World War II by Martin M. Bowman - reviewed by Bob Treloar
This is the story of No. 2 Group, Royal Air Force (RAF), which flew Blenheim, Boston, Mitchell and Mosquito bombers on raids over Nazi-occupied Europe during Wold War II.
The missing man: from the outback to Tarakan, the powerful story of Len Waters, Australia's first Aboriginal fighter pilot by Peter Rees - reviewed by Bob Treloar
Len Waters was the only Aboriginal to qualify in the RAAF as a fighter pilot during World War II. He flew 104 sorties on operations with No. 78 Squadron in World War II.
Stern justice: the forgotten story of Australia, Japan and the Pacific war crimes trials by Adam Wakeling - reviewed by Bob Treloar
Stern Justice is a most interesting account Australia's role in the conduct of the Japanese war crimes trials and provides a balanced perspective of these events.
Hunters over Arabia: Hawker Hunter operationsin the Middle East by Ray Deacon - reviewed by Bob Treloar
Hunters over Arabia provides an in-depth account of the operations performed by Royal Air Force Hawker Hunter squadrons policing Arabia from 1960 to 1971.

Cover

United States Marines disembark from an Australian landing craft on King's Beach near Bowen, Queensland, on 22 July 2019, during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2019. This issue examines Australia's current amphibious capability. [Photo: Sergeant 1st Class Whitney C. Houston].

 United Service, Volume 70, Number 3, September 2019

Spring 2019 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute News

President's Column - Paul Irving

Opinion

Editorial: Defending Australia - David Leece

Institute Proceedings

How power adapts to a changed world - Hervé Lemahieu
Global wealth and power are shifting eastwards. The Lowy Institute Asia Power Index tracks changes in the distribution of power in the region. Herein, Mr Lemahieu describes the Index and uses it to assess the relative strengths of 25 regional nationstates.
The Indonesian Armed Forces: structure, reform and future plans - Robert Lowry
Indonesia plans to form three joint regional defence commands covering the west, central and eastern islands and their northern approaches; and is expanding its armed forces to achieve a 'minimum essential force' by 2024.
Pine Gap: an historical perspective on Australia's intelligence-sharing partnership with the United States in a time of political change - David Rosenberg
The Australia - United States Joint Defence Facility at Pine Gap, near Alice Springs, was established in 1970. Mr Rosenberg explains what the facility does and why the facility is located at Pine Gap.

Contributed Essay

The Boer War and its influence on modern Australia - Michael Slattery
This paper outlines Australia's contribution to the 2nd Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 and shows how the war helped form part of the modern Australian heritage, character and institutions.

Obituary

Squadron Leader W. W. (Bill) McRae, DFC, AFC - David Leece
Bill McRae, an Honorary Life Member of the Institute, died on 31 May 2019 aged 106 years.

Book Reviews

The Victoria Cross: Australia remembers by Michael C. Madden - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This book provides a separate profile of each Australian VC recipient.
Anah's War by Johanna van Rooy - reviewed by Emma Kent
Anah's War describes conditions in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II.
The 51st (Highland) Division in the Great War: engine of destruction by Colin Campbell - reviewed by John Hitchen
This is an updated history of the 51st (Highland) Division during the Great War.
Collins of the Sydney: the life of Vice-Admiral Sir John Collins by Anthony Macdougall - reviewed by Ian Pfennigwerth
The is a biography of Vice-Admiral Sir John Augustine Collins, KBE, CB, RAN.
Vietnam's final air campaign: Operation Linebacker I & II, May - December 1972 by Stephen Emerson - reviewed by Bob Treloar
This book describes a United States air campaign in North Vietnam in 1972.
Allied coastal forces of World War II. Volume 1: Fairmile designs and US submarine chasers by John Lambert and Al Ross - reviewed by David Leece
Herein are technical details of the Fairmile-designed small warships used in World War II.
Frederick Whirlpool VC: the hidden Victoria Cross by Alan Leek - reviewed by Sergio Zampatti
This is a biography an Irishman awarded the Victoria Cross during the Indian Mutiny in 1858.
The sniper encyclopaedia: an A-Z guide to world sniping by John Walter - reviewed by David Leece
This encyclopaedia addresses each of the main components of the sniping art.
The Frontier Light Horse in the Anglo-Zulu War 1879: an irregular regiment on campaign by Cameron Simpson - reviewed by Brad Manera
This is a history of the Frontier Light Horse, a South African unit, in the Zulu War of 1879.
Mapmakers of Fortuna: a history of the Army Survey Regiment by Valerie Lovejoy - reviewed by Ken Broadhead
This is a history of Australia's Army Survey Regiment from 1932 to 1996.

Cover

A member of the Japanese Self Defence Force reconnoitring King's Beach near Bowen, Queensland, during Exercise Talisman Sabre 19 on 21 July 2019. The importance of being able to conduct amphibious operations with allies in our neighbourhood is emphasised in the editorial. [Photo: Lance Corporal Tanner D. Lambert, United States Marine Corps].

 United Service, Volume 70, Number 2, June 2019

Winter 2019 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirety using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute News

National President's Column - Anker Brodersen

Opinion

Editorial: Islamic and white supremacist terrorism in our region - David Leece and Ian Pfennigwerth
Letter:
Defence and political developments in Indonesia - Ian Ingleby

Institute Proceedings

Assessing Australia's bargaining power in the United States alliance at a time of regional power shift - Thomas Wilkins
The advent of the Trump Presidency, coupled with the rise of China, has put considerable strains on the ANZUS alliance between Australia and the United States. Wilkins presents a methodology for assessing Australia's putative bargaining power within the alliance, demonstrates how Australia's position has been weakened overall by Trump and China, and proposes options for Australia going forward.
Task Group Afghanistan 2018: a commander's perspective - Peter Connor
The commander of Australia's task group in Afghanistan from November 2017 to September 2018, Brigadier Peter Connor, describes the geostrategic context in which the task group operated, the functions it performed, some of the more significant events, and operations undertaken. He concludes with his observations on the experience.
The tragedy of Korea - Michael Pembroke
Pembroke traces the history of Korea in the 20th century from its occupation by Japan from 1910 to 1945; through its military occupation by the Soviet Union and the United States in 1945 and the formation of two states, North Korea and South Korea, in 1948; to the war from 1950 to 1953, which started as a civil war and became a global conflict, with China supporting the North and the United States and its allies, the South. The war ended in an armistice.

Contributed Essay

Some myths relating to the promotion to field marshal of Sir Thomas Blamey in 1950 - David Deasey
General Sir Thomas Blamey who, during World War II, had been commander-in-chief of the Australian Military Forces and, concurrently, commander of the Allied Land Forces in the South West Pacific Area, was recalled from retirement in 1950 and promoted to field marshal. Recent research in the Australian archives has revealed that the accepted story surrounding his promotion contained several myths, including that the British War Office resisted the promotion.

Book Reviews

Base nation: how U.S. military bases abroad harm America and the World by David Vine - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Base Nation examines the social and economic impacts that 800 United States overseas bases have on the communities and countries where they are located.
War by Gwynne Dyer - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This modern classic is one of the most compelling analyses of the history and psychology of armed conflict throughout the ages. It is more relevant than Clausewitz or Sun Tzu.
Flesh and steel during the Great War: the transformation of the French Army and the invention of modern warfare by Michel Goya - reviewed by David Leece
Flesh and Steel describes the transformation of the French army from a 19th Century force in 1914 to arguably the 'most modern army in the world' by 1918.
"The man who took the rap": Sir Robert Brooke- Popham and the fall of Singapore by Peter Dye - reviewed by Bob Treloar
This is a biography of Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham whose career spanned the development of air power from 1912 to 1938. The fall of Singapore was a footnote.
Total onslaught: war and revolution in southern Africa since 1945 by Paul Moorcraft - reviewed by Ken Broadhead
This book is about the conflicts in southern Africa which followed World War II and which have continued to a greater or lesser extent in different countries up to the present.
Red star over the Pacific: China's rise and the challenge to US maritime strategy by Toshi Yoshihara & James R. Holmes - reviewed by Ian Pfennigwerth
This book assesses how the rise of Chinese sea power will affect U.S maritime strategy in Asia. It examines the PLA Navy's operational concepts, tactics and capabilities.

Cover

Australian Army Corporal Sam Kirley of Force Protection Element 10, Kabul Garrison Command, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on 7 April 2019. Brigadier Peter Connor, who commanded Australia's Task Group in Afghanistan in 2017-2018, shares his experiences beginning on p. 9. [Photo: Corporal Chris Beerens, Department of Defence].

 United Service, Volume 70, Number 1, March 2019

Autumn 2019 CoverThis issue of United Service was not published in paper form. It is available for download in its entirity using this LINK.

ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute News

President's Column - Paul Irving

Opinion

Editorial: Indonesia, the TNI and regional security - David Leece
Letters:
The significance of the Battle of Jutland - James Ayliffe
Robotics in future land warfare - Denis Ashly Ross
Robotics in future land warfare - Rob Atkinson
Robotics in future land warfare - Marcus Fielding

Institute Proceedings

Protecting Australia's sea routes - Jonathan Mead
The Australian Fleet is central to the attainment of Australia's three key strategic interests. In 2018, Fleet units and task groups deployed in support of these strategic interests throughout the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Fleet capabilities also are being upgraded and expanded, with the introduction of unmanned aerial systems to the Fleet, and, looking forward, with new classes of both frigates and offshore patrol vessels to be acquired.
The extended war on the Eastern Front, 1918-1925: the Russian Intervention - Bryce Fraser
Conflict in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Middle East, over issues which plagued the region at the end of the Great War, continues to this day. Although considered insignificant by some historians and overshadowed by the gigantic scale of warfare during the two World Wars, the Russian Intervention was substantial and Australians played a significant role in it, two winning the Victoria Cross and one the Distinguished Service Order.
Post-war operations in the Middle East - David Deasey
The Australian Imperial Force's involvement in the Great War in the Middle East Theatre did not end with the Armistice of Mudros on 30 October 1918. There was order to be maintained in occupied territories until civil government was re-constituted. This involved the Australians in law-enforcement actions in Syria, southern Turkey, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Kurdistan and Gallipoli. Most Australians were repatriated home by the end of 1919.
Australia's role in the Treaty of Versailles and its effects on the post-war Pacific - Colin Baker
Dr Baker summarises the traditional view of the Treaty of Versailles as taught in Australian schools, outlines his recent research, and describes Australia's foreign policy during the Great War, especially the role played by our prime minster, William Morris Hughes, at the peace conference. He concludes that the sins of Versailles were not all the fault of the European powers - as far as the Pacific was concerned, Australia was more than complicit.

Obituary

Major General G. L. Maitland, AO, OBE, RFD, ED (Ret'd) - David Leece
Gordon Lindsay Maitland was an Honorary Life Member and Councillor Emeritus of the Institute who had served as its President from 1995 - 1998.

Book Reviews

The unit guide: the Australian Army 1939-1945 by Graham McKenzie-Smith - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
The Unit Guide, in a six-volume boxed set, contains more than 5500 profiles of units in the Australian Army during World War II. Each profile covers what is known of the unit's formation, role, organisation, movements, operations and place in the Army's hierarchy.
Australia's first spies: the remarkable story of Australia's intelligence operations, 1901-45 by John Fahey - reviewed by Ian Pfennigwerth
This book deals with the origins and development of Australia's intelligence services from Federation to 1945 and reveals the birth of Australia's political intelligence capabilities.
Beyond the beach: the allied war against France by Stephen Alan Bourque - reviewed by Bob Treloar
Beyond the Beach describes the Allied bombing of German forces in France during World War II, addressing both the strategic bombing campaign and the tactical support of the Allied invasion.
Daesh: Islamic State's holy war by Anthony Tucker-Jones - reviewed by David Leece
Daesh describes the rise and fall of Islamic State's caliphate in Iraq and Syria and also the global spread of franchise terrorism under the Islamic State (Daesh) banner between 2006 and 2017.

Cover

A Royal Australian Navy Bluebottle unmanned surface vessel operating in Jervis Bay during exercise Autonomous Warrior 2018, an exercise designed to examine the potential of robotic, autonomous and uninhabited systems, in support of Defence operations in coastal environments. Rear Admiral Jonathan Meade discusses fleet operations in this issue [Photo: ABIS Steven Thomson, Department of Defence].

 United Service, Volume 69, Number 4, December 2018

Summer 2018 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute News

National President's Column - Anker Brodersen

Opinion

Editorial: Australia's Defence Policy - David Leece
Letters: Middle powers and competition with China - Denis Ross and Bryn Evans

Institute Proceedings

Challenge and opportunity: robotics and autonomy as part of future land warfare - Kathryn Toohey
The use of advanced and networked technologies on the battlefield is increasing and future warfighting is expected to focus on human-machine teams both in the physical and virtual sense. Army is examining how robotic and autonomous systems (RAS) can be ethically exploited, leveraging emerging RAS to gain asymmetric advantage. This paper explores both the opportunities and the challenges.
North Korea and its interactions with China and the United States - Sam Roggeveen
Given North Korea's development of intercontinental ballistic missiles coupled with the rise of China, Mr Roggeveen argues that the United States has a strategic choice: either to have North Korea give up its capability to threaten American cities with nuclear weapons; or to maintain an American military presence in South Korea. It cannot have both, and, unless it negotiates with Pyongyang, it may end up with neither.
The Kremlin looking east - Russia's interests in the Asia-Pacific - Jacqueline Westermann
Driven by its own national, economic, geopolitical and strategic interests, including a desire to counter-balance United States influence and become a global power, Russia is pursuing diplomatic and economic opportunities across the Asia-Pacific. Russia's increasing regional involvement, though, could lead to regional power struggles and Australia might find itself in direct competition with Russia in Australia's backyard.

Contributed History Essay

Two blockades and a battle: the significance of the Battle of Jutland - Josh Abbey
The Battle of Jutland demonstrated the inability of the German High Seas Fleet to break the Royal Navy's blockade of Germany, so was a strategic victory for the British. Unrestricted submarine warfare was Germany's attempt to wage a similar blockade against Britain, but ultimately failed. It was a contributing factor to America's decision to enter into the war and became part of the chain of events that contributed to Germany's eventual defeat.

Book Reviews

Australians on the Western Front 1918, Volume Two: Spearheading the great British offensiveby David W. Cameron - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
In this volume, Cameron tells the story of Australian troops on the Western Front from May to November 1918. He covers Monash's taking command of the Australian Corps; and the battles of Hamel, Amiens, Mont St Quentin-Péronne, and the Hindenburg Line.
Directorate S: the C.I.A. and America's secret wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2001-2016 by Steve Coll - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Directorate S is the section of the Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence agency that is responsible for covert operations. Coll argues that Directorate S is 'the heart of the problem' in Afghanistan. The book is likely to become a seminal reference for future historians.
Hamel 4th July 1918: the Australian and American victory by John Hughes-Wilson - reviewed by David Leece
The small (by Great War standards) experimental battle at le Hamel near Amiens in northern France on 4 July 1918, led by the Australian Corps demonstrated and evaluated the emerging British approach to how the stalemate of trench warfare could be broken.
Palestine diaries: the Light Horsemen's own story, battle by battle by Jonathan King - reviewed by Bob Treloar
Palestine Diaries is a truly remarkable account of the Australian Light Horse deployed to the Middle East and the battles it fought from the Sinai to Damascus from 1916 to 1918. It provides the reader with a strategic overview of the Middle East campaign.
Always at war: organisational culture in Strategic Air Command, 1946-62 by Melville G. Deaile - reviewed by Bob Treloar
Always at War is an historical account of the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command, including its organisational development, culture and behaviours, and the standards and ethics that were imprinted on the Command by a strong, personal and uncompromising leadership.
How everything became war and war became everything: tales from the Pentagon by Rosa Brooks - reviewed by David Leece
In the United States, "9/11" has led to expansion of the military's role into areas traditionally the prerogative of civilian foreign affairs, national security and law enforcement agencies; accompanied by stretching/breaking of the international laws of armed conflict.

Cover

A North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) which was launched on 4 July 2017. Sam Roggeveen (above) describes America's strategic choices now that North Korea has an ICMB capability. [Photo: released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on 6 July 2017 - AFP photo/KCNA via KNS].

 United Service, Volume 69, Number 3, September 2018

Spring 2018 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute News

President's Column - Paul Irving

Opinion

Editorial: Competing with China - David Leece
Sub-Editorial: Middle powers and their strategic relationships - David Leece

Institute Proceedings

Countering violent extremism in Australia - Julian Droogan
Low technology, high impact violent extremist events are on the rise around the world. Australia has in place a programme to counter violent extremism which stresses deradicalisation, social cohesion and resilience. An incident in Sydney in 2014 showed the society was highly resilient. It has led to strengthening community partnerships to further enhance that resilience.
The Battle of Le Hamel, 4 July 1918: the blueprint for future allied attacks on the Western Front - Peter Sweeney
The attack by the Australian Corps on the German-held village of Le Hamel on 4 July 1918 secured an important allied foothold in the Somme valley forward of the vital town of Amiens. 01 greater long-term significance than the tactical victory was the manner of its planning and execution. It became a blueprint for subsequent combined-arms attacks.

Book Reviews

Arnhem: the battle for the bridges, 1944 by Anthony Beevor - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Beevor demolishes myths. His assessments are informed and balanced - highly recommended.
The culture of war by Martin van Creveld - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This is a major work on the evolution of the culture of war over the ages and the importance of that culture to the modern political scientist, strategist and soldier alike.
Missing in action: Australia's World War I Grave Services, an astonishing story of misconduct, fraud and hoaxing by Marianne van Velzen - reviewed by Ian Pfennigwerth
Northern France and Flanders contain thousands of headstones in military cemeteries. Van Velzen has revealed a great part of the story of how the soldiers' remains got there.
Combat Colonels of the AIF in the Great War by David Clare Holloway - reviewed by Ken Broadhead
Holloway has produced an invaluable reference on the men who, in the first Australian Imperial Force, commanded combat units.
A bit on the side: price fixing, rationing, profiteering and black markets in Australia and Britain, 1939-1945 by Michael Tyquin - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This book explores theft, price fixing, rationing, profiteering and black markets in Australia, while making relevant comparisons to the British experience.
Traitors: how Australia and its Allies betrayed our ANZACs and let Nazi and Japanese war criminals go free by Frank Walker - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This is a collection of stories from World War II about war crimes and acts of moral ambiguity allegedly committed by service people, governments, banks and multinational companies.
Why we fight by Mike Martin - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Why do humans fight? Morality, religion and ideology often take the blame. Martin, however, argues that the motivation to fight comes from the pursuit of social status and belonging.
The first Nazi: Erich Ludendorff - the man who made Hitler possible by Will Brownell and Denise Drace-Brownell with Alex Rovt - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
By 1916, General Erich Ludendorff had become de facto dictator of Germany and, after Germany's defeat, laid the foundations for Nazi ideology and World War II.
High in the sunlight silence: the story of fifty trainee pilots, RAAF Narromine NSW, December 1941 by Commander Tony Vine RANR - reviewed by Bob Treloar
This is a biography of each of 50 men who trained together at Narromine in 1941-42. It describes their training and subsequent operational experiences.
The decline of European naval forces: challenges to sea power in an age of fiscal austerity and political uncertainty by Jeremy Stohs - reviewed by Ian Pfennigwerth
Since the end of the Cold War, 11 major European countries have reduced their navies to near operational impotence, reliant on the United States to protect them on and from the sea.

Cover

A C-17 A Globemaster aircraft of No.. 36 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, unloading three power generators on Norfolk Island's airfield on 19 July 2018 after a 1400km journey from the Australian mainland. The generators will replace Norfolk Island's current power supply units. [Photo: Corporal Colin Dodd, Department of Defence].

 United Service, Volume 69, Number 2, June 2018

Winter 2018 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute News

National President's Column - Simon Cullen
Institute and Defence News

Opinion

Editorial: China flexes its muscles in the South China Sea, Indian Ocean and the South Pacific - David Leece

Institute Proceedings

Australia and Trump's America: problems and perspectives - James Curran
Curran examines the nature of Australia's response to Donald Trump's first year in the White House. Questioning Canberra's emphasis on sentimentalism, he says Canberra needs to come to terms with a changed America. He also assesses the ongoing debate within America on the direction of United States foreign policy and concludes that close allies need to re-think their perception of American staying power.
The Australian Border Force - Mandy Newton
The Australian Border Force has been established to protect Australia's border and enable legitimate travel and trade. It is making rapid progress toward a more seamless border across which the majority of legitimate migrants, travellers and traders can move without unnecessary delay, but where transgression and non-compliance can be readily detected, thereby focusing intervention efforts on the non-compliant.
Prophecy, policy and practice: air power between the world wars. Part 1. Strategic air power and Part 2. Air power in conventional warfare and asymmetric conflicts - Michael Molkentin
Between the Great War and World War II, air power theory and practice evolved as did aviation technology. This paper reviews the context for these developments and the resulting changes in the employment of air power strategically during the inter-war period.

Contributed History Paper

The guns of August 1918: the Allied counter- offensive in the Somme Sector - Marcus Fielding After halting the German spring offensive by July 1918, the Allies launched a major counter-offensive. On 8 August, 31 divisions began what would become series of attacks over several weeks in the Somme sector. Applying tactics that had been learned over years of war, they tore a great hole in the German lines and, by the end of August, had driven the German Army back to the Hindenburg Line, causing the German Army's morale to collapse

Book Reviews

Anzac girls: the extraordinary story of our World War I nurses by Peter Rees - reviewed byPriscilla Leece
By the end of the Great War, 45 Australian and New Zealand nurses had died on overseas service and over 200 had been decorated. The book provides a unique snapshot into the lives of the nurses while they were on active service and post-war.
Secret army: an elite force, a secret mission,a fleet of Model-T Fords, a far flung corner ofWorld War I by Barry Stone - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Secret Army tells the story of 'Dunsterforce', raised in late 1917 and tasked to organise local pro-British units in northern Iran and southern Caucasus to replace the Tsarist armies that had been fighting the Ottoman forces in Armenia.
Australians on the Western Front 1918. Volume One: Resisting the Great German Offensive by David W. Cameron - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This is the first in a two-part series. It tells of Australian troops on the Western Front in March-April 1918, who halted the German advances on the Somme saving Amiens and further north at Hazebrouck, saving the Channel Ports.
Hu 1968: a turning point of the American war in Vietnam by Mark Bowden - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Hu 1968 is the story of the centrepiece of the Tet Offensive and a turning point in the American war in Vietnam. Through his scrupulous day-by-day reconstruction of the battle, Bowden encapsulates the essential lessons of the Vietnam War.
The road not taken: Edward Lansdale and the American tragedy in Vietnam by Mark Boot - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
The Road Not Taken is a biography of the adventurous life of CIA operative Edward Lansdale. It challenges our understanding of the Vietnam War - particularly the reasons why United States policy evolved as it did during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Cover

Australian Border Force (ABF) cutter Cape Wessel on patrol near the Saumarez Reefs on the Coral Sea shelf. As Deputy Commissioner Mandy Newton explains, the ABF Marine Unit operates a fleet of eight ABF Cape-class patrol boats in the protection of Australia's border [Photo: Department of Home Affairs].

 United Service, Volume 69, Number 1, March 2018

Autumn 2018 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute News

President's Column - Paul Irving

Opinion

Comment: Australia's relations with China and the United States - Chris Skinner
Letter: Deriving a defence strategy for Australia - Marcus Fielding

Institute Proceedings

2017 Sir Hermann Black Lecture: the year in review - Peter Hartcher
Mr Hartcher examines five key features of the strategic character of the world in 2017 and comments on their significance for Australia's national security: China's attempts to 'shape' the Australian polity - finally being resisted; terrorism, including its manifestation in our neighbourhood; Russia's mastery and use of cyber warfare; the ongoing global failure to adequately address climate change; and the changing ecology of geopolitics in the Trump era.
Counter-terrorism in Australia - Jacinta Carroll
2017 has been a game changer in terms of terrorism. This paper describes the international terrorist landscape in 2017 and Australia's response, explaining where we are, how we got there, and where we are headed. The response is illustrated by recent cases studies. Carroll concludes that Australia is well-placed to continue to pre-empt and meet the terrorism challenge.

Contributed History Papers

The Ottoman Empire's campaign in the Sinai Peninsula, Palestine and Syria - Marcus Fielding Marcus Fielding summarises the Ottoman Empires' First World War campaign in the Sinai, Palestine and Syria, which included raids on the Suez Canal, the defence of the GazaBeersheba line and key battles at Katia, Romani, Magdhaba, Jerusalem and Megiddo. He critically examines the relationships between key German and Ottoman leaders and concludes that, although defeated by the Allies, the Turkish soldiers ended the war with their reputation as fighting men intact.
Operation Olympic: the proposed invasion of Kyushu in 1945 - Alan H. Smith The Allied powers expected that World War II in the Pacific would not conclude until the Japanese mainland had been invaded. Planning for this invasion began in 1944 and was intended to proceed in two stages: the amphibious invasion of the island of Kyushu, followed by the amphibious invasion of the island of Honshu. This paper describes the planning for Operation Olympic, the proposed invasion of Kyushu, which the Allies had scheduled for November 1945.

Book Reviews

Rallying the troops: a World War I commemoration.
Volume II: Enlist now - forward to victory and
Volume III: Will you help?
edited by Kathie Reith, Allan Rost, Janet Turner, Jackie van Bergen and Dave Wilkins - reviewed by Russell Linwood
The Ku-ring-gai Historical Society from northern Sydney has commemorated its community's contribution to the Great War in a four-volume series. Volume II (dealing with the campaigns and battles commencing in 1916 in the Middle East and on the Western Front) and Volume III (dealing with those commencing in 1917 on the Western Front) are reviewed.
Stealth Raiders: a few daring men in 1918 by Lucas Jordan - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
A comprehensive and vivid exploration of the audaciousunauthorised and stealthy attacks by seasoned infantrymen on the front line, Stealth Raiders showcases the ingenuity of diggers of the Australian Imperial Force at the peak of their powers.

Cover

HMAS Adelaide, an amphibious assault ship (LHD), crossing the Timor Sea to deliver a mobile hospital to Dili, Timor Leste, as part of a multi-national humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise, a component of Exercise Pacific Endeavour 2017. An Australian Defence Force joint task group participated in a series of key military exercises throughout the Indo-Pacific region from September to November 2017, focused on enhancing military co-operation among key regional partners, including Australia, Indonesia, Japan, India, Malaysia, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Brunei, Timor-Leste, Thailand, Cambodia and the Federated States of Micronesia. In his paper Peter Hartcher emphases the importance of strengthening such regional alliances given the ecology of geopolitics in the Trump era. [Photo: LSIS Peter Thompson, Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 68, Number 4, December 2017

Summer 2017 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute News

National President's Column - Simon Cullen

Defence News

M777A2 155mm Lightweight Towed Howitzer - Department of Defence

Opinion

Editorials: Radical Islamism in Southeast Asia - David Leece
North Korea's ICBM - David Leece
Letters

Institute Proceedings

Australia's need for a new defence strategy - Paul Dibb
Australia is facing its most serious strategic situation since World War II. Serious threats to Australia are now identifiable. Australia's 2016 defence white paper needs revision.
The future of Australian defence strategy - Adam Lockyer
Lockyer evaluates the strategic options advanced by four leading Australian scholars and proposes a new Australian defence strategy.

Contributed History Notes

Wing Commander Noel Constantine: a great Australian - Bryn Evans Constantine, a war hero, was shot down while flying a humanitarian mission in 1947.
Commemoration of the sinking of Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-124 - Tom Lewis On 20 January 1942, Japanese submarine I-124 was sunk by HMAS Deloraine.

Book Reviews

Hero or deserter? Gordon Bennett and the tragic defeat of the 8th Division by Roger Maynard - reviewed by Ken Broadhead
8th Australian Division's 1942 surrender and the escape of its commander are re-analysed.
The shipwreck hunter: a lifetime of extraordinary discovery and adventure in the deep seas by David L. Mearns - reviewed by Ian Pfennigwerth
Mearns has discovered some of the world's most fascinating and elusive shipwrecks.
Monash and Chauvel: how Australia's two greatest generals changed the course of world history by Roland Perry - reviewed by David Leece
This is a biography of the two Australian corps commanders of the Great War.
Training for war: the history of Headquarters 1st Division 1914-2014 by Michael Tyquin - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This is a history of Headquarters 1st Division, Australian Army.
The mind of Islamic State by Robert Manne - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Manne shows how Islamic State's worldview evolved.
Soldiers and Gentlemen: Australian battalion commanders in the Great War, 1914-1918 by William Westerman - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This book examines the battalion commanders' background and conduct.
Guarding the periphery: the Australian Army in Papua New Guinea, 1951-75 by Tristan Moss - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This book explores the Army's experiences in PNG before independence.
In their time of need: Australian overseas emergency relief operations 1918 - 2006 by Steven Bullard - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This official history documents Australian humanitarian deployments, 1918-2006.
The unseen Anzac: how an enigmatic polar explorer created Australia's World War I photographs by Jeff Maynard - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
his is a biography of Sir George Hubert Wilkins.

Cover

United States Army paratroopers jump from a C-17 Globemaster into Shoalwater Bay Training Area on 13 July 2017 during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2017. The need to review Australia's defence strategy, including the American alliance, is raised by Paul Dibb (pp. 9-11) and Adam Lockyer (pp. 12-16). [Photo: Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 68, Number 3, September 2017

Winter 2017 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute News

President's Column - Paul Irving

Opinion

Editorial: China's employment of soft power - David Leece
Letter: Response to National President - David Watts
Letter: Masters of Strategy - Marcus Fielding

Institute Proceedings

Command and control of air power - Gavin Turnbull
Air Vice-Marshal Turnbull outlines the evolution of the command and control of Western air power over the past century, emphasising the importance of centralised control and, to this end, the need for an Air Component Commander and an Aerospace Operations Centre in any unified joint or combined command arrangement. He describes the command and control system currently used in Australia.
21st century border security - John Coyne
The 'all-hazards' approach has broadened the scope of national security so as to embrace transnational migration, cyber-crime and terrorism. Basic assumptions about geographically-defined national borders are changing. Strategists are being challenged to think beyond 'detect and disrupt' border security operations and to perceive the border as a national security vector. Countries are being polarised between militarisation and securitisation methodologies. A border security strategy must be integrated within a whole-of-government national security strategy.
The Battle of the Coral Sea, May 1942 - Peter Sweeney
The Battle of the Coral Sea, 4-8 May 1942, was fought between combined United States and Australian naval forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was the world's first sea battle between aircraft carriers. It was also the first naval battle in which opposing ships neither saw nor fired on each other. It ended in the Japanese Port Moresby invasion fleet turning back to Rabaul.

Contributed Paper

The Third Battle of Gaza, October-November 1917 - Christopher Dawson
The Egyptian Expeditionary Force campaign in 1917 was against two Ottoman armies holding the heavily-fortified Gaza-Beersheba line which blocked access from Sinai into Palestine. After two failed attacks against Gaza in the spring, a third attempt in autumn involved manoeuvre around the open eastern flank of the line at Beersheba. Third Gaza, overall, was a well-planned and well-executed battle. By its conclusion, the road to Jerusalem lay open.

Book Reviews

General Giulio Douhet's seminal work, The Command of the Air (1921), and its sequels, The Probable Aspects of The War of The Future (1928), Recapitulation (1929), and The War of 19-- (1930), are foundational lessons for air power students, strategists and enthusiasts.
The charge: the Australian Light Horse victory at Beersheba by David W. Cameron - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
The Battle of Beersheba on 31 October 1917 was part of the Third Battle of Gaza. The final phase of this all-day battle was the famous mounted charge of the 4th Light Horse Brigade which seized the strategic town of Beersheba. The Charge commemorates its 100th anniversary.
Rallying the troops: a World War I commemoration. Volume 1: The trumpet calls edited by Kathie Reith, Janet Turner, Jackie van Bergen and Dave Wilkins - reviewed by Russell Linwood
This is the first volume of an intended four-volume series by the Ku-Ring-Gai Historical Society to commemorate their shire's contribution to World War I. This first volume examines how prospective soldiers from their area were rallied to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force.
Destroy and build: pacification in Phuoc Thuy, 1966-1972 by Thomas Richardson - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Destroy and Build explores the policy and practice of 'pacification' conducted by the 1st Australian Task Force in Vietnam between 1966 and 1972. The pacification campaign included military, economic, social and political efforts to prevent Vietnam 'falling' to Communism.
The AIF in battle: how the Australian Imperial Force fought, 1914-1918 edited by Jean Bou - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This book brings together some of Australia's foremost military historians to outline how the AIF became battle-winning troops by 1918. It is highly recommended to those interested in the evolution of Australian military capability between 1914 and 1918.

Cover

'Bushmaster' protected mobility vehicles carrying infantrymen from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, travel in convoy at Shoalwater Bay Training Area, North Queensland, during Exercise Talisman Sabre in July 2017. A century after the iconic Battle of Beersheba (see Chris Dawson's paper and the book review) mounted infantry continue to contribute to Australia's defence. [Photo: Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 68, Number 2, June 2017

Winter 2017 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute News

National President's Column - Simon Cullen

Opinion

Should we sharpen the Shortfin Barracuda's teeth? - Ian Wolfe
The 2016 Sir Hermann Black lecture: the year in review - Bryn Evans
Masters of strategy - Bryn Evans

Institute Proceedings

The return of Mars and Minerva: the art of war and professional military education - Daniel Marston
Professor Marston discusses the role of applied military history (the art of war) in professional military education and then describes the development of the art of war in British, United States and Australian staff colleges since 2001.
The South Pacific and Melanesia: a strategic update - Rhea Matthews
Ms Matthews reviews the current strategic situation in the Pacific Islands, identifies key challenges the Islanders face, focuses on Melanesia's power houses (Fiji and Papua New Guinea), highlights Australia's relative loss of influence in the region and the growing influence of Russia and China, and suggests ways that Australia might regain some of its lost influence.
Sun Tzu to Gi p: masters of strategy and their contemporary relevance - David Leece
Dr Leece presents a brief summary of the career, seminal writings and main ideas of each of eight historic masters of strategy and then discusses their contemporary relevance. He concludes that, despite massive advances in technology, each of the masters still has lessons for the 21st century strategist.
Preserving Australia's military aviation heritage - Michael Hough
Australia's military aviation history is being preserved in three official and eight private museums, several of which focus on flying historic aircraft. The Historical Aircraft Restoration Society is one example. Military aircraft preservation, however, faces personnel, equipment, legal, financial and other challenges; and the Institute could assist by developing and storing the aural and visual history of ADF aviators.

Book Reviews

The dust of Uruzgan by Fred Smith - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This is part memoir, part history, and part reflections of an Australian diplomat working at the multinational base in Tarin Kowt and from a forward operating base in the Chora Valley in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, in 2009 and 2014.
Passchendaele: requiem for doomed youth by Paul Ham - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Passchendaele, July to November 1917, epitomises everything that was most terrible about the Western Front. As we approach the 100th anniversary, Paul Ham has attempted a new understanding of a campaign that has inspired so much passionate debate.
Flagship: the cruiser HMAS Australia II and the Pacific war on Japan by Michael Carlton - reviewed by Dominique Spoelder
Mike Carlton's knack for tapping into the heart of Australian naval history is notable, and his history of HMAS Australia II is evocative and engaging, carrying a kinetic momentum of both the stimulating narrative and the restrained accuracy of an historical account.
The battle of Long Tan: Australia's four hours of hell in Vietnam by David W. Cameron - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This book marks the 50th anniversary of the battle of Long Tan, one of Australia's most significant battles during the Vietnam War. It is a well-written, high-quality product and highly recommended to those with an interest in Australian military history.
Allenby's gunners: artillery in the Sinai and Palestine campaigns 1916-1918 by Alan H. Smith - reviewed by Tim Ford
Allenby's Gunners tells the story of artillery in the successful World War I Sinai and Palestine campaigns. All those interested in the Middle East campaigns of World War I, and particularly the development of gunnery and the use of the Desert Mounted Corps, will enjoy this book.
Grunt: the curious science of humans at war by Mary Roach - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
In Grunt, best-selling author Mary Roach tackles the science behind some of a soldier's most challenging adversaries - panic, exhaustion, heat, noise. Engrossing, insightful and laugh-out-loud funny, Grunt is a fascinating ride to the wilder shores of modern military life.

Cover

A United States Air Force F-22 Raptor, a fifth-generation fighter- interceptor, puts on a magnificent aerial display at the 2017 Australian International Air Show in March. David Leece discusses Giulio Douhet's concepts of air power in this edition. [Photo: Corporal Craig Barrett, Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 68, Number 1, March 2017

Autumn 2017 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute News

President's Column - Paul Irving

Opinion

Editorial: Towards a new American isolationism? - David Leece

Institute Proceedings

The 2016 Sir Hermann Black Lecture: the year in review - David Leece
2016 was characterised inter alia by a confident, assertive China; the United States stepping back from its global leadership; autocratic, nationalistic and hegemonic leaders in Russia, Turkey, Iran, and China; weak liberal democracies in the West; civil wars in the Middle East; the contraction of Islamic State's caliphate; and terrorism globally. The year ended with the global outlook very uncertain and Australia needing to reassess its defence needs.
Defence industry: a fundamental input to defence capability - Chris Jenkins
Through its 2016 Defence white paper and its accompanying defence industry policy statement, the Australian government has changed the way it engages with Australia's defence industry. Chris Jenkins describes these changes and how defence industry is responding, using his own company as an example.
Maritime strategy and Australia's future in an Asia-Pacific century - Michael Evans
Despite being the world's largest island, Australia lacks a maritime consciousness. In a globalised world increasingly dominated by Asian economic and military power, Australian defence thinking must undergo a philosophical change. A credible maritime narrative and strategy need to be developed.

Book Reviews

The shot by Gary Ramage with Mark Abernethy - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Gary Ramage, a former infantry soldier, is one of Australia's best known war photographers. The Shot is a biography of his life and achievements to date.
Australia's American alliance edited by Peter J. Dean, Stephan Frühling and Brendan Taylor - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
The Australia - United States (US) alliance has been crucial to Australian foreign and defence policy since 1951. This book focuses on Australian perspectives and policy choices.
Honour denied: Teddy Sheean, a Tasmanian hero ... and other brave warriors of the Royal Australian Navy by Dr Tom Lewis - reviewed by Ian Pfennigwerth
This book outlines the early life and subsequent naval career of Edward Sheean, who went down with HMAS Armidale in 1942 in the Timor Sea while still firing his anti-aircraft gun.
Air battle For Burma: allied pilots' fight for supremacy by Bryn Evans - reviewed by Bob Treloar
This is a well-researched history of the air war over Burma in Wold War II. An engaging and informative read, it is also an exciting account of the air battle and of the men who fought it.
Dreadful lady over the Mekong Delta: an analysis of RAAF Canberra operations in the Vietnam War by Bob Howe - reviewed by Doug Roser
This book gives the context for and analyses the operations of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Canberra bombers in the Vietnam conflict.
The assassination complex: inside the government's secret drone warfare programme by Jeremy Scahill and the staff of The Intercept - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This book reveals the United States government's drone [armed remotely-piloted aircraft] programme and America's policy in prosecuting the war against terrorists.
Modern snipers by Leigh Neville - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This is an account of 21st century sniping. Since 9/11, there have been major changes in the way snipers are employed and a rapid evolution in their weapons, equipment and training.
The good neighbour: Australian peace support operations in the Pacific Islands, 1980-2006. Volume 5. Official history of peacekeeping, humanitarian and post-cold war operations by Bob Breen - reviewed by Marcus Fielding ..
This book records Australia's efforts to support peace in the Pacific Islands from 1980 to 2006, including the deployment of Australian diplomatic, military and policing resources.
Bravo Zulu: honours and awards to Australian naval people Volume 1: 1900 - 1974 by Ian Pfennigwerth - reviewed by Tom Frame
Bravo Zulu (meaning 'well done' in naval parlance) catalogues the honours and awards made to Australian naval personnel between 1900 and 1974.
Billy: My life as a teenage POW by Lynette Silver and Billy Young - reviewed by Ken Broadhead
Billy recounts the life of a World War II Australian soldier, Private Billy Young, who fought in the Battle for Malaya and Singapore; and then became a prisoner of the Japanese.

Cover

HMAS Ballarat's MH-60R Seahawk helicopter is seen winching a passenger from the flight deck. Ballarat, an Anzac-class frigate, was transiting though Australia's North-West Shelf demonstrating Navy's ability to protect Australia's borders and offshore maritime interests. Australia's need for a better defined maritime strategy is discussed by Professor Michael Evans [Photo: Department of Defence].

 United Service, Volume 67, Number 4, December 2016

Summer 2016 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute News

National President's Column - Simon Cullen

Opinion

Editorial: Pivots, tilts and 'brexits' in the Indo-Pacific Region - David Leece
Sub-Editorial: Australia's pivot to Melanesia - Rhea Matthews

Institute Proceedings

Raising and training the Australian Army - Peter ('Gus') Gilmore
With Plan Beersheba now well into implementation and generating one of three combat brigades, in rotation, always ready for operations, Forces Command's priorities are shifting to preparedness, modernisation and resilience. It is seeking to ensure that sophisticated technology, focused preparedness and evolved resilience combine to optimise the output it can deliver in the defence of Australia's interests.
Constraints on the formulation of Australian defence policy - Neil James
Mr James' duties with the Australia Defence Association have afforded him privileged access within the higher reaches of the Australian Defence Organisation for nearly 13 years. Such sustained access is uncommon and through it he has gained valuable insights into the formulation of Australian defence policy. Here he enunciates 10 major influences with which policy analysts and others involved in defence policy formulation must contend.
The Anglo-French 1916 Somme Campaign was the major element in a series of simultaneous Allied offensives coordinated by the French designed to eventually destroy the German and Austrian armies by attrition. Four Australian infantry divisions contributed to the Allied offensive: 5th at Fromelles; and 1st, 2nd and 4th at Pozi res and Mouquet Farm. A reappraisal of the Somme Campaign, based on research since the official histories were written, is presented.

Contributed History Essay

Dhofar insurgency: lessons not too late for learning - James P. Ayliffe
In the 1960s and 1970s, a communist-inspired insurgency in the Dhofar province of Oman potentially threatened the entire region. Sultan Qaboos, with the aid of British loan and contract officers, prevented a rebel takeover. Here, a former contract officer summarises lessons that may have application to the conduct of future counter-insurgency campaigns.

Book Reviews

On ops: lessons and challenges for the Australian Army since East Timor edited by Tom Frame and Albert Palazzo - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
On Ops critically examines the transformation in the Australian Army since troops were deployed to East Timor in 1999. It addresses the issues from a range of perspectives including: politics and policy, strategy and tactics, intelligence and logistics, health care and ethics.
Command and control: nuclear weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the illusion of safety by Eric Schlosser - Reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Eric Schlosser tells the story of the urgent effort by American scientists, policymakers, and military officers to ensure that tens of thousands of nuclear weapons located around the globe could not be stolen, sabotaged, used without permission, or detonated inadvertently.
Charles Bean: if people really knew: one man's struggle to report the Great War and tell the truth by Ross Coulthart - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Coulthart compares Bean's contribution to Great War literature as a journalist and as an historian. He concludes that Bean was a better historian than journalist. Coulthart, though, is the reverse. Military historians may not find Charles Bean sufficiently objective and balanced.
Anzac Day then and now edited by Tom Frame - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Published on the centenary of the first Anzac Day in 1916, this book is a collection of perspectives on Anzac Day and how it has been marked in Australia. It explores why Anzac Day appears to mean so many different things to different people.

Cover

The Australian Army's new Mark 47 L40-2 lightweight automatic grenade launcher during acceptance and testing trials at Port Wakefield, South Australia, on 2 September 2016 - in this issue, the Forces Commander, Major General 'Gus' Gilmore, describes raising, training, equipping and preparing the Australian Army for operations [Photo: Department of Defence].

 United Service, Volume 67, Number 3, September 2016

Spring 2016 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute News

President's Column - David Leece

Seminar Proceedings

2016 Seminar on Military Strategy: "The strategic significance of cyber and space" - a summary - David Leece
Australia's 2016 Defence White Paper emphasised the threat to government and society posed by warfare in cyberspace and space and enhanced the Defence Force's resourcing for dealing with it. The Institute's 2016 Seminar on Military Strategy examined the strategic significance of cyber and space, assessed the likelihood and effects of warfare in and through these domains, and outlined Australia's response to the threat.
2016 Blamey Oration: The cyber and space domains in 21st century warfare - Steve Meekin
Today, war can be conducted not only on, in or through the land, sea or air, but also through cyberspace and space. This paper describes these newer domains of warfare and details where they fit within Australia's recently released defence policy and cyber security strategy. Australia is increasing its investment in space and cyber capabilities and has the capability to disrupt, deny and degrade the computer networks of malicious cyber actors.
Cyber warfare and its implications for Australia - Clive Lines
Cyber security is a top national security priority for Australia as cyber intrusions are a persistent threat. Herein, Mr Lines differentiates between cyber war/cyber attack and low-level cyber activity; explains their likelihood and effect; and outlines Australia's response.
The Australian response to potential space warfare - Stephen Osborne and Andrew Jolley
Militaries and civilians around the world are becoming critically dependent upon space capabilities, leaving them uncomfortably vulnerable. Warfare in space has the potential to render large parts of the domain unusable, with significant secondary effects in the other physical domains. Australia is investing in space situational awareness, which underpins assured access to space, and supports the strengthening of international norms regarding the responsible use of space.
Training and education for cybersecurity, cyber defence and cyber warfare - Jill Slay
Australia's cybersecurity, cyber defence and cyber war education and training policy is foundational to the establishment, development and enhancement of every other cybersecurity policy. As the threats from advanced technologies rapidly escalate at the global level, Australia will need new mechanisms and agencies to respond, of which an enhanced science, technology, engineering and mathematics approach is a vital one.
Military aspects of cyber warfare - Marcus Thompson
The Australian Defence Force, well-practised in cyber warfare at the strategic level, is developing the capability to engage in cyber warfare at the operational and tactical levels. Here, Marcus Thompson outlines planning considerations; describes the operational and tactical employment of active and passive cyber defence measures; and explains what it takes to be a cyber warrior.

Book Reviews

Stone cold: the extraordinary true story of Len Opie - Australia's deadliest soldier by Andrew Faulkner - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Len Opie carved a reputation as one of the country's fiercest infantrymen through three wars - World War II, Korea and South Vietnam - spanning 30 years. Action-packed, Stone Cold gives rich life to an extraordinary warrior and one of Australia's greatest soldiers.
John Jess, seeker of justice: the role of Parliament in the HMAS Voyager tragedy by Elizabeth McCarthy - reviewed by John Ellis
This biography of federal MP John Jess focuses on the second Royal Commission into the collision between HMA Ships Voyager and Melbourne on 10 February 1964. It will be of great interest to all Australians familiar with the collision and subsequent events.

Cover

An artist's depiction of a United States Air Force early warning satellite - the proceedings of the Institute's 2016 Seminar on Military Strategy, which addressed "The Strategic Significance of Cyber and Space" [Source: United States Air Force Space Command]

 United Service, Volume 67, Number 2, June 2016

Spring 2016 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute News

National President's Column - Brent Espeland

Opinion

Editorial: The strategic outlook and Australia's response - David Leece
Sub-Editorial: The ADF's preparedness for climate change - David Leece
Letter: Royal United Services Institute Libraries - Marcus Fielding

Institute Proceedings

Future challenges for Australia's alliance with the United States - Tom Switzer
The United States alliance has been, is, and will remain, the centrepiece of Australian foreign policy for the foreseeable future. But it will change. For the United States, China is its main strategic rival; for Australia, China provides the opportunity for a rewarding trade and commercial partnership. Rather than choose between then, Australia at times will have to ride two horses at once and so must learn to play a more demanding diplomatic game.
Climate change, national security and the Australian Defence Force - Chris Barrie
With global surface warming currently tracking towards +3.7 C (rather than the international +2 C target) by 2060, compounded by global population rising to 10 billion, climate change and its concomitant effects pose as national, regional and global security threat multipliers. Compared with its allies, the Australian Defence Force is ill-prepared for these challenges and urgent action is needed to remedy the situation.

Defence Policy

Australia's 2016 Defence White paper: a summary - Rhea Matthews, Dominique Spoelder and Michael Thurston
Australia's 2016 Defence White Paper is the government's plan to ensure the security of Australia and its interests over the next two decades and beyond. It includes an assessment of the strategic outlook and a fully costed plan for a more capable, agile and potent defence force. Here, members of the RUSI Special Interest Group on Strategy summarise its main provisions. They conclude that, with the future uncertain, the costed plan seeks to cover all bases.

History Note

Not shunned by the Navy: the strange story of HMAS Armidale's Lieutenant Commander David Richards - Tom Lewis
For many years a story of how the Royal Australian Navy badly treated the commander of HMAS Armidale after his ship was sunk has been promulgated. But it now seems this is not true. Commander David Richards RD RANR was, despite stories to the contrary, an honoured and respected member of the Royal Australian Navy.

Book Reviews

Winning the peace: Australia's campaign to change the Asia-Pacific by Andrew Carr - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Winning the Peace explores how Australian governments have engaged with Asia over the last thirty years, attempting to use their defence and foreign policies, and military and diplomatic engagement and persuasion, to shape the region.
The rise of China vs the logic of strategy by Edward N. Luttwak - reviewed by Michael Thurston
This book provides an alternative outlook on China. It uses strategic theory to assess the implications of China's strong economic growth alongside its rapid military development. It concludes that China can achieve one or the other, but not both simultaneously.
The Western Front: an Australian perspective by Phil Dwyer, Helen Duffy and Bruce Postle - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This is a beautifully presented and well researched large format (coffee table) book that provides an evocative multi-dimensional perspective; and is probably the next best thing to physically visiting the Western Front.
Stepping into a minefield: a life dedicated to landmine clearance around the world by Ian Mansfield - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This is an account of Mansfield's pioneering efforts to set up a civilian programme to clear landmines in Afghanistan and later in Laos and Bosnia. It also outlines the political, cultural and security 'minefields' that Mansfield had to navigate
The Fighter by Paul Warren with Jeff Apter - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This is the story of Private Paul Warren, 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, who lost his right leg in Afghanistan, and of his subsequent physical and psychological rehabilitation leading eventually to his competing in the 2014 Invictus Games in London.
Preserving our proud heritage: the customs and traditions of the Australian Army by Leslie Terrett and Stephen Taubert - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This is a well-researched and magnificently presented large format book that covers every aspect of the Army's customs and traditions. It is an authoritative reference and an attractive 'coffee table' display.

Cover

An artist's impression of the French DCNS Shortfin Barracuda Block 1A diesel- electric attack submarine chosen in April for the Royal Australian Navy to replace the Collins-class boats. [Source: DCNS]

 United Service, Volume 67, Number 1, March 2016

Autumn 2016 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Opinion

Editorial: The global security outlook - David Leece
Sub-Editorial: The Wynter affair and the Institute's independence - David Leece

Institute Proceedings

The 2015 Sir Herman Black Lecture: the year in review - Peter Hartcher
Mr Hartcher examines the strategic character of the world in 2015 and comments on its significance for Australia's national security. After reviewing Australian government responses, he concludes that Australia should be neither fearful nor paranoid, but should rethink its position.
The conflict in Syria, the involvement of Islamic State, and the refugee crisis in Europe - Clive Williams
Professor Williams explains the background to the civil war which has been raging in Syria since 2011, describes the situation as at October 2015, and addresses some of the war's consequences, such as the emergence of Islamic State and an overwhelming flow of refugees towards Europe.
From mountaineer to dog-face soldier: an Australian's perspective of operations with the United States Army in Afghanistan in 2014 as Deputy Commanding General in Regional Command, East - Phillip Bridie
Australian Army Reserve Brigadier, Phillip Bridie, recounts his experiences in Afghanistan in 2014 as a deputy commanding general of two United States infantry divisions in Regional Command - East during the transition to Afghan control.
Informing and influencing the defence and national security debate: the Royal United Services Institute of New South Wales - David Leece
The Royal United Services Institute is an independent, apolitical, not-for-profit, public education association in the field of defence and national security. Here, its president outlines the Institute's evolution over its 127-year history and describes its current programmes and services.

Book Reviews

Anzac Cove to Afghanistan: the history of the 3rd Brigade by Glenn Wahlert - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
The Australian Army's 3rd Brigade, one of Australia's premier fighting infantry formations, has a proud history of service from Gallipoli to Afghanistan. Wahlert captures the breadth and depth of that history and communicates it in plain English.
Battle winners: Australian artillery in the Western Desert 1940-1942 by Alan H. Smith - reviewed by Ken Broadhead
This is a comprehensive record of the contribution of field artillery to the success of battles involving the 2nd Australian Imperial Force in the Western Desert. It is a worthy addition to the record of Australian artillery, its command and control, and its key players.
The unravelling: high hopes and missed opportunities in Iraq by Emma Sky - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This is Sky's memoir of her experiences in Iraq between 2003 and 2010. Through it, Sky has become the unlikely eulogist of the war. Her account is insightful, reflective and well considered. The sub-title, "High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq", is as fitting an epitaph as any.
Skilfully drilled: a history of the Australian Instructional Corps 1921-1955 by Roland Millbank - reviewed by Michael Hough
This is the story of the Australian Instructional Corps which was responsible for the all-corps training of the Citizen Army throughout Australia from 1921 to 1955. It is a readable and well-researched resource for the specialist reader or researcher of military history.

Cover

Australian Army soldier, Private Brendan Winter, providing force protection at the Taji Military Complex, Iraq, on 12 August 2015, where Australian and New Zealand military personnel are training members of the Iraqi Army in tactics, techniques and procedures for use in their fight against Daesh (Islamic State). The conflict in Iraq and Syria is discussed in the papers by Peter Hartcher and Clive Williams. [Photo: Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 66, Number 4, December 2015

Summer 2015 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

National President's Column

An Australian Military Covenant - Brent Espeland

Opinion

Time for a new grand strategy - Clive Williams
An Australian position on East Asia - Ian Crawford
Letters: Islam in Australia - Jacob Blitman; David Watts

Institute Proceedings

The Royal Australian Navy in the 21st Century - Stuart Mayer
Our sea lines of communication remain the lifelines for Australia's prosperity, but we face numerous challenges to their security. The Australian Defence Force is responding to these challenges by developing the capacity to deploy amphibious task groups, as well as standalone naval units, to trouble spots where warranted.
An effective and affordable defence policy for a changing world - Brian Toohey
Toohey traces the evolution of Australia's defence policy since World War II - from forward defence, to defending the continent and its approaches, to security with Asia, and how this is now being challenged by the rise of China. He assesses the Chinese threat and proposes an effective and affordable strategic posture and force structure for Australia based on that assessment.
China's activities in the South China Sea - James Brown
Professor Brown reviews China's recent activities in the South China Sea, including land reclamation, within the broader context of strategic competition between China and the United States. He examines why China is taking this approach, despite it undermining China's external relationships; and concludes by documenting Australia's response to these developments.
The 1915 Gallipoli August Offensive Centenary Commission of Inquiry - Bryce Fraser
The 1915 August Offensive was designed to break the stalemate that had existed on the Gallipoli Peninsula since the initial landing on 25 April. Its result was an enlarged beachhead 'cage' for the Allied forces. The Inquiry concluded that the Allies were out-generalled by their Turkish opponents and there were failures at many command levels within the Allied forces.

Book Reviews

Monash - the soldier who shaped Australia by Grantlee Kieza - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Monash is a quality biography, but it does not include any new information or insights. Nevertheless, if you have not read a biography about Monash before, then it is recommended.
East Timor intervention: a retrospective on INTERFET by Dr John Blaxland (Editor) - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This book is the proceedings of a two-day international conference held to mark the 15 anniversary of the liberation of East Timor in 1999. It contains a significant collection of different and sometimes conflicting perspectives on the INTERFET intervention.
Gallipoli by Jenny Macleod - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Gallipoli recounts the historical facts surrounding the campaign and then considers how it has been remembered, from the immediate aftermath to the present day and the effect it has had on the societies that participated in those events.
The Ottoman defence against the ANZAC landing: 25 April 1915 by Mesut Uyar - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
The Ottoman Defence is the first detailed account in English from the Turkish perspective. It enhances our understanding of why the Ottoman Forces proved so successful in containing and ultimately defeating the Allied invasion.
The story of Australia's flags: our flags, standards, guidons, colours, banners, battle honours and ensigns by Major General Gordon Maitland - reviewed by David Leece
Australia's Flags traces the development of flags for identification of military forces from Roman times. It then traces the development of Australia's flags, both military and civilian, before providing a comprehensive description of the flags our nation has adopted.

Cover

The United States guided-missile destroyer, USS Lassen (DDG-82), which on 27 October 2015 conducted a 'freedom of navigation' patrol through the Spratly Islands passing within 12-nautical-miles of Subi Reef, a Chinese artificial island. As James Brown explains beginning on page 21, China claims a 12-nauticalmile territorial limit around artificial islands it has built in the Spratly archipelago. [Photo: US Navy 7 Fleet official photo - Wikimedia Commons]

 United Service, Volume 66, Number 3, September 2015

Spring 2015 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Opinion

Understanding Indonesia - Ian Ingleby
Letter: 21st century Facist Imperialism - Bryn Thomas
Letter: Islam in Australia - Hedley Thomas

Diaologue Proceedings

3rd International Defence and Security Dialogue - Australia, Indonesia and Regional Security: Introduction - David Leece
Australia's partnership with Indonesia is our most important regional defence relationship. Australia and Indonesia share strategic interests and could co-operate to mutual advantage. The Dialogue focused on opportunities for, and impediments to, strategic co-operation.
The 2015 Blamey Oration: The strategic outlook for the Indo-Pacific Region - Dennis Richardson
Globally, there are two big strategic developments: an increase in ungoverned spaces which are attracting extremist groups; and changing power relativities, especially the rise of China. The United States-China relationship will remain crucial as China looks to its military power-projection capabilities to protect its broadening strategic interests. China's land reclamation in the South China Sea raises the question of intent and the risk of miscalculation.
Jokowi's Indonesia - Damien Kingsbury
Joko Widodo's 2014 election as Indonesia's President left him politically weak. He has been unable to resolve the Papua issue or meet the electorate's high expectations of 'clean government', economic improvement, or military reform. Islamic extremism now has links to Islamic State. Indonesia remains a leader in ASEAN, but reactivation of the death penalty has alienated other foreign governments, including Australia, with whom relations are cool.
Meeting the defence and security challenges over the next two decades: an Indonesian perspective- Agus Widjojo
The rise of China is constraining Southeast Asian states. The region's archipelagic seas are of immense strategic importance. - ration has been plagued by cultural differences and mistrust. Australia could assist Indonesia build its external defence capability. The two countries also could share intelligence, but first would need to build mutual trust. Engagement in combined military operations is a long way off.
Meeting the defence and security challenges over the next two decades: an Australian perspective - Peter Leahy
Indonesia is not a threat to Australia. It expects Australia to honour its territorial integrity and to secure its southern border. Australia and Indonesia can become strategic partners to mutual benefit. Major shared interests include protection of the sea lines of communication, and countering terrorism. An overstretched Australian Defence Force should focus on co-operation with Indonesia, but developing a meaningful defence relationship with Indonesia will not be easy.
Dialogue Summary - David Leece
Provided Australia and Indonesia can overcome the mutual distrust which continues to plague the relationship, especially at the political level, there is scope for them to co-operate on coping with China's rise, protecting the sea lines of communication through the region, countering terrorism, sharing intelligence, and building the TNI's external defence capability. Overcoming mistrust will be difficult, however, and must start with the national leaders.

Book Reviews

Maestro John Monash: Australia's greatestcitizen general by Tim Fischer - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This book is a long essay making the arguement to post-humously promote Sir John Monash to the rank of Field Marshal. In doing so, it provides a synopsis of Monash's life.
Combat colonels of the AIF in the Great War by David Clare Holloway - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Combat Colonels is a biographical reference book listing all the commanding officers who led Australian infantry, pioneer, light horse, camel corps, artillery and flying corps units during World War I.
Bearing Witness: the remarkable life of Charles Bean, Australia's greatest war correspondent by Peter Rees - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This is a remarkably insightful biography of C. E. W. Bean - Australia's most famous war correspondent and war historian.

Cover

The 2015 Blamey Orator and Medallist, Mr Dennis Richardson, AO, Secretary of Defence, Australia. [Photo: Department of Defence].

 United Service, Volume 66, Number 2, June 2015

Winter 2015 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Opinion

Editorial: Fascist imperialism: a 21st century national security challenge - David Leece
Letter: 2014 Sir Herman Black Lecture - Marcus Fielding
Letter: The Battle for Australia - Craig Wilcox

Institute Proceedings

Islam in Australia in 2015: an Australian Muslim perspective - Mona Shindy
Islam is a religion based on submission to the will and laws of God, under which a woman is equal to a man and the killing of innocent people is a sin. Terrorism, an abhorrent act, has nothing to do with Islam. A 'victim mentality' evident in Australian Islamic society is fodder for terrorist recruiters. Breaking the terrorist cycle must involve communication, education and equity.
The 1989 Tiananmen Square Incident - Michael Flynn and John Hutcheson
Michael Flynn and John Hutcheson were in Beijing during the April - June 1989 Tiananmen Square Incident when the authorities negotiated with 'demonstrators for democracy' but ultimately employed military force to clear the Square and city centre of demonstrators. They recount their observations during the incident.
Le Chambon-sur-Lignon: a Jewish refuge in World War II France - Peter Grose
Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, a remote mountain village with Huguenot and pacifist sympathies near France's border with Switzerland, served as a safe haven for some 3500 Jews and 1500 other refugees in France in World War II. Two overland escape routes were developed from the village to Switzerland and an armed Resistance formed as liberation became an increasing possibility.

Contributed Paper

The 1915 Dardanelles Campaign - Stephen Chambers
In late 1914, Britain and France determined to open the Dardanelles by military force. A naval-only campaign was launched in February-March 1915. While it achieved some early successes, the heavily mined passage leading to the Narrows could not be overcome and the attempt was abandoned with heavy losses of men and ships.

Obituaries

Captain Bede Tongs, OAM, MM - Christopher Dawson
Bede Tongs was among the last of the Kokoda Trail heroes, veterans of the bitter fighting across the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea in World War II.
Brigadier Keith Stringfellow, RFD, ED - Kevin Mahony and Peter Court
Keith Stringfellow was a World War II commando, who post-war played a key role in the establishment of the Australian Intelligence Corps and rose to command the 8th Task Force.

Book Reviews

The war with the Ottoman Empire by Jeffrey Grey - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This book examines the involvement of Australians in this part of the Great War, portraying the perspectives of both sides. It is a most comprehensive and balanced account.
In all respects ready: Australia's navy in World War One by David Stevens - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This book presents an authoritative account of the Australian navy's involvement in World War I.
Empires of the dead: How one man's vision led to the creation of WWI's war graves by David Crane - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Empires of the Dead is a history of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and of how the cemeteries for which it is responsible came into existence.
Remembrance: 100 years, 100 memorials, 100 Australian stories by Geoff Hocking with Christopher Atkins and Julie Millowick - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Remembrance presents pictures of 100 Australian war memorials selected from across Australia and from Turkey, France and Belgium.
Team 19 in Vietnam: an Australian soldier at war by Lieutenant Colonel David Millie, MBE (Retired) - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
An Australian Army Training Team major recounts his experiences as operations officer of Military Assistance Command Vietnam Team 19 in Quang Tri Province in 1968-1969.
The good international citizen: Australian peacekeeping in Asia, Africa and Europe, 1991-1993 by David Horner and John Connor - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This official history explores Australia's involvement in: Cambodia (1991-99); Western Sahara (1991-94); former Yugoslavia (1992-2004); Iraq (1991); Maritime Interception Force operations (1991-99); and inspection of weapons of mass destruction facilities in Iraq (1991-99).
America's man of destiny: an intimate biography of General Eisenhower by Kevin McCann - reviewed by Priscilla Leece
This short biography of Eisenhower prior to his election to the United States presidency is a well-written and succinct portrait of the man, the soldier and his achievements.

Cover

A collage of World War I combat aircraft: (from the top) a British Arco DH.5 single-seat fighter; a German Fokker Dr.1 Dreideeker fighter; and a British Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 two-seat reconnaissance and bomber aircraft [Photos: Australian International Airshow and Aerospace and Defence Exposition Avalon 2015].

 United Service, Volume 66, Number 1, March 2015

Full size pdf of the Autumn 2015 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Opinion

Australia, Indonesia and Regional Security - David Leece
Letter: Army's Armoured Cavalry Regiment - Allan Murray
Letter: Victoria Barracks, Sydney - Kevin Mahony

Institute Proceedings

The 2014 Sir Herman Black Lecture: The year in review - Peter Hartcher
Hartcher examines the strategic character of the world in 2014. He identifies several trends: re-emergence of imperialism; reversion of 'post-modern' states to 'modern'; and Australia's strategic vulnerability but economic opportunity. Australia needs to rethink its strategic dependence on the United States, cease kowtowing to China and act in its own self-interest.
The 2015 Defence White paper: challenges facing Defence - Alan Dupont
Australia's next Defence White Paper will shape the Defence Force for the next 20 years. It will need to address the fraying of the Pax Americana, China's rise and terrorism. It will need to extend the existing maritime strategy to address the space and cyber domains; build partnerships with Asia; and formulate a balanced force structure within government fiscal constraints.
Islam: its origin, philosophy and laws - James Carmel
Islam is a religion of submission. The religion is not unified. The main division is between Sunni and Shi'a, and has persisted since the death of Muhammad. Once a majority Islamic population is achieved in a community, generally Shariah will be enforced as the law of the land.
Border security and counter terrorism: the New Zealand experience - Colin Smith
Islamic extremism has necessitated nation-states to place renewed emphasis on border security. Informed by intelligence sharing among like-minded nations, New Zealand has developed and is implementing cost-effective counter-terrorism and targeted goods inspection measures at the nation's borders.

Contributed History Note

The Scots at Gallipoli - Christopher Dawson
Scotland has as much reason to mourn its dead on Gallipoli as Australia. The intensity of the fighting and the horrendous casualties suffered by the infantry of the 52nd Division, particularly in the battles of June 28 and July 12, 1915, well deserve the description, a 'Second Flodden'.

Book Reviews

The bombing war: Europe 1939-1945 by Richard Overy - reviewed by Alan H. Smith
Historian Richard Overy has written a masterpiece that covers every conceivable facet of the Axis and Allies' bombing war and assesses its successes and failures. It is a riveting read.
Australia's secret war: how trade unions sabotaged Australian Military Forces in World War II by Hal G. P. Colebatch - reviewed by Rowan Tracey
Australia's Secret War tells the shocking story of a war waged from 1939 to 1945 by certain Australian trade unions against Australia's fighting forces when the nation faced its gravest peril.
Why we lost: a general's inside account of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars by Lieutenant General Daniel Bolger (U.S. Army Retired) - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Bolger's strategic case is that the United States military should have left Afghanistan and Iraq after the combat-operations phases and never started down the road of counter-insurgency and nation-building.
Australia's defence: towards a new era? edited by Peter J. Dean, Stephan Frühling and Brendan Taylor - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Australia's Defence examines the domestic and international context of Australia's defence policy, Australian strategy, and the size and state of our armed forces.
Charles Bean's Gallipoli Illustrated edited by Philip Bradley - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Bradley has combined extracts from Charles Bean's diary from Gallipoli with dozens of never before seen photographs taken by soldiers; and has added some explanatory comments.

Cover

HMAS Anzac (150), HMAS Melbourne (05) and HMAS Perth (157) conduct a formation departure from Sydney, on 12 February 2015 during work-up exercises prior to Anzac and Melbourne deploying overseas. Professor Alan Dupont explains that the 2015 Defence White Paper will need to choose a replacement for the ANZAC-class frigates. [Photo: LSIS Paul McCallum, Department of Defence].

 United Service, Volume 65, Number 4, December 2014

Full size pdf of the Summer 2014 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Opinion

Letter: Russian annexation of Crimea - Don Faithfull
Letter: Errata: United Service 65 (2) June 2014 - Jerry Bishop

Policy Advice

Submission to the First Principles Review of Defence - RUSI Special Interest Group on Defence Industry
The present Defence capability development process devolves on a committee system that is grossly inefficient. We recommend that it be replaced by a new system styled on the 'cabinet submission' process.
Defence White Paper Submission - RUSI Special Interest Group on Strategy
The 2015 White Paper will need to formulate a credible, costeffective Defence Force able to exercise leadership in our neighbourhood, not one intended primarily to provide niche capabilities to allied forces in distant theatres. Such a defence force will not come cheaply, but is a vital national investment.

Institute Proceedings

Securing Australia's neighbourhood in 1914: a brief history of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force - David Leece
This paper summarises the Institute's Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF) Centenary Seminar held on 30 September 2014. From September to December 1914, the ANMEF seized Rabaul and then occupied the other German possessions in the south-west Pacific. The campaign has enduring strategic and operational lessons for Australia.
The Australian War Memorial: its past and future - Brendan Nelson
The Australian War Memorial guards the soul of the nation - the record of the men and women who have served Australia in war and other operations, from the Sudan in 1885 until today. In making those stories accessible to the current generation, it shows us who we are as a people and what we stand for. That is why the Memorial is so important, not only to our past, but more so to our future.

Contributed History Note

The Battle for Australia 1942 -1945 - Charlie Lynn
The Battle for Australia commenced with the bombing of Darwin in the Northern Territory on 19 February 1942 and ended with the surrender of the Japanese imperial forces in Wewak in the Papua and New Guinea Mandated Territory on 15 August 1945.

Book Reviews

The wives of Henry the Eighth and the parts they played in history by Martin Hume - reviewed by Priscilla Leece.
This book is a study of 16th century European statecraft and of the way princesses from many lands were used as part of the political bargaining of the time.
Afghanistan: Australia's war - a photographic story of the nation's longest war and those who served by Gary Ramage and Ian McPhedran - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Afghanistan: Australia's War is printed in a 'coffee table' formand celebrates the contribution that Australian troops have made to the war in Afghanistan. It features hundreds of stunning images accompanied by the words of defence writer Ian McPhedran.
From Sydney Cove to Paddington Hill: the story of Victoria Barracks by John F. Kreckler - reviewed by Priscilla Leece
This book traces the evolution of Victoria Barracks, Sydney, beginning with the 'Grog Mutiny' up to Federation in 1901, providing a concise overview of 19 th century life in so doing.
Under new management: the Royal Australian Navy and the removal of Germany from the Pacific, 1914-15 by Ian Pfennigwerth - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the Australian Fleet and the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force were tasked to remove the German presence from the Pacific. Under New Management provides a detailed account of the campaign.
The mystery of AE1: Australia's lost submarine and crew by Kathryn Spurling - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
The loss of HMA Submarine AE1 was the Royal Australian Navy's first major tragedy. It marred an otherwise successful operation to seize the German possessions in New Guinea in the opening weeks of World War I.
Honours and awards of the Army by Major General Gordon Maitland - reviewed by David Leece
Honours and Awards is a beautifully written and presented compendium of the official awards and authorised unofficial awards which have been made to members of the Australian Army under both the former Imperial system and the more recent Australian system.

Cover

The German wireless station at Bitapaka, New Britain, seized by the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF) on 11 September 1914. The proceedings of the Institute's ANMEF Centenary Seminar held on 30 September 2014 are summarised on pp. 21 - 25. [Print: Oil, Charles Bryant, painted 1923, Australian War Memorial Art 03639]

 United Service, Volume 65, Number 3, September 2014

Full size pdf of the Spring 2014 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Opinion

Editorial: Amphibious Operations - David Leece
Letter: The changing character of war - Marcus Fielding

Institute Proceedings
Amphibious Operations Seminar

Amphibious operations: an introduction - David Leece
Its geo-strategic circumstances dictate that Australia adopts a maritime strategy, integral to which are amphibious operations. These involve the projection of a military force from the sea onto a hostile, or potentially hostile, shore and include assaults, withdrawals, raids and demonstrations. These operations and contemporary amphibious tactics are described. Australia is building a modern amphibious force modelled on United States and British amphibious forces.
Landing ship, landing craft and landing vehicle nomenclature - David Leece
The editor clarifies some common amphibious shipping nomenclature and acronyms, briefly describing the vessels and vehicles involved.
Case Study: The utility of amphibious forces in the 21st century - John Collins
This 2011 case-study demonstrates the utility of an integrated 21st century amphibious force. The critical enabler was the landing platform helicopter, HMS Ocean. An intended 7-week exercise evolved into a 7-month operation first in Libya and then Somalia spanning all amphibious roles.
Keynote Address: Australia's developing amphibious capability - Mark Campbell
The Australian Defence Force is on track to deliver a new joint amphibious capability based on two new Canberra-class landing helicopter dock (LHD) ships and focused initially on security, stabilisation, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief tasks. The first milestone is due towards the end of 2015. The full capability is due for delivery in 2017.
Amphibious logistics operations - Jay Bannister
Australia's amphibious task group will have significant logistic capacity. Logistics, however, can be an enormous challenge for an amphibious force and the logistics plan must be flexible and responsive to the landing force scheme of manoeuvre. Seabasing, embarkation, disembarkation, sustainment at sea, bio security, health and other logistic challenges are discussed.

Contributed History Note

Seventy years ago: the Desert Air Force in Italy, 1944 - Bryn Evans
In May-June 1944, during the Italian campaign of World War II, the Luftwaffe mounted a desperate effort to counter Allied air superiority, but it would prove to be in vain.

Book Reviews

The backroom boys: Alfred Conlon and Army's Directorate of Research and Civil Affairs, 1942-46 by Graeme Sligo - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
The Backroom Boys is the remarkable story of how a varied group of talented intellectuals were drafted into the Australian Army in the dark days of 1942 and provided high-level policy advice to General Blamey and through him to the Government.
Climax at Gallipoli: the failure of the August offensive by Dr Rhys Crawley - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Climax at Gallipoli examines the performance of the Allies' Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in the August Offensive of the Gallipoli Campaign rigorously and dispassionately. His message may put some objective balance back into the Anzac Centenary proceedings.
Australia and the Vietnam War by Peter Edwards - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This is a one-volume version of the nine-volume Official History of Australia's Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948-1975 - the equivalent of C. E. W. Bean's Anzac to Amiens (WWI) and Gavin Long's The Six Years War (WWII).
The digger's view: WWI in colour by Juan Mahony - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
The Digger's View is a magnificently produced high quality book that is crammed with rare colourised photos and diary entries that provide a very personal perspective of some of the Australian soldiers who served during World War I

Cover

An artist's impression of Australia's two multi-purpose amphibious assault ships (LHD), HMA Ships Canberra and Adelaide, with their embarked helicopters and landing craft, mechanised (LCM-1E). The proceedings of the Institute's Amphibious Operations Seminar held on 27 May 2014 commence on p. 7. [Photo: Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 65, Number 2, June 2014

Full size pdf of the Winter 2014 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Defence News

A centenary of submarine service in the Royal Australian Navy - Department of Defence
F35As to transform Australia's air combat capability - Department of Defence

Opinion

Editorial: China's growing strategic reach - David Leece
Sub-Editorial: Australia's Army Reserve - David Leece

Institute Proceedings

The Russian annexation of Crimea in March 2014 - Graeme Gill
Russia's opportunistic annexation of Crimea in March 2014 in the face of the West's impotence has weakened the West globally and has strengthened Russia commensurately. Ukraine, in future, would be foolish to adopt an anti-Russian stance. There are significant costs for Russia and the balance is uncertain, but it is clear that the West has reaped what it sowed.
A United States Air Force fighter squadron's experiences in Afghanistan in 2011: a personal perspective - Karl D. Ingeman
Colonel Ingeman recounts some of his recent experiences as commander of 555th Fighter Squadron, United States Air Force, providing combat airpower on demand to United States and NATO combatant commanders in Afghanistan.
Some perspectives on the 1982 Falklands War informed by discussions with Argentine air force and navy officers - Michael R. Dunne
In the 1982 Falkland War, Argentine Air Force and Navy pilots acquitted themselves well against British warships. Informed by discussions with Argentine participants, here Mr Dunne shares his perspectives on the conflict.
The Australian Army's 2nd Division: an update - Peter Clay and Steve Smith
2nd Division, which contains most of the Australian Army Reserve, is modernising under Army's Plan Beersheba. Progress is summarised and the delivery of a multi-role Reserve battle group for Army by the year 2015 is outlined.
Australia in the Second Anglo-Boer War - John Howells
The six Australian colonies, then the Commonwealth of Australia, each sent several contingents to fight in the Boer War. Over 500 Australians died. The major engagements in which Australians participated are described.

Contributed History Essay

The 8th Australian Infantry Brigade Group in World War II - David Leece
8th Brigade participated in the defence of Australia in 1942-43, first in Sydney and then in Western Australia. In 1944-45, it cleared the Japanese from the northern coast of New Guinea from Sio west to the Sepik River and then assisted 6th Australian Division to capture Wewak.

Book Reviews

Heroes before Gallipoli: Bita Paka and that one day in September by Kevin Meade - reviewed by John Hitchen
This is the story of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force whose centenary we commemorate this year. Its central focus is the capture of the German wireless station at Bita Paka on 11 September 1914 which led to the surrender of German New Guinea.
Rendezvous with destiny: how Franklin D. Roosevelt and five extraordinary men took America into the war and into the world by Michael Fullilove - reviewed by Ken Broadhead
This book describes the highly unorthodox way in which United States President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), conducted diplomacy in Europe in the early days of World War II. It tells of five disparate individuals who were the inspirations and instruments of FDR's policy.
Anzac's long shadow: the cost of our national obsession by James Brown - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This short and hard-hitting book questions Australia's national obsession with Anzac. It analyses how it has come about and why it is an issue of concern. Brown's main target is the politicians and generals, but it is a must read for anyone who has served in the ADF too.
Out of the mountains: the coming age of the urban guerrilla by David Kilcullen - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Kilcullen analyses four global megatrends and concludes that future conflict is increasingly likely to occur in sprawling coastal cities, in underdeveloped regions of the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia, and in highly networked, connected settings.

Cover

A United States F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter of 555th Fighter Squadron on combat air patrol over eastern Afghanistan in 2011. [Photo: United States Air Force]

 United Service, Volume 65, Number 1, March 2014

Full size pdf of the Autumn 2014 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Defence News

Royal Australian Navy - Natalie Staples
Australian Air Cadets Alumni is airborne - John Griffiths

Opinion

Editorial: Future conflict - David Leece
Letters: Surgeon John White - Christopher Warren; Author's reply - Bruce Short; Erratum - Bruce Short

Institute Proceedings

The military revolution of limits and the changing character of war - Albert Palazzo
Dr Palazzo argues that humanity's voracious consumption of raw materials cannot continue indefinitely. Our planet is reachingits natural limits and this will force revolutions in society, in the way conflicts are resolved and in the way wars are fought. States that think through the implications of the 'revolution of limits' will have an advantage over those that do not.
Science and technology: supporting Australia's national security - Alex Zelinsky
Australia's Defence Science and Technology Organisation provides science and technology for safeguarding Australia. Dr Zelinsky outlines the organisation's current strategy and describes its seven, client-focused programmes. A particularfocus is cyber and electronic warfare ..
The abandonment of Australia in 1942 - Bob Worth
In the first few months of Australia's war with Japan, beginningin December 1941, Australia's prime minister, John Curtin, clearlysaw the war as a 'battle for Australia'. Newly available evidence suggests that Australia was abandoned by its allies; and that Curtin was on the verge of mental and physical collapse.

Contributed History Note

Betano Bay today - John Ellis
Betano Bay, East Timor, was the scene of tragedy for HMAS Voyager in September 1942. Today, the remains of boilers andengines can be seen at low water.

Book Reviews

Lost: the stories of all ships lost by the Royal Australian Navy by Allen Lyne - reviewed by Ian Pfennigwerth
Lost chronicles each of the 45 ships lost by the Royal Australian Navy, giving the background history of each ship and the strategic situation at the time, describing the action in which the ship was lost and summarising what happened to survivors.
The forgotten cruiser: HMAS Melbourne 1913-1928 by Andrew Kilsby and Greg Swinden - reviewed by Ian Pfennigwerth
Is there anything more irritating than a sibling who always steals the limelight and, despite how hard one tries, retains it? That is the subject of this interesting and timely 'warts and all' account of the career of Australia's first cruiser, HMASMelbourne.
Invisible armies: an epic history of guerrilla warfarefrom ancient times to the present by Max Boot - reviewed by Marcus Field
Max Boot, a very capable historian, traces guerrilla warfare and terrorism from antiquity to the present, narrating nearly thirty centuries of unconventional military conflicts and from which he derives twelve generic observations about guerrillas and guerrilla warfare.
Dirty wars: the world is a battlefield by Jeremy Scahill - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Dirty Warsdescribes how the United States Government has prosecuted it's 'war on terrorism' since 9/11 with an increasinguse of targeted killings using drone and missile strikes, as well as clandestine raids by military special forces. It is a deeply disturbing book.
The formation and operation of the US Army Small Ships in World War II by Ernest A. Flint - reviewed by David Leece
This A4 booklet is a supplement to two previous histories. It is a compilation of relevant material not a vailable when the earlier histories were published; and includes copies of a miscellany of relevant documents which have not been published previously.

Cover

Three Australian Collins-class submarines in Cockburn Sound, Western Australia, on 22 March 2013 - in 2013, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) operated three submarines at sea as explained in Defence News. In 2014, the RAN will commemorate a century of it operating submarines and the loss of submarine AE1. [Photo: Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 64, Number 4, December 2013

Full size pdf of the Summer 2013 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Defence News

Royal Australian Navy
United States Marine Corps F35B Joint Strike Fighter

Opinion

Editorial: Climate, weather and national security - David Leece
Letter: Indian troops at Gallipoli and Australia's strategic direction - Arun Kumar Singh
Letter: The role of the Army in a maritime strategy - Ian Knox

Strategic Report Synopsis

Enter the Cyber Dragon: understanding Chinese intelligence agencies' cyber capabilities by Dr Tobias Feakin - prepared by Ian Ingleby
This synopsis of Australian Strategic Policy Institute SpecialmReport No. 50 (June 2013) was prepared by Mr Ingleby after Dr Feakin presented his findings to the Institute on 25 June 2013.

Institute Proceedings

The Australian Defence Force today and tomorrow - David Hurley
With a 15-year period during which the operational tempo was high and the Australian Defence Force (ADF) performed excellently now drawing to a close, the ADF has entered a period of significant change. It is re-setting for the future with a greater focus on the Indo-Pacific region, enhancing its international engagements and diplomacy, introducing new capabilities on an unprecedented scale, and addressing significant personnel challenges.
The operational role of the Heron remotely-piloted aircraft in the Royal Australian Air Force - John Jenkins
Remotely-piloted aircraft (RPAs), also referred to as un - manned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and more unacceptably in the media realm as 'drones', have revolutionised aerial warfare in the 21st century. The Heron RPA system is used by the Royal Australian Air Force in Afghanistan for intelligence gathering, reconnaissance, and surveillance. It does not carry weapons.

Contributed History Paper

Surgeon John White: Australia's first surgeon-general - Bruce Short
Surgeon John White RN, the principal surgeon in the 'First Fleet' which sailed from England to establish the Colony of New South Wales in 1788, became the new colony's first surgeon general. He had to deal with scurvy among the settlers and an unknown epidemic among the local Aborigines, which Short proposes be called 'severe acquired pustular disease'.

Obituary

Brigadier William Harold 'Mac' Grant, OAM, RFD - John M. Hutcheson
Mac Grant, soldier and spy, was a former National President of the Royal United Services Institute of Australia and President of the Royal United Services Institute of Victoria.

Book Reviews

Thorneycroft's 'unbuttoned': the story of Thorneycroft's mounted infantry in the Boer War 1899-1902 by Robin W. F. Droogleever - reviewed by Rowan Tracey
A mounted infantry unit raised in November 1899 by Major Alexander Thorneycroft, Royal Scots Fusiliers, became one of the finest irregular mounted units raised during the Boer War.
Gallipoli to Tripoli: history of the 10th Light Horse Regiment AIF, 1914 - 1919 by Neville Browning and Ian Gill - reviewed by Michael Hough
The 10th Light Horse Regiment, Australian Imperial Force, a Western Australian mounted infantry unit, epitomised the dash and insouciance of the mounted Australian soldier in World War I.
The fighting fourth: a history of Sydney's 4th Battalion 1914 - 1919 by Ronald J. Austin - reviewed by John Hitchen
The Fighting Fourth traces the history of the 4th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, a New South Wales infantry unit, from its formation in August 1914, through to Gallipoli in 1915 and then on to the Western Front from April 1916 to September 1918.
Steel Cat: the story of HMAS Brisbane, Vietnam and Gulf War veteran by Ken Doolan - reviewed by Ian Pfennigwerth
HMAS Brisbane was the last of three guided-missile destroyers (DDG) commissioned into the RAN in the 1960s. She was the only Australian destroyer to have been deployed on active service to two major conflicts during the second half of the 20th century.
War from the ground up: twenty-first-century combat as politics by Emile Simpson - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Written by a British infantry officer who completed three tours in Afghanistan, War From The Ground Up wrestles with the nature of modern wars and offers a new and distinctive perspective on contemporary armed conflict.

Cover

General David Hurley, AC, DSC, Chief of the Australian Defence Force, who delivered the occasional address at the Institute's 125th Anniversary Dinner at Parliament House, Sydney, on Friday, 16 August 2013. His address is published above. [Photo: Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 64, Number 3, September 2013

Full size pdf of the Winter 2013 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Defence News

Royal Australian Air Force

Opinion

Editorial: Australia's Strategic Direction - David Leece
'Next Generation' veterans should rally around the old flagpoles - Markus Fielding
Our Afghan war dead have not died in vain - Tom Lewis
Letter - Need for an Australian national strategy - Markus Fielding

Institute Proceedings

The role of the Army in a maritime strategy - David Morrison
Australia's defence is based on a mar itime strategy which involves finding security in Asia, not from Asia, by controlling the northern sea-land-air-bridge to Australia. The strategy is implemented by the Australian Defence Force to which Army contributes ready, relevant, robust land forces for expeditionary operations.
The future of the Amphibious Task Force - Ray Leggatt
The Australian Defence Force is developing an amphibious task force with United States and United Kingdom assistance. Based on two new 27,000 tonne amphibious assault ships, this will be a major leap in Australia's amphibious capability and will be a key enabler of Australia's maritime strategy.
The Gallipoli campaign: a Turkish perspective - Gülseren elik
Seeking to knock Turkey out of World War I in 1915, Allied forces, including Australians, invaded the Gallipoli peninsula. The Allied forces were repelled by the Ottoman defenders led by Mustafa Kemal. Amid heroism, chivalry and great loss of life on both sides, a mutual respect developed which led in time to genuine friendship between the Australian and Turkish nations.

Contributed History Note

Australians' crucial part in turning the tide in North Africa in 1942 - Bryn Evans
In the North African campaigns of World War II, Australians at sea, on the ground and in the air were important contributors in turning the tide against the Axis powers. Mr Evans highlights a few lesser-known examples.

Book Reviews

Architect of victory: Douglas Haig by Walter Reid - reviewed by David Leece
In this well-researched and balanced biography, Reid rebuts Haig's popular image as an unimaginative butcher. Rather, Reid asserts that he was the master mind of a victory over a continental opponent on a scale that has never been matched before or since.
They sang like kangaroos: Australia's tinpot navy in the Great War by Dr Anthony Delano - reviewed by Ken Broadhead
Dr Delano outlines the contribution of the fledging Royal Australian Navy to the Great War when its ships, men and deployments were under control of the Royal Navy. It could almost be published as a supplement to the official history.

Cover

The grave in Waverley Cemetery, Sydney, of Major General John Soame Richardson, CB, who founded the United Service Institution of New South Wales on 20 August 1888. Inset on the cross is a photo of General Richardson c. 1885. To mark its 125th anniversary, the Institute conducted a wreath-laying ceremony at the grave on 20 August 2013. [Grave photo: David Leece]

 United Service, Volume 64, Number 2, June 2013

Full size pdf of the Winter 2013 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute News

A message from the National President - Chris Richie

Defence News

Australia's amphibious ships - Editor

Opinion

Letters

Dialogue Proceedings

2nd International Defence and Security Dialogue: Introduction - David Leece
The Dialogue on 26 February 2013 considered "Australia's immediate neighbourhood: the strategic outlook and its defence and security implications".
2013 Blamey Oration: The strategic outlook for Melanesia - Richard Herr
Professor Herr's review of the strategic outlook for Melanesia in the Asia-Pacific century perpetuates the memory of Field Marshal Sir Thomas Blamey.
The strategic outlook: a Timor-Leste perspective - Damien Kingsbury
Professor Kingsbury's review of the strategic outlook for Timor-Leste and the region reflects the Timor-Leste government's views.
The strategic outlook for Papua New Guinea - Ronald May
Dr May reviews the external and internal security threats facing Papua New Guinea.
The strategic outlook: a Fijian perspective - Sitiveni Rabuka
Major-General Rabuka provides his own perspective on the strategic outlook for the neighbourhood.
The strategic outlook: a New Zealand perspective - John McKinnon
John McKinnon, recently New Zealand's secretary of defence, provides a personal perspective on the strategic outlook for the Asia-Pacific region and our neighbourhood.
Australia - the indispensable power in a congested sea: foreign policy implications of Australia's strategic outlook - Jenny Hayward-Jones
Ms Hayward-Jones examines Australia's enduring position as the dominant and indispensable power in Melanesia, and the foreign policy choices and obligations this entails.
The strategic outlook: implications for defence policy, force structure and force posture - Michael Shoebridge
Mr Shoebridge provides insight into the strategic thinking that is likely to underpin Australia's 2013 defence white paper.
Security, disaster relief and humanitarian assistance policy implications of Australia's strategic outlook - Alan Ryan
Dr Ryan describes the multi-agency challenges and the teamwork required to deliver effective whole-of-government conflict response, disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.

Commemorative Essay

The Royal Australian Naval College centenary - Peter Jones
A century on, Vice-Admiral Jones reflects on the founding of the Royal Australian Naval College, its unique features and the achievements of its Pioneer Class.

Book Reviews

Boldly and faithfully - the journal: the official history of the 19th Australian Infantry Battalion, Australian Imperial Force by Lieutenant Colonel Peter McGuinness, MBE, RFD, ED (Ret'd) - reviewed by David Leece
The 19th Battalion, one of 20 infantry battalions from New South Wales, served on Gallipoli in 1915 and in France and Flanders in 1916-1918.
Beaten down by blood: the Battle of Mont St Quentin-Péronne 1918 by Michele Bomford - reviewed by John Hitchen
The capture of Mont St Quentin and the fortress town of Péronne between 31 August and 5 September 1918 was a great feat of Australian arms.
War to War: Australia's Navy 1919-1939 by Bob Nicholls - reviewed by Ian Pfennigwerth
This is a well-researched and remarkable story of the Australian navy and its vicissitudes from the return of the Fleet from overseas in 1919-20 to the outbreak of World War II.
A soldier's soldier: a biography of Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Daly by Jeffrey Grey - reviewed by David Leece
A Soldier's Soldier is a sympathetic, yet mostly balanced, biography of a renowned Australian professional soldier.

Cover

Capturing the spirit of the Institute's 2nd International Defence and Security Dialogue, Australian Army Reserve Troopers Ross Spencer and Adrian Johan accompany Inspector Brian Palusi from the Correctional Services of the Solomon Islands on a routine perimeter patrol of the Rove Central Correctional Centre in Honiara. [Photo: ABIS Jo Dilorenzo, Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 64, Number 1, March 2013

Full size pdf of the Autumn 2013 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Defence and Security News

National Security Strategy
Australian Cyber Security Centre
Australian Fleet Update

Opinion

Wanted - a national strategy to guide us all - Ian Crawford
Australia's nuclear-powered submarine option - Tom Lewis

Letters

Declining global influence of the United States - David Glasson
Japanese submarine attacks on Australian merchant shipping in 1942-1943 - Keith Pryor

Policy Submission

A summary of the Institute's submission to the 2013 Defence White Paper - D. J. Roser, D. R. Leece and R. B. Treloar

Institute Proceedings

China in transition - Hamish McDonald
China underwent decadal leadership change in November 2012. Hamish McDonald discusses what the new leadership regime may have in store for China and the Asia-Pacific Region.
Farewell, dear people: Australia's gifted lost generation of World War I - Ross McMullin
Dr McMullin provides a brief biography of ten Australians of exceptional potential who died in World War I. Their deaths represented a profound loss to the nation as well as to their families.

Contributed Historical Note

The Peninsular War diary of Ensign John V. Carter - Christopher Dawson
Ensign Carter's diary records events between November 1811 and March 1812. It gives a picture of the life of a junior regimental officer during the Peninsula War.

Book Reviews

Ray Parkin's odyssey by Pattie Wright - reviewed by John Ellis
Ray Parkin was an artist, sailor and author who survived the sinking of HMAS Perth I only to become a prisoner of war. His admirers are certain to seek out this book.
Hell's battlefield: the Australians in New Guinea in World War II by Phillip Bradley - reviewed by John Hitchen
Hell's Battlefield covers the all battles fought by the Australians against the Japanese in New Guinea in World War II in a single volume - the first book ever to do so.
Forgotten fleet: a history of the part played by Australian men and ships in the U.S. Army Small Ships Section in New Guinea, 1942-1945 by Bill Lunney and Frank Finch - reviewed by Arthur Price
Forgotten Fleet is a unit histor y that tells how, in 1942, with Japanese forces perilously close to Australia, little ships served in supplying Australian and American troops in New Guinea.
Uneasy lies the head: a history of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan by Ar thur W. John - reviewed by Michael Hough
This book is the memoir of an Australian Army education officer serving with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) in Japan following World War II.
Exit wounds: one Australian's war on terror by Major General (Retired) John Cantwell with Greg Bearup - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
Exit Wounds is a personal and insightful account of Cantwell's war time experiences. It is also a compassionate and deeply human account of life on a modern battlefield.

Cover

CLICK HERE to download the cover Australian naval frigate, HMAS Warramunga, exercising with the Chinese naval ship, Louyang, in the South China Sea on 23 September 2010. A paper on China in transition by Hamish McDonald commences on page 12. [Photo: ABIS Jo Dilorenzo, Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 63, Number 4, December 2012

Full size pdf of the Summer 2012 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Defence News

Royal Australian Air Force Update - David Worrall
New United States Army Rifle XM25

Opinion

The ANZUS Alliance: Australia's role - David Leece

Institute Proceedings

The declining global influence of the United States - Tom Switzer
The declining influence of the United States abroad, brought about both by the r ise of China and other emerging powers and by weaknesses at home, is haunting United States politics. It has significant implications for Australia, which needs to become more nuanced in its foreign policy.
Assessing the War in Iraq - Albert Palazzo
Dur ing the recent Iraq War, Australia, a junior coalition partner, set and attained its own policy goals which were different from (albeit compatible with) those of the United States, the coalition leader. Dr Palazzo focuses on how this outcome was achieved and examines five factors which were crucial to its attainment. It has lessons for other middle powers.

Contributed Essays

Merchant mariners in the Battle for Australia - Keith Pryor
Darwin's bombing on 19 Februar y 1942 heralded dangerous times for Australia's merchant mariners, who were to go on to 'work and fight as never before' and play a vital role in the Battle for Australia.
Japanese submarine attacks on the Australian coast, 1942-1943 - Brian Swan
Japanese submarines operating on the east coast of Australia in 1942-1943 attacked Sydney and Newcastle and sank 18 merchant ships - 605 allied merchant seamen lost their lives. Another 15 ships were attacked but failed to sink.
Commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Korean War, 1950-1953 - Ian Crawford
Admiral Crawford argues that, as activities commemorating the Korean War's 60th anniversar y draw to a close, the time has come to lay to rest the identification of that war as the 'forgotten war'.

Book Reviews

ANZACs on the Western Front: the Australian War Memorial battlefield guide by Peter Pedersen with Chris Roberts - reviewed by John Hitchen
Any Australian or New Zealander going to, or thinking about visiting, the Western Front should read this book, which is a guide to the battlefields, not the cemeteries.
The rise and fall of the Singapore Naval Base, 1919-1942 by W. David McIntyre - reviewed by Ian Pfennigwerth
The capitulation Singapore in February 1942 has spawned many books. This one, published in 1979, examines the long chain of causation, drawing on records which became available from 1972 onwards.
The forgotten few: 77 RAAF Squadron in Korea by Doug Hurst - reviewed by Bob Treloar
A book of this quality about the air war over Korea is very much overdue. The Forgotten Few is a must read, particularly for those with a penchant for military aviation and the Korean War.
Fighting to the Finish: the Australian Army and the Vietnam War, 1968-1975 by Ashley Ekins with Ian McNeill - reviewed by John M. Hutcheson
This book is the final volume of 'The Official History of Australia's Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948-75'. Its main focus is the peak period in Vietnam from 1968 to 1971.

Cover

CLICK HERE to download the cover A C-130H Hercules from the RAAF's No. 37 Squadron, Richmond, releases its flares over central Alaska in June during a combined exercise with United States forces, Exercise Red Flag 2012, an exercise designed to replicate a high-end combat environment. The declining global influence of the United States is examined by Tom Switzer CLICK HERE. [Photo: Corporal David Gibbs, Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 63, Number 3, September 2012

Full size pdf of the Spring 2012 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Defence News

Australian Defence Force Posture Review - Doug Roser
Royal Australian Navy Update - Grant McDuling

Opinion

Editorial Army's capability - David Leece
Letter Royal United Services Institute of Victoria - Warren Kemp
Sustaining Australia''s naval capability - Doug Roser

Institute Proceedings

Australia's future submarines programme - Rowan Moffitt
The Australian Navy's future submarines programme is intended to build at least 12 submarines in Australia over the next 40 years, with the first boat delivered around 2030.
Maritime construction and sustainment: an industry perspective - Chris Lloyd
Mr Lloyd assesses the capability and capacity of Australian industry to deliver Australia's naval shipbuilding programme and to maintain Navy's ships in service.
The New Guinea goldfields between the wars - Michael Waterhouse
In the 1930s, the New Guinea goldfields were the second-largest gold-mining province in Australasia and the main source of the territory's revenue. This was made possible by world-leading air transport and was ended by Japan's invasion in 1942. Australia's indifferent administration of the territory under a League of Nations mandate was a lost opportunity.

Contributed Essay

Bonds linking the Korean and Australian defence communities - Ian Crawford
Rear Admiral Crawford, a naval veteran of the 1950-53 Korean War, describes the strong bonds that still link the Korean and Australian defence communities 60 years on.

Book Reviews

House adaption: design choices in adapting a family home for accessible living by architect Harry Sprintz - reviewed by John M. Hutcheson
This book is a valuable summary of the adaption of family housing for accessible living for the disabled, including veterans.
When tigers fight: the story of the Sino-Japanese War 1937-1945 by Dick Wilson - reviewed by Michael Hough
World War II featured a long and bitter conflict between two nations which are now major trading partners of Australia - China and Japan. This is a scholarly account of that conflict.
March or die: the story of Wingate's Chindits by Philip D. Chinnery - reviewed by John Hitchen
The book describes Wingate's unconventional operations in Burma in 1943 and 1944, commanding 77th Indian Infantry Brigade (Chindit brigade), and 3rd Indian Infantry Division (Special Force).
Afgansty: the Russians in Afghanistan 1979-1989 by Rodric Braithwaite - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
This is an historical narrative, but, given events in Afghanistan today, it also serves to illustrate the maxim that those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it.

Cover

CLICK HERE to download the cover Midshipman Mitchell Herps, RAN, and Lieutenant Cameron Matheson, RAN, about to inspect the hull of HMAS Newcastle in Queen Char lotte Sound, New Zealand, in May 2012. The sustainment of Australia's naval capability is featured in this issue. [Photo: ABIS Sarah Williams, Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 63, Number 2, June 2012

Full size pdf of the Winter 2012 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Defence and Security News

Dr Margo McCarthy appointed National Security Advisor
Royal Australian Navy update

Opinion

Naval re-equipment: a challenge for the Royal Australian Navy and Australia - Ian Pfennigwerth

Institute Proceedings

National security policy in Australia: much achieved, more to do - David Connery
Dr Connery examines national security policy-making in Australia, highlighting recent achievements and identifying areas where effectiveness might be improved.
Maintenance of ships in the Royal Australian Navy: the Rizzo reform programme - capability management, accountability and responsibility - Mark Purcell
Major deficiencies in the seaworthiness of Navy's amphibious ships led to a review of the maintenance system and a reform programme which is explained by Commodore Purcell.
JFK in the Pacific: PT-109 - Owen O'Brien
In World War II, John F. Kennedy commanded a motor torpedo patrol boat in the Solomons. It collided with a Japanese destroyer and sank. Colonel O'Brien describes these events.

Contributed History Note

The battles of the Java Sea: Allied naval defeat, December 1941 - March 1942 - Ian Pfennigwerth
To mark the 70th anniversary of the Java Sea naval battles, Dr Pfennigwerth puts them in perspective and corrects some popular misconceptions.

Biography

Who was ... Edward Thomas Henry Hutton? - David Leece
Sir Edward Hutton, third president of The United Service Institution of New South Wales, was the first commander of the Australian Commonwealth Military Forces.

Book Reviews

The Operators: the wild and terrifying inside story of America's war in Afghanistan by Michael Hastings - reviewed by Marcus Fielding
In 2010, a magazine article led to the resignation of General Stanley McChrystal, commander of Allied forces in Afghanistan. That article has now been expanded into this book.
Roden Cutler, V.C.: the biography by Colleen McCullough - reviewed by Priscilla Leece
Colleen McCullough's biography of Sir Roden Cutler, a former patron of the United Service Institution of New South Wales, is a fine portrait of one of Australia's most admired men.
In good hands: the life of Dr Stan Stening, POW by Ian Pfennigwerth - reviewed by Marie Bashir
This is the biography of Surgeon Lieutenant-Commander Stan Stening who, following the sinking of HMAS Perth in 1942, served as a doctor in prisoner-of-war camps in Japan.
Darwin's submarine I-124: the story of a covert Japanese submarine squadron waging a secret underwater war against northern Australia by Dr Tom Lewis - reviewed by Ken Broadhead
This is the story of a Japanese submarine squadron that waged war against northern Australia from 1942 to 1944, and of the Australian efforts that sank the title vessel.
Eleven bloody days: the battle for Milne Bay by Brian Boettcher - reviewed by Chris Ballantine
While much has been written about the Kokoda campaign, the equally critical concurrent battle at Milne Bay, New Guinea, in August- September 1942, has received less attention.
Training the Bodes: Australian Army advisers training Cambodian infantry battalions - a postscript to the Vietnam War by Terry Smith - reviewed by John Hitchen
This book fills a gap in our knowledge of Australian involvement in the Vietnam War. It tells how Australian advisers trained Cambodian soldiers to fight as light infantry in 1972.

Cover

CLICK HERE to download the cover Indonesian and Australian naval officers on the bridge of an Indonesian patrol boat during a joint Indonesian-Australian maritime security patrol targeting illegal fishing in the Timor Sea in April 2012. Dr David Conner y discusses Australia's national security policy. [Photo: Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 63, Number 1, March 2012

Full size pdf of the Autumn 2012 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Defence and Security News

Australian Air Force Cadets - 70 years of service - Peter Growder
Seafarers need protection from Somali pirates - Save Our Seafarers

Opinion

Editorials - Melanesia and The Australian Army's Plan Beersheba - David Leece
Letters
Soldiers and state building - Denis Dragovic, Dean Hagerman and Robert Swope
The military-centric model of building nation-states, prominent over the past decade in Iraq and Afghanistan, has failed to meet the objective that began with winning the war, but now lies in nation building. It is time to question the role the military should play in state building.

Institute Proceedings

The future of Papua New Guinea- Australia relations - Jenny Hayward-Jones
Ms Hayward-Jones assesses Australia's relationship with Papua New Guinea, examining past failures in the relationship and the impact of recent events and global dynamics on it. She makes suggestions as to where the relationship might now head, capitalising on the new opportunities that now present.
Population statistics: navigating the numbers that affect our future - Rod Tiffen, with David Leece
A nation-state's population size is a key strategic driver. David Leece discusses statistics presented by Professor Tiffen on population size and trends for the world and Australia, drawing out economic, social and strategic implications. Population is an issue that Australia can no longer ignore.

Contributed Essay

Crises and strategic perimeters - Coral Bell
Dr Bell examines the concept of strategic perimeters (as opposed to spheres of influence), how it has changed over time since the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, how it can precipitate international crises and how it is playing out in the contemporary, multi-polar world.

Contributed History Note

The sinking of the SS Nellore by the Japanese in 1944 - Patrick Bollen
Sixty-seven years ago, Joe Bollen was on SS Nellore when she was attacked by Japanese submarines. His son, Patrick Bollen, finally urges his father to talk about the resulting horror.

Book Reviews

Washington: a life by Ron Chernow - reviewed by Priscilla Leece
This expertly narrated biography provides a deftly nuanced portrait of America's first general and then first president.
The American Civil War: a military history by John Keegan - reviewed by Priscilla Leece
If you have never read a military history of the Civil War, Sir John Keegan's new history is the one to read.
Spearhead general: the epic story of General Sir Frank Messervy and his men in Eritrea, North Africa and Burma by Henry Maule - reviewed by Bruce Short
This is a story about a British general who did more fighting than any other general in any army anywhere in the Second World War.
Business in great waters: the U-boat wars, 1916-1945 by John Terraine - reviewed by Rob Walls
Twice within 25 years Britain was threatened with starvation by the menace of the U-boat. This book identifies key ingredients of submarine and anti-submarine warfare in World Wars I and II.

Cover

CLICK HERE to download the cover The main entrance of the national parliament building in Por t Moresby, Papua New Guinea [Photo: Steve Shattuck, 29 October 2004; Wikimedia Commons]. Ms Jenny Hayward-Jones discusses the future of Papua New Guinea-Australia in her paper. relations

 United Service, Volume 62, Number 4, December 2011

Full size pdf of the Summer 2011 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute Proceedings

The Army Reserve through the prism of the current commander of the 2nd Division - Craig Williams
Major General Williams explains the current role and tasks of Australia's Army Reserve, especially its 2nd Division, and describes how that will change as Army develops a more effective and efficient total force tailored for Australia's needs over the next 20 years.
A Vietnam minefield experience - Tony White
Dr White describes treating casualties in a minefield during his deployment to South Vietnam in 1966-67 as regimental medical officer of the 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment.
Submarine development in the 20th century - Chris Wood
Rear Admiral Wood describes the evolution of, and the contribution made by, British and Australian submarines during the 20th century.

Contributed Essay

Afghanistan and the AfPak theatre of operations - Bruce Short
Air Vice-Marshal Short traces the recent history of warfare in Afghanistan from 1839 to the present day, putting the current conflict there into its historic perspective.

Book Reviews

Bad characters: sex, crime, mutiny and murder in the Australian Imperial Force by Peter Stanley - reviewed by Michael Hough
Bad Characters deals with the challenges of maintaining discipline in the Australian Imperial Force throughout World War I; and balances the legend of the larrikin Digger hero against the story of those Australian soldiers in the Great War who were not heroes.
Guadalcanal: World War II's fiercest naval campaign by Adrian Stewart - reviewed by Priscilla Leece
From August 1942 to February 1943, Allied and Japanese naval forces fought six major battles and many smaller actions near the Solomons island of Guadalcanal, as both sides sought the use of its airbase, Henderson Field, to refuel planes for action in the Pacific.
Stories from Sandakan: 2/18th Bn by Kevin Smith - reviewed by Michael Hough
This is an account of how only 10 men out of the 174 all ranks of the 2/18th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, who were sent by the Japanese as prisoners of war to Sandakan, Borneo, in 1942-43, survived to return to Australia in 1945.
Starlight: an Australian Army doctor in Vietnam by Dr Tony White, AM, RFD - reviewed by Bruce Short
This excellent memoir by the regimental medical officer of the 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, during its deployment in South Vietnam in 1966-67, should be prescribed reading for today's Service health providers.

Cover

CLICK HERE to download the cover Private Tristan Moylan, D Company, 41st Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment, training for operations near Lismore, New South Wales, on 17 September 2011. The 41st Battalion is an Army Reserve light infantry battalion which presently has troops deployed to East Timor for eight months as part of the 8th Brigade (2nd Division) company group serving with the International Stabilisation Force. The current role of the Army Reserve and the preparation of Reservists for operations are described in a paper by Major General Craig Williams. [Photo: John Waddell, Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 62, Number 3, September 2011

Full size pdf of the Spring 2011 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Defence News

Royal Australian Navy in review: January to July 2011 - Headquarters, Australian Fleet

Opinion

Editorial: Australia's strategic dilemma - balancing China and the United States - David Leece

Institute Proceedings

Inaugural International Defence and Security Dialogue - The Global Security Outlook

Introduction: the global securit outlook and the Blamey Oration - David Leece

Part A: A South-Asian Perspective
The 2011 Blamey Oration: The global strategic outlook: a South-Asian perspective - Arun Kumar Singh
Vice-Admiral Singh observes that China and India are becoming global economic powers, whereas the European powers are in decline. China is building its conventional military and space capacity, and is seeking to break free of its geographic and maritime constraints. Pakistan is the epicentre of global terrorism and is struggling to avoid implosion. Towards mid-century, the United States will remain in the top three economies, and may still have the only navy capable of sustained operations in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, while both India and China are likely to have two-ocean navies capable of operations in the Indo-Pacific Region. War or peace in the Indo-Pacific Region will depend in large part on how these three powers interact.

Part B: Some Australian Perspectives
Perspective 1 - Hamish McDonald
Perspective 2 - Andrew Shearer
Perspective 3 - Rod Lyon
Perspective 4 - Ross Babbage
Concluding remarks - Peter Leahy

Book Reviews

Beneath Hill 60: the Australian miners' secret warfare beneath the trenches of the Western Front by Will Davies - reviewed by David Leece
Beneath Hill 60 is much more than simply the story behind the recent film of the same name. It outlines the history of tunnelling operations in warfare before detailing the use of tunnelling and mining in World War I.
Bardia: myth, reality and the heirs of Anzac by Craig Stockings - reviewed by John Hitchen
In January 1941, 6th Australian Division captured Bardia. Stockings contends controversially that the traditional Bardia story is an example of battlefield 'truth' being obscured by Anzac mythology; and examines why the Australians were so successful beyond the 'innate' qualities of the Australian infantryman.
The memoirs of Lord Ismay by General The Lord Ismay - reviewed by Bruce Short
This memoir is a masterly narrative by a participant at the very centre of British decision-making during the entire Second World War and, inter alia, provides an excellent account of many aspects of Churchill's non-public persona.
All day long the noise of battle by Gerard Windsor - reviewed by Peter Stokes
All day long recounts the experiences of C Company, 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, on Operation Coburg during the 1968 Tet Offensive in Vietnam. Despite being overshadowed by more spectacular battles, it needed to be written and it has been written well.

Cover

CLICK HERE to download the cover Field Marshal Sir Thomas Albert Blamey, GBE, KCB, CMG, DSO, ED - painting (oil on canvas) by William Dargie, 1969 [Australian War Memorial Negative Number ART27646]. The 2011 Blamey Oration, delivered by Vice-Admiral A. K. Singh, PVSM, AVSM, NM, Indian Navy (Ret'd), at the Institute's Inaugural International Defence and Security Dialogue on 26 May 2011.

 United Service, Volume 62, Number 2, June 2011

Click Here for full size pdf of the Winter 2011 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Opinion

Editorial: Food insecurity - David Leece
Asymmetric war - Coral Bell
Letters -
Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith, VC, MG
Major General P.J.S. Sandhu
Major K.S. Myers

Institute Proceedings

The structure of global power and Australia's role - Geoffrey Garrett
Professor Garrett reviews the current structure of global power and concludes that the demise of the United States has been exaggerated; and the United States and China are joined at the economic hip. Australia is a key partner in the United States-China relationship, as much economically as geopolitically.
The Australian landings on Gallipoli: myth versus reality - Hugh Dolan
Squadron Leader Dolan examines several myths about the landings at ANZAC Cove on 25 April 1915 which together make up the Gallipoli legend. He demonstrates, with research into primary sources, that the reality was quite different. Far from being a disaster, the ANZAC landings constituted a successful, daring and unorthodox amphibious assault which achieved its strategic objective.

Contributed Essay

Retreat to Imita: the final stage of the Australian withdrawal on the Kokoda Trail - Rowan Tracey
Rowan Tracey re-examines the historic record of the Kokoda campaign of 1942. He concludes controversially that, had the Australian reinforcements gone straight to Ioribaiwa, the retreat to Imita Ridge would not have been necessary; and that the subsequent follow-up of the Japanese withdrawal was anything but vigorous.

Obituary

Jack Trevor Murn - Keith Pryor
Jack Murn was the first merchant mariner to become a member of the Institute.

Book Reviews

Grant takes command: the vital years of the American Civil War by Bruce Catton - reviewed by Priscilla Leece
Pulitzer Prize winning historian Bruce Catton, chronicles the final two years of the American Civil War, with a focus on Ulysses S. Grant, the North's most successful general.
36 days: the untold story behind the Gallipoli landings by Hugh Dolan - reviewed by Ian Boys
At Gallipoli in 1915, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force had only 36 days in which to plan and execute the largest seaborne assault ever conducted and do so at multiple points along a well-defended shoreline without the element of surprise. Dolan describes how they did it.
Red One: a bomb disposal expert on the front line by Captain Kevin Ivison, GM - reviewed by Eric Ralphs
Red One is the gripping autobiography of a young British bomb disposal officer, focusing primarily on his terrifying experiences in Iraq in 2005-06 facing daily rocket attacks and terrorist bombs.
The causes of war by Geoffrey Blainey - reviewed by Bruce Short
Blainey's up-dated treatise is a survey of all the international wars fought since 1700 up to and including the nuclear era. It is a seminal discourse on the causes of war and peace.

Cover

CLICK HERE to download the cover The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, marked the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Kapyong with a ceremonial parade at Holsworthy Barracks on 24 April 2011. Here, the Colours are marched on parade. In this Korean War battle on 24 April 1951, the Australian battalion and a Canadian unit halted an attacking Chinese infantry division and prevented the capital of South Korea from falling into enemy hands. In doing so, 32 Australians were killed and 53 were wounded. [Photo: Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 62, Number 1, March 2011

Click Here for full size pdf of the Autumn 2011 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Defence News

The Victoria Cross awarded to Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith - Department of Defence

Opinion

Editorials: The Middle East in turmoil; Australia's defence industry; the Australian flag - David Leece
Letter - A flag for all Australians - Laurie Hindmarsh

Institute Proceedings

The 2010 Sir Herman Black Lecture: Review of major international strategic policy developments of 2010 - Andrew Shearer
Andrew Shearer reviews the major international strategic policy developments of 2010 and comments on what they might mean for Australia and for our national security. These trends will continue in 2011, subject to two critical variables: the rate at which the economies of the West recover; and the sustainability of China's growth.
Australia's national security - Michael Shoebridge
Michael Shoebridge outlines Australia's new national security policy and modus operandi. He enumerates several recent achievements, and then describes the challenges that must now be addressed and their implications for the defence and national security agencies.
Australia's defence industry: one last chance - Paul Johnson
Australia's once capable defence industry has been allowed to decline and may soon become essentially a sustainment industry. A new submarine construction programme could prove to be the circuit breaker that we urgently need.

Contributed Essay

Genocide in the 20th century - Bruce Short
Bruce Short explains the modern concept of genocide and illustrates it by drawing examples from the 20th century. He concludes that genocide remains both the gravest and the greatest of the crimes against humanity.

Book Reviews

The Blue Nile by Alan Moorehead - reviewed by David Leece
This is a well-written history of the Blue Nile from 1762 to 1868, including Bruce's initial survey of the river (1762- 73), the French invasion of Egypt (1798), the Turkish conquest of the Sudan (1821) and the British expedition to Ethiopia (1868).
Four years to remember with RAF Bomber Command: memories of an Australian pilot during WWII by Flight Lieutenant George M. Burcher - reviewed by Tony Mumford
This is the autobiography of a Royal Australian Air Force pilot who flew with the Royal Air Force's No. 10 Squadron, Bomber Command, on operations over Europe during World War II.
Aussie soldiers reflect on the Rwandan genocide by Kevin O'Halloran - reviewed by Bruce Short
The 1994 Rwandan Genocide cost up to 1 million lives in a little over 100 days. A small team of ADF medical and security personnel did their best to assist the victims.

Cover

CLICK HERE to download the cover Corporal Benjamin Roberts-Smith, VC, MG, Special Air Service Regiment, the 98th Australian to have been awarded the Victoria Cross. [Photo: Department of Defence].

 United Service, Volume 61, Number 4, December 2010

Click Here for full size pdf of Summer 2010 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Opinion and letters

The global strategic outlook - David Leece
Women serving as infantry in combat - Bill Phillips
Origin of the Australian Flag - Australian National Flag Association
(Letters)
Conflict in command during the Kokoda campaign - Gordon Maitland; David McLachlan
A flag for all Australians - John Howells; Ken Myers
The Fovant Badges - Geoffrey Cotte

Institute Proceedings

Forces Command - David Morrison
Army's new Forces Command combines the former Land and Training Commands and comprises some 85 per cent of the Australian Army. Here, General Morrison explains why it was formed and where it is heading.
Gliding off to war: the use of gliders as weapons in World War II - James Oglethorpe
This account of glider warfare during World War II details the operational use of gliders and explains why they quickly disappeared from military inventories after the war.

Contributed Essay

Keeping the peace - Egypt 1919 - Michael Tyquin
This is a little known account of early Australian peacekeeping efforts by the ANZAC Mounted Division during the Egyptian Rebellion of 1919.

Book Reviews

The ANZACS: Gallipoli to the Western Front by Peter Pedersen - reviewed by David Leece
This is an excellent, one-volume account of the contribution of the Australian Imperial Force, including the Australian Flying Corps, to the Great War of 1914-18.
Rommel's desert war: waging World War II in North Africa, 1941-1943 by Martin Kitchen - reviewed by Michael Hough
This is a meticulous, research-based insight into the Afrika Korps campaign and the reasons Rommel has remained the most revered Axis-power military leader of World War II.
Operation Victory by Major-General Sir Francis de Guingand - reviewed by Bruce Short
From our library, this is the personal memoir of the chief-of-staff of Eighth Army (1942-43) and 21st Army Group (1944-45) in World War II.
Cruiser: the life and loss of HMAS Perth and her crew by Mike Carlton - reviewed by David Leach
Cruiser is an heroic work which tracks the two-and-a-half years' service of the light cruiser, HMAS Perth, from July l939 until her sinking in the Sunda Strait on 1 March l942.

Cover

CLICK HERE to download the cover An M1 Abrahms Main Battle Tank and a Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter at Lavarack Barracks, Townsville, on 5 October 2010 during the build-up to Exercise Hamel, the first major field exercise conducted by the Army's new Forces Command. Exercise Hamel was held in the Townsville and Tully Training Areas from 10 October to 11 November 2010 and involved more than 6000 troops from Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Commander Forces Command, Major General David Morrison, describes Forces Command and its functions. [Photo: Department of Defence].

 United Service, Volume 61, Number 3, September 2010

Click Here for full size pdf of Spring 2010 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Opinion

Australia's commitment to Afghanistan - David Leece
Letters

Institute Proceedings

Australia's air combat capability 2010 - 2020 - Mel Hupfeld
Australia's small, but potent, air combat capability is being upgraded to maintain its deterrence and regional competitiveness over the next decade and beyond.
John and Craig Laffin - Philip Carey
The late John Laffin, a military historian, acquired a vast library including many books of extraordinary heritage value. His son, Craig, has donated some 4000 of them to the Institute.
Forgotten ANZACs: the campaign in Greece, 1941 - Peter Ewer
Ewer outlines the background to the ill-fated Greek campaign, describes some of the Corps' major battles and details its eventual fate once withdrawal from Greece became inevitable. Use the button to your lrft to view a video of the presentation.
Japanese submarine attack on Sydney Harbour, 31 May 1942 - Bob Treloar
Three Japanese midget submarines attacked naval shipping in Sydney Harbour on the night of 31 May 1942. Treloar outlines the background to the attack, the operation and its aftermath.

History Note

Afghanistan: a brief history of recent land invasions - Bruce Short
The current conflict in Afghanistan needs to be understood against a background of five attempts since 1839 by foreign powers to impose their will on Afghanistan.

Biography

Who was ...... Charles Frederick Cox? - David Leece
Major-General C. F. Cox, CB, CMG, DSO, VD, a citizen cavalryman and Boer War hero, commanded the Australian 1st Light Horse Brigade in Sinai and Palestine in World War I.

Obituary

Rear Admiral N. S. Coates, AM, RAN - David Leece
Rear Admiral Nigel Coates, a former vice-patron of the Institute (2007 - 2009), has died after a short illness.

Book Reviews

Light Horse: a history of Australia's mounted arm by Jean Bou - reviewed by Roland Millbank
This excellent book examines the Light Horse from its colonial origins to its demise in 1944.
The name's still Charlie: a biography of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Green, DSO by Olwyn Green - reviewed by David Leece
Green, a citizen soldier pre- and post-World War II, commanded 2/11th Australian Infantry Battalion in New Guinea (1945) and 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, in Korea (1950).
Red coat dreaming: how colonial Australia embraced the British Army by Craig Wilcox - reviewed by Roland Millbank
Wilcox blends military, personal and social history to produce a most interesting and readable account of the period in the 19th century when the British Army was also Australia's army.
The Sydney Sailors' Home 1859 - 2009: 150 years of caring for seafarers by Jan Bowen - reviewed by David Leece
This beautifully written and presented book traces the history of the Sydney Sailors' Home which, from 1865 - 1979, provided accommodation for merchant seafarers in Sydney.
Those damned rebels: Britain's American empire in revolt by Michael Pearson and The Revolutionary War and the military policy of the United States by Francis Vinton Greene - both reviewed by Priscilla Leece
These books, one written from the British, the other from the American, perspective, challenged my previous understandings of the American War of Independence (1775-81).
Diggers and Greeks: the Australian campaigns in Greece and Crete by Maria Hill - reviewed by John Hitchen
This account of the attempted defence of Greece and Crete in April-May 1941 uniquely examines relationships that Australian soldiers formed with the Greek civilian population.
Danger close: commanding 3 Para in Afghanistan by Colonel Stuart Tootall DSO OBE - reviewed by Terry Smith
Danger close is a first-hand account by the commanding officer of 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, of the British entry into Helmand province, Afghanistan, in 2006.

Cover

CLICK HERE to download the cover As Air Commodore Mel Hupfeld explains, Australia is acquiring 24 Block II F/A18-F Super Hornet (Rhino), a truly multi-role aircraft, as a bridging combat aircraft during the transition to the F35 Joint Strike Fighter. Here, the first of the Australian Super Hornets are ferried across the Pacific on 19 March 2010. [Photo: Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 61, Number 2, June 2010

Click Here for full size pdf of Winter 2010 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Opinion

Nuclear proliferation - David Leece
Lessons from the employment of Reservists in the British Expeditionary Force in 1914 - Bruce Short
Letter: A flag for all Australians - Ken Myers

Institute Proceedings

The Royal Australian Navy Fleet: past, present and future - Steve Gilmore
Rear Admiral Steve Gilmore, recently appointed commander of the Australian Fleet, outlines the Fleet's capabilities, its current operations and his plans for its future development.
Roseville to 'Prunesville': the ups and downs of a boy airman in England in World War II - Stuart Doyle
Stuart Doyle was stationed in England when serving with Bomber Command during World War II. Here, he shares some light-hearted and humorous recollections of his English sojourn.
The recovery of bodies from the Battle of Fromelles - Mike O'Brien
The bodies of 250 Allied soldiers killed during the Battle of Fromelles on 19-20 July 1916, previously buried en masse , have been re-buried individually in a new military cemetery.

Contributed Essay

Conflict in command during the Kokoda campaign of 1942: did General Blamey deserve the blame? - Rowan Tracey
Rowan Tracey re-examines the evidence which led General T. A. Blamey to sack Lieutenant-General S. F. Rowell, Major-General A. S. Allen and Brigadier A. W . Potts in 1942.

Biography

Who was ...... Gideon James Grieve? - Donald Ramsay
During the Boe War (1899 - 1902), Lieutenant G. J. Grieve was killed-in-action at the battle of Paardeberg on 18 February 1900 while gallantly commanding a company of The Black Watch.

Book Reviews

The Royal Australian Navy and MacArthur by Ian Pfennigwerth - reviewed by David Leach
This professional work records the contribution of Australia's navy to the war in the Pacific in 1942-1945 and provides a new perspective on MacArthur's part in the eventual Allied victory.
The history of the University of New South Wales Regiment 1952 - 2006 by D. J. Deasey and K. J. McKay - reviewed by Rod White
This is a magnificent record of the University of New South Wales Regiment. It will become a major reference on the development of pre-commissioning training in the reserve forces.
The last parallel: a marine' s war journal by Martin Russ - reviewed by David Leece
United States Marine Corps Corporal Martin Russ, whose 1st Marine Division faced the Chinese Army in Korea in 1953, paints an excellent picture of life and combat on the front line.

Cover

CLICK HERE to download the cover Lieutenant Anita Nemarich, RAN, navigating officer of HMAS Anzac , on the port bridge wing during fleet training in the Eastern Australian Exercise Areas on 5 March 2010. In this issue (above), Rear Admiral Steve Gilmore, AM, CSC , RAN, commander of the Australian Fleet, who is responsible for raising and training fleet personnel and units, outlines the Fleet's capabilities, its current operations and his plans for its future development. [Photo: Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 61, Number 1, March 2010

Click Here for full size pdf of Autumn 2010 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Institute Proceedings

Review of major inter national strategic policy developments of 2009 - Andrew Shearer
Andrew Shearer reviews 2009's major international policy developments relevant to Australia and comments on what they might mean for us and our national security. He focuses on: national institutions, policies and political leadership; the nation-state; global power shifts to Asia; power shifts within Asia; and non-traditional threats. He concludes that, in 2009, Australia again showed itself to be the 'lucky country', but it cannot afford to be complacent.
Gallipoli and its history in the media - Harvey Broadbent
Harvey Broadbent examines the way the media have presented the Gallipoli story over the past 90 years. For the first 50 years, the media presented the Anzacs at Gallipoli as creating a distinctive tradition by exhibiting qualities such as mateship and military prowess. This abruptly changed in the 1960s to a claim that the earlier message was essentially an overly generalised myth perpetuated to develop a national identity. Since the 1980s, a more balanced blend of these two messages has evolved.

Contributed Essays

State-sponsored terrorism: torture and the FLN in the Battle of the Casbah, Algiers, 1956-1957 - Bruce Short
Systematic use of torture was French government policy in the Battle of the Casbah from June 1956 to September 1957. The wider ramifications of this policy for France and the international community are described, including France's relations with the United Nations and the role of the Maghreb nationalists and the Afro-Asian bloc. The impact of the 1957 Suez Crisis is also explored, together with who was responsible for initiating the torture policy, why France fought such a bitter conflict, and the over all human costs of the war.
What is there to tell? - Bill Phillips
Recognising the desire of new generations to learn what war was like f o r those who have fought for Australia and the frequent reluctance of those who have fought to share their experiences, Bill Phillips has drawn on his diaries to record a typical day in the life of an Australian infantryman on Bougainville in 1945

Biography

Who was ...... Charles Henry Brand? - A. J. Sweeting [edited by David Leece]
Major-General C. H. Brand, CB , CMG, DSO, a Boer War veteran, joined the permanent military forces in 1905. In the Great War, he was brigade major of 3rd Brigade at the Gallipoli landing (1915) and later commanded the 8 Battalion at Steele's Post. In France and Flanders (1916 - 1918), he commanded 4th Infantry Brigade. Post-war, he held senior army staff appointments until retiring in 1933, and then represented Victoria in the Senate until 1947. He was president of The United Service Institution of New South Wales in 1924.

Book Reviews

From cadet to colonel: the record of a life of active service by Sir Thomas Seaton (1866) Spoken from the front: real heroes from the battlefields of Afghanistan edited by Andy McNab - both reviewed by David Leece
With Britain again at war in Afghanistan, it is instructive to compare the current experience with that of the 19th century Little has changed fundamentally over the last 160 years . From cadet to colonel is an officer' s diary of the campaigns of the British and Indian armies in Afghanistan and India from 1822 to 1860. Spoken from the front pro v ides an insight into modern war fighting at the tactical level as experienced by British service personnel in Afghanistan between 2006 and 2008.
Mont St Quentin: a soldier's battle by Bill Billett - reviewed by Gordon Maitland
I would have liked to have reported favourably on this book, but, I cannot. The book comprises 184 pages, but only 68 pages are given to the actual battle. The author appears to have read widely (but only from British sources) and adds a deal of padding without regard to the relevance of the material.
The Australian Light Horse by Roland Perry - reviewed by Roland Millbank
There have been a number of books written on the Australian Light Horse so I approached this book seeking a new perspective on this well-known chronicle of the Great War . I did not find a convincing one . That said, The Australian Light Horse is a very readable story.
First blood: Australia's first great sea battle by Larry Writer - reviewed by Richard Francis
This is the latest book on the victory of the light cruiser, HMAS Sydney, over the elusive German commerce raider, SMS Emden, in the Indian Ocean early in the first year of Word War 1. While the story is well known and worthy of a fresh approach, this book fails to satisfy any serious nautical reader, despite being well-researched.

Cover

CLICK HERE to download the cover The Defence Signals Directorate Cyber Security Operations Centre on 13 January 2010. It assesses cyber threats to Australia and coordinates responses to cyber incidents of national importance . It is staffed by information technology experts, engineers, analysts and scientists. Cyber threats are a growing risk to national security and became increasingly so during 2009. [Photo: Department of Defence].

 United Service, Volume 60, Number 4, December 2009

Click Here for full size pdf of Summer 2009 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Comment and Opinion

Pakistan - David Leece
Brigadier David Leece comments on the successes and failures of the 2009 'fighting season' in Pakistan.

Australia's Defence White Paper and China - David Leece
Brigadier David Leece comments on China's response to Australia's recently released defence policy.

Lectures and Presentations

The future of the Royal United Services Institute - Chris Richie
Vice Admiral Chris Ritchie, the National President, presents a strategic review of the Royal United Services Institute in Australia, concluding with his vision for its development over the next five years.
Border Protection Command - Kevin Downs
Border Protection Command (BPC) is the Australian Government's lead organisation for security response in the Australian maritime domain. It is a standing multi-agency task force, which, during a civil maritime emergency, may draw on officers from many commonwealth, state and territory government agencies as well as civilian contractors, under the operational control of a two-star admiral, to address the threat. Wing Commander Kevin Downs outlines the role and composition of BPC and explains how it executes its function.
The State Emergency Service of New South Wales - Murray Kear
Commissioner Murray Kear explains the role of the State Emergency Service and how it fits into the wider emergency management framework which addresses natural disasters and other emergency incidents in New South Wales. The State Emergency Service is the lead combat agency for flood, storm and tsunami. It also supports other combat agencies when they have the lead in disasters and emergencies such as bushfires, road-crash rescues in regional areas, and search and rescue (urban, alpine and bush).

Biography

Who was ....... Charles Rosenthal? - A. J. Hill [edited by David Leece]
Major-General Sir Charles Rosenthal was a citizen artilleryman who in the Great War rose to command the 2nd Australian Division during the final offensives of 1918. After the War, he was President of the United Service Institution of New South Wales, a Sydney alderman and a member of the New South Wales Parliament. During World War II, he was Administrator of Norfolk Island.

Obituary

Private Edward Kenna, VC - Gordon Maitland
Private Edward (Ned) Kenna, 2/4th Australian Infantry Battalion, 6th Australian Division, won the Victoria Cross during an attack on the Japanese at Wirui Mission (near Wewak), New Guinea, on 15 May 1945. He died last July and was accorded a State Funeral at St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Melbourne.

Book Reviews

The proud 6th: an illustrated history of the 6th Australian Division 1939 - 1946 by Mark Johnston - reviewed by Michael Hough
The 6th Australian Division was the first infantry division to be raised as part of the 2nd Australian Imperial Force in 1939. The author combines a compelling treatment of the human level of military operations, an attractive writing style that makes complex war situations readily understandable, and an excellent use of photographs from war archives and personal diaries - a most impressive and highly readable book.
Sydney cipher and search: solving the last great naval mystery of the Second World War by Captain Peter Hore - reviewed by Richard Francis
This is the latest book on the discovery of the wrecks of HMAS Sydney and the German auxiliary cruiser HSK Kormoran in 2008. It is a gripping book, so well written that it is impossible to put down. The author has been involved in research on Sydney for nearly 10 years and while there was not much new to discover in the official records, his measured application in partnership with wreck hunter David Mearns delivered the goods.
Somme mud: the war experiences of an Australian infantryman in France 1916 - 1919 by E. P. F. Lynch (Will Davies, editor) - reviewed by David Leece
The Great War has spawned some remarkable books over the 90 years since its cessation, yet this book is among the best of them. It describes trench warfare on the Western Front as experienced by the common soldier - in this case an Australian infantry private who fought in each of the major campaigns from late 1916 to the war's end.

Cover

CLICK HERE to download the cover HMAS Darwin in the South China Sea on 15 October 2009 during Exercise Bersama Lima 2009, a Five-Power Defence Arrangements exercise involving defence forces from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom [Photo: Department of Defence].

 United Service, Volume 60, Number 3, September 2009

Click Here for full size pdf of Spring 2009 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Comment and Opinion

Australia's Defence White Paper 2009 - David Leece
The Commonwealth Government released its long-anticipated Defence White Paper 2009, which sets out its defence policy for the next two decades, on 2 May 2009. Here, Brigadier David Leece outlines its main provisions.

Lectures and Presentations

Defence White Paper 2009: what does it mean for the Australian Defence Force Reserves? - Greg Melick
Major General Greg Melick outlines the implications of the Defence White Paper 2009 for the Navy, Army and Air Force Reserves. It requires them to make an even greater contribution to operational capability and to current operations than they have done in the very busy decade just past. Operational deployment at some stage of an individual's career will be expected as a natural consequence of part-time service in the Australian Defence Force.
HMAS AE2 - Terence Roach
On 25 April each year, Australians focus on the heroic exploits of the Australian Army at Gallipoli. As the soldiers landed on the beaches, however, some 80 kilometres away in the Dardanelles Strait, Australian sailors in the submarine, HMAS AE2, were on a hazardous mission to support their brothers-in-arms ashore. Here, Commodore Terry Roach tells their story and then outlines recent steps to commemorate their deeds and secure the wreck of the AE2.

Contributed papers

The new Armed Forces Act of the United Kingdom - Nigel Evans
Britain has replaced its single-service discipline acts with a single tri-service act. Here, Nigel Evans explains the background to these changes and outlines the key provisions of the new legislation.
The Indian Mutiny - John Muir
With the British Army currently battling a Pashtun insurgency in southern Afghanistan, it can be instructive to recall how the British Army has dealt with previous uprisings in southern Asia. In this extract from his unpublished memoirs, the late Private John Muir recounts his experiences as a private soldier in the 42nd Regiment during the Indian Mutiny of 1857, which was a serious challenge to British rule in India.

Biography

Who was ....... John Soame Richardson? - David Leece
Major-General J. S. Richardson, CB, a veteran of the Crimean (1855) and Maori (1860-61 and 1862-64) wars, was Commandant of the New South Wales Military Forces from 1865 to 1892. He commanded the New South Wales Contingent during the Soudan Expedition (1885) and founded The United Service Institution of New South Wales in 1888.

Book Reviews

Escapes and incursions: Sabah 1942-45 by Kevin Smith - reviewed by Roland Millbank
Escapes and Incursions is three, separate, interwoven stories. There is the story of the Australian prisoners of war; there is the story of the official attempts to harass the Japanese and rescue the prisoners (Z Force); and finally, there are the stories of the local people who risked everything, including their families, to help advance the allies to victory over Japan.
The Mississippi Valley in the Civil War by John Fiske - reviewed by Priscilla Leece
John Fiske, a noted 19th century American historian, succinctly outlines the strategy and tactics of the major western battles during the American Civil War. The reader emerges with a clear understanding of the naval and land campaign that led the collapse of the Confederacy's western flank with the destruction of Hood's army at Nashville in December 1864.
The longest siege: Tobruk, the battle that saved North Africa by Robert Lyman - reviewed by Michael Hough
The Longest Siege is a comprehensive, tactical-level review of the siege of Tobruk, a strategic port in North Africa, by the Axis and its successful defence by the Allies during World War II.
Military of the Hunter: citizen defence forces of Newcastle and the Hunter Valley 1855 to 2005 edited by L B Kelly - reviewed by David Leece
Military of the Hunter records the important contribution made by the citizen naval, military and air force units of Newcastle and the Hunter Valley of New South Wales to the defence of Australia over the past 150 years. It is a valuable contribution to the military and social history of both the Colony of New South Wales and the later Commonwealth of Australia.

Cover

CLICK HERE to download the cover Soldiers of Australian Monitoring and Reconstruction Task Force 2 on patrol in the Baluchi Valley, Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan, on 3 July 2009, seeking to improve security in the valley ahead of upcoming elections. MRTF2 is based on 1st Battalion Royal Australian Regiment Battle Group [Photo: Department of Defence].

 United Service, Volume 60, Number 2, June 2009

Click Here for full size pdf of Winter 2009 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Special Feature: The War in Afghanistan

Introduction: The war in Afghanistan and its wider context - David Leece
Australia is at war in Afghanistan and has been for more than seven years. In this introduction to a special feature on the war, Brigadier David Leece, editor of United Service, traces the history of the war and explains that, over the last two years, the Taliban has launched an increasingly successful insurgency war in southern and eastern Afghanistan from bases in Pakistan, with a view to making the continued occupation of Afghanistan impossible for the occupying governments to sustain politically, if not militarily. He outlines the current global context in which the war is being fought, focusing on those aspects of the wider global situation which are having a strong influence on the war, namely recent changes in United States foreign policy, the improving situation in Iraq, and the very difficult situation in Pakistan.
Strategic Level: Can the war in Afghanistan be won? - Jim Molan
On 24 February 2009, Major General Jim Molan addressed the Institute on the topic "Modern warfare - an Australian general's perspective", in which he drew heavily on his recent operational experience, especially as director of operations of allied forces in Iraq in 2004-05. In this essay, General Molan applies the insights he gained and lessons he learned in Iraq to the current conflict in Afghanistan. He observes that the conflict is not going well and that the probability is that we will lose unless we change our approach to it. He outlines what the allies must do to win and canvasses options available to the Australian government and defence force. While a synopsis of his views has been published in the daily press, this is the first time that the full paper has been published.
Operational and Tactical Levels: Securing Afghanistan's future: Reconstruction Task Force Operations in Uruzgan Province - Stuart Yeaman
In his essay commencing on p. 10 on what must be done to win the war in Afghanistan, Major General Jim Molan observes that it is inevitable that the military will have to deliver reconstruction in the early stages of a counter insurgency campaign; and that this is now happening in Afghanistan. In this paper, Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Yeaman reports on the Australian reconstruction operations in Uruzgan Province in 2008 and their increasing success in winning 'the battle for the hearts and minds' of the local population.
Tactical Level: A day with the cavalry in Afghanistan - Hayden Archibald
Major Hayden Archibald, then a captain on exchange with the United States 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, describes a day in the life of a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan in 2008.
Tactical Level: Senior Taliban leader killed in Oruzgan - Department of Defence
A senior Taliban insurgent leader, Mullah Abdul Bari, was killed in Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan, in March 2009 in an operation by Australian Special Forces and Afghan National Army troops.

Lectures and Presentations

Mine warfare and clearance diving in the Royal Australian Navy: strategic need and future capability - Martin Brooker
The Australian Navy Mine Warfare and Clearance Diving Group was formed in 2001 from the Australian Mine Warfare and Clearance Diving Forces as part of a reorganisation of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The group's function is to manage all inputs, services and resources needed to deliver the mine warfare and clearance diving capabilities required to fight and win at sea and to contribute to military support operations. In this paper, Captain Martin Brooker outlines the strategic need for a mine warfare and clearance diving capability in the RAN, the history of the capability and future requirements.

Cover

Australian and Afghan National Army engineers, assisted by local Afghan civilians, constructing a creek crossing in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, in 2008. The war in Afghanistan is the main theme of this issue of United Service. Note: the provincial name is spelt variously "Uruzgan" and "Oruzgan". [Photo: Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 60, Number 1, March 2009

Click Here for full size pdf of Autumn 2009 CoverISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Comment and Opinion

Editorials
National Security Statement
comment on the statement by the Prime Minister to Parliament on 4 December 2008
Defence White Paper
comment on the white paper due to be released by mid 2009
Re-building Australia's Shipping Industry
comment on a Commonwealth parliamentary standing committee report on a 2008 inquiry into coastal shipping policy and regulation
Letter on Infantry Morale

Biography

Trooper Mark Gregor Strang Donaldson, VC - Department of Defence
Trooper M. G. S. Donaldson has been awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia for most conspicuous acts of gallantry in action in a circumstance of great peril in Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan. This article includes a biography of Trooper Donaldson, his Victoria Cross citation and a brief history of the Victoria Cross.

Lectures and Presentations

Defence white papers: an alternative view - Neil James
Australia's Defence white papers have a poor record. There has been confusion of defence policy with defence strategy; and illogical attempts to predict the future in detail and then narrowly configure the defence force accordingly - with disastrous results. Previous white papers were driven by the funding thought to be available politically. Instead, there should have been robust assessments of our strategic situation and only then decisions made about what could be afforded and what would have to be risk-managed otherwise. Neil James considers that prospects are better for the white paper due to be released in early to mid-2009. In this paper, he outlines what he considers has gone wrong in the past and what needs to be done to ensure that future white papers make an intellectually robust and effective contribution to Australia's defence preparedness.
International security in 2008: the year in review - Rory Medcalf
2008 saw many challenges to international security. In this paper, Rory Medcalf highlights the ones that he considers were of most significance from the perspective of Australia's national security, focusing on events that tell us something about how our world will be five, ten or twenty years from now and drawing out lessons from them for our future defence and security policy, including the forthcoming Defence white paper.

Commemorative Feature

The Western Front 1918: victory and armistice - Philip Carey
After more than three years of stalemate and grinding frustration, accompanied by extremely heavy casualties, warfare on the Western Front suddenly broke into a fierce war of manoeuvre that left both sides reeling between the exaltation of astounding success and the deep despondency of looming defeat. The Australian Imperial Force, though lucky to miss the ferocity of the German spring offensive, nevertheless helped to stem the tide and go on to play a significant part in at least the beginning of an astonishing fight back by the British Armies in France in the last 100 days of the War. In this second of two articles [The first was P. R. Carey (2008). The Western Front 1918: an advance towards victory. United Service 59 (3), 21-24.], Philip Carey traces that remarkable turn of events after 8 August 1918.

Book Reviews

Churchill and Australia by Graham Freudenberg - reviewed by Ken Broadhead
This book covers the extraordinary saga of Churchill's relationship with Australia from 1907 to 1955. Churchill, although widely admired in Australia, is portrayed here as totally focused on the security of Britain and the use of Dominions' assets to support that security, irrespective of their interests and wishes. Freudenberg concludes that the principal lesson that Australians should draw from this relationship is the extent to which we must rely upon ourselves. This book will be hailed as an Australian masterpiece.
Soldiers without borders: beyond the SAS a global network of brothers-in-arms by Ian McPhedran - reviewed by David Leece
There comes a time in most military careers when 'regimental soldiering' is clearly coming to an end and a decision has to be made about what to do next - learn to 'fly a military desk' or carve out a new career in the civilian world. Soldiers without borders tells the stories of some 40 former members of Australia's elite Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment, who, when they reached this mid-career decision-point, chose the civilian option.
Scarecrow army: the Anzacs at Gallipoli by Leon Davidson - reviewed by David Leece
Scarecrow Army is a brief account of the military contribution made by Australia and New Zealand to the Gallipoli Campaign from 25 April to 19 December 1915. While written for children aged 9 years and older, it is also suitable for anyone seeking a concise summary of the campaign and the key battles in which the Anzacs fought.

Cover

CLICK HERE to download the cover Trooper M. G. S. Donaldson, VC, Special Air Service Regiment, who has been awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia for most conspicuous acts of gallantry in Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan, on 2 September 2008. A biography of Trooper Donaldson, including his VC citation, is included in this issue - see above [Photo: Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 59, Number 4, December 2008

Click Here for full size pdf of Summer 2008 Cover- ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Lectures and Presentations

The Australian Army - Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie
Australia's naval, military and air forces have evolved into a unified Australian Defence Force which deploys purpose-specific joint task forces to conduct operations under the direction of Headquarters Joint Operations Command. In this paper, the new Chief of Army outlines the role of the Army within the new Australian Defence Force command and control paradigm, explains the need for Army's structure to be adapted to that paradigm and provides an insight into the intellectual underpinning of Army's ongoing modernisation.
Challenges facing the Australian Army's Land Command - Major General Mark Kelly
Land Command has commanded the bulk of the Army's conventional land forces since its inception as a functional command in November 1973. Since this time, Field Force Command (as it was known until 1987) and Land Command have been responsible for ensuring Army's conventional forces are trained, equipped, manned and ready to deploy on operations. In this paper, the Land Commander details the contemporary challenges facing the command as it contends with a high operational tempo in a period of strategic uncertainty.
The Royal Australian Navy in Malaya, Malaysia and Singapore, 1948-1971 - Dr Ian Pfennigwerth
Between 1948, when Australia assumed strategic responsibility for British Commonwealth sea lines of communication to and from South-East Asia, and 1971, when the Five-Power Defence Arrangements came into effect, ships and men of the Royal Australian Navy served with almost unnoticed distinction in defending the newly emerging nations of Malaya, Malaysia and Singapore. In this paper, Ian Pfennigwerth outlines the role the Navy played during the Malayan Emergency in the 1950s, the early development of the Royal Malayan Navy and Indonesia's 'confrontation' of Malaysia in the early-mid 1960s.

Contributed Essay

Fromelles 1916: Is the Australian Official History more 'truthful' than the British? - Mr Chris Baker
The report of the Battles Nomenclature Committee, published in May 1921, gave title to an inglorious episode that took place south of Armenti res on 19 July 1916: the Attack at Fromelles. This essay examines the treatment of this event by the Australian and British official historians, including the different philosophical approaches guiding the historians, and assesses the relative accuracy and 'truthfulness' of the resulting histories.

Commemorative Feature

Coral and Balmoral: Vietnam, May-June 1968 - Brigadier David Leece
2008 is the 40th anniversary of the battle for fire support bases Coral and Balmoral, where some 2000 Australian and New Zealand soldiers were confronted by more than 5000 North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong troops between 12 May and 6 June 1968. It was the largest Australian engagement of the Vietnam War and Australia's largest land battle since World War II.

Book Reviews

Climate wars by Gwynne Dyer - reviewed by Dr David Leece
In 2007, Professor Alan Dupont forecast that global climate change would pose extraordinary challenges to 21st century society and become the international security issue of the century. Since then several books have been published that expand on this theme. They vary in quality, but this one by Gwynne Dyer is one of the best. I commend it particularly to younger Defence Force officers, staff college students, diplomats and the like who want a glimpse of the world over the span of their careers.
The Collins class submarine story by Peter Yule and Derek Woolner - reviewed by Rear Admiral Tony Hunt
The construction of the Collins-class submarines was Australia's largest and most expensive military purchase of the 20th century. This book tells the story of the project from its origins in the late 1970s to the final delivery of the sixth boat in 2003. The nation now has a fleet of exceptional submarines, much advantage was gained within local industry and the political storm surrounding the project seems to have abated. This is a well constructed history of an important national project and essential pre-reading for future directors of major projects.

Cover

Lieutenant General K. J. Gillespie, AO, DSC, CSM, Chief of Army, who was the guest-of-honour at the Institute's 120th Anniversary Dinner on 22 August 2008. General Gillespie's address is included in this issue see above. [Photo: Department of Defence]

 United Service, Volume 59, Number 3, September 2008

Click Here for full size pdf of Spring 2008 Cover- ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Lectures and Presentations

Countering the improvised explosive devices threat - Phil Winter, Alex Meiliunas and Steve Bliss
The improvised explosive device (IED) has become an enemy weapon of choice in the urban guerrilla warfare being waged against coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Australian Defence Force has formed a counter-IED task force to study this development and to devise counter measures. In this paper, the nature of the threat is explained and actions being taken to counter it are outlined.

Contributed Review

Bioterrorism: menace of microbiological science - Bruce Short
Air Vice-Marshal Bruce Short, former Surgeon-General of the ADF, reviews the development of biological warfare technologies and the international safeguards and monitoring systems enacted since World War I. He describes some recent agents that have been weaponised by genetic engineering; outlines the Soviet experience with inhalational anthrax disease; and overviews recently developed global public health surveillance systems which may provide early warning of bioterrorism.

Commemorative Features

The Western Front 1918: an advance towards victory - Philip Carey
1918 has been described as the most dramatic and decisive year in British military history to that time. Defeat stared the Allies in the face early on, yet in the summer the British and French Armies staged a remarkable recovery and began to drive the German armies back. The Australian Imperial Force shared both the crises and successes of that year. In this first of two articles, Brigadier Philip Carey provides an overview of the dramatic events in the summer of 1918 that began the advance to final victory by the Entente Powers.
HMAS Armidale: a story of survival - Brian Swan
This is a story of an Australian corvette and her company who, while doing their job in the Timor Sea on 1December 1942, quite unexpectedly found themselves in an extraordinary situation. It tells of their courage and tenacity against the odds and how these young men rose above themselves to survive the most harrowing 9-day ordeal.

Book Reviews

Your number's not dry by Eric Hayes - reviewed by Doug Roser
This is an easy-to-read insight into life in the Royal Air Force (RAF) from immediately after World War II until the early 1990s.
Gallipoli - attack from the sea by Victor Rudenno - reviewed by Ken Broadhead
This is a book about the British and French land and sea campaigns against the Turks in the Dardanelles in 1914-16 and the response of the Turks and their German and Austrian allies to them. It explains clearly just how inter-dependent the land and sea campaigns conducted by the British and French were and recounts how offensive naval operations preceded and were concurrent with the land operations right up to the evacuation.
Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War by G. F. R. Henderson - reviewed by Priscilla Leece
The Institute's Ursula Davidson Library contains a treasure-trove of military literature dating from the late 18th century, and this biography of Lieutenant-General Thomas J. ("Stonewall") Jackson of American Civil War fame, by one of Victorian England's leading military historians, is among the best of them.

Cover

Signaller Sean McCarthy, Special Air Service Regiment, who was killed in a road-side bomb attack in Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan, on 8 July 2008, aged 25 years. In an article commencing on page 9, Brigadier Phil Winter and colleagues describe the improvised explosive devices threat and actions being taken by the Australian Defence Force to counter it. Photo: Department of Defence.

 United Service, Volume 59, Number 2, June 2008

Click Here for full size pdf of Winter 2008 Cover- ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Commemorative Features

"Happy Valley": the Ruhr Valley as Experienced by Bomber Command Aircrews in World War II - Flying Officer Ross Pearson
Ross Pearson provides an insight into what the aircrews of Bomber Command experienced when attacking targets in Germany's industrial heartland during World War II.
Operation Pedestal - Brigadier David Leece
Operation Pedestal, which was undertaken in August 1942 to re-supply the island of Malta, is illustrative of the vital role played by the Merchant Navy in World War II.

Lectures and Presentations

Air Transport Operations - Past, Present and Future - Air Commodore 'Jack' Plenty
Air transport is an integral component of contemporary military operations. In the Royal Australian Air Force, this capability is provided by the Air Lift Group. This paper outlines the Air Lift Group, its genesis in World War II, its current capability and the challenges it now faces.
Researching Gallipoli: the Gallipoli Centenary Turkish Archives Research Project - Associate Professor Harvey Broadbent
Little is known from primary historical sources about the Turkish conduct of the Gallipoli campaign in 1915, which the Turks refer to as the Canakkale campaign. This knowledge gap is about to be filled by the Gallipoli Centenary Turkish Archives Research Project.
The Decline of Australian Shipping Since World War II - Dr John Spiers
At the end of World War II, the Australian-flagged merchant shipping industry was a vital sector of the Australian transport system. In the post-war period, it was unable to withstand the competitive forces ranged against it. The Government eventually established its own Australian National Line (ANL) which out-competed the private shipowners in many trades, but political decisions imposed on ANL led to its eventual unprofitability and sale in the 1990s. Australia's extensive shipping needs are now met primarily by foreign-flagged and foreign-crewed vessels.

Book Review

The Beijing Conspiracy by Brigadier Adrian d'Hagé - reviewed by Brigadier David Leece
This is a novel by a highly experienced Australian soldier and security expert which exposes four different terrorist scenarios - contingencies that our intelligence, defence and security agencies must plan and rehearse for and for which they must maintain constant vigilance.

Cover

HMAS Larrakia training in the Timor Sea with one of the four Augusta Westland 109E helicopters recently leased by the Navy for four years from Raytheon Australia Pty. Ltd. Navy will use the helicopters for aircrew and fleet training, search and rescue, medical evacuation, and personnel transfers. Photo: Department of Defence.

 United Service, Volume 59, Number 1, March 2008

Click Here for full size pdf of Autmn 2008 Cover- ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Anniversary Feature

The German offensive of March 1918 - Brigadier Philip Carey
To commemorate the 90th anniversary of the great German offensive on the Western Front in March 1918, Philip Carey summarises the strategic situation from both the German and British perspectives, outlines the tactics employed by both sides, and described the overall battle and its outcomes.

Lectures and Presentations

CLICK HERE to go to members login Sixty years of Australian peacekeeping and peace operations today - Major General Tim Ford
Peacekeeping ranks alongside warfighting and the provision of humanitarian aid as vital functions of the Australian Defence Force and Australian Federal Police. Here, Tim Ford traces the history of Australia's involvement in peacekeeping and describes how the role has taken on a more robust and integrated nature since the end of the cold war.
Recent changes at the Australian War Memorial - Major General Steve Gower
Over the past decade, the Australian War Memorial in Canberra has embarked on an ambitious building programme and its exhibits and other services that it provides have undergone some profound changes. This paper outlines the changes that have been made and explains the vision and philosophy that have underpinned them.

Contributed Papers

52nd Lowland Division at Gallipoli: a second Flodden - Lieutenant Colonel David Murray
In the Gallipoli Campaign, the intensity of the fighting and the horrendous casualties suffered by the 52nd Lowland Division, particularly in the battles of 28 June and 12 July l915, well deserve the description, a "Second Flodden".
What may the wreck of the WWII cruiser Sydney reveal? - Dr Tom Lewis
In November 1941, HMAS Sydney was patrolling off the West Australian coast when it chanced upon the German raider, Kormoran. In the ensuing engagement, both ships were severely damaged. The Kormoran sank and it is assumed that the Sydney also sank with the loss of all hands, but the wreck has never been found. In this paper, Tom Lewis indicates what the wreck, if found, might tell us about Australia's greatest naval loss.

Obituaries

Brigadier Sir Frederick Chilton CBE, DSO - Brigadier David Leece
Mr Leo Mahony - Air Marshal David Evans

Book Reviews

Eagle Fleet: the story of a tanker fleet in peace and war by W. E. Lucas - reviewed by Stella Green
The Khyber Pass by Paddy Docherty - reviewed by David Leece
Maralinga: Australia's nuclear waste cover-up by Alan Parkinson - reviewed by David Leece

Cover

The memorial to the Third Australian Division 1916-1918 at Sailly-le-Sec, France. The obelisk stands prominently on the ridge north of the Somme River some 7 km east of Corbie where, on 28-29 March 1918 during the major German offensive of March 1918, the Third Division (Major-General John Monash) halted a German drive on Amiens and stabilised the collapsing British front in that sector. This month is the 90th anniversary of that action and an anniversary feature commences on p. 9. The photograph was taken during the Institute's pilgrimage to the Western Front in July 1998 on the 80th anniversary of the final offensives of World War I. Photo: David Leece.

 United Service, Volume 57, Number 4, December 2006

Click Here for full size pdf of Winter 2006 Cover- ISSN 1038-1554
Editor: Brigadier David Leece PSM RFD ED (Retd)

Lectures and Presentations

Article not available online The contribution of the Australian Federal Police to national and international security - Commissioner Mick Keelty
The Australian Federal Police is Australia's national policing agency, enforcing Commonwealth criminal law and protecting Commonwealth interests from crime, both within Australia and abroad. It is also Australia's international law representative and the chief source of advice to the Australian Government on policing issues. Here, Mick Keelty outlines the role it performs in national and international security.
Article not available online The Armidale Class patrol vessel - Peter Davey and Adrian Woodhouse, with David Leece
The Royal Australian Navy's new Armidale Class patrol is at the leading edge of international patrol boat design based on an off-the-shelf commercial high-performance monohull adapted for the specific needs of the Navy to operate from the tropical conditions of Australia's north to the South Tasman Rise Fishery which lies some 300 nautical miles south of Tasmania (48 S).
The RSL and the veteran community: future challenges - Major General Bill Crews
The Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) no longer enjoys either the political power of its early years or the full support of all veterans. Yet it continues to be highly effective in representing the interests and providing for the welfare of veterans. Here, its national president briefly traces the events that have brought the RSL to this point and outlines the challenges that it and the wider veteran community now face.
Article not available online Australian codebreaking in Word War II - Captain Ian Pfennigwerth
Australians played a leading role in the breaking of Japanese codes both before and during World War II. Here, Ian Pfennigwerth describes the origins of the Australian codebreaking effort in the 1920s and traces its development and its contributions to Allied intelligence in the years leading up to and during the War in the Pacific.

Book and DVD Reviews

Article not available online Myth Maker: Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett; the Englishman Who Sparked Australia's Gallipoli Legend by Fred and Elizabeth Brenchley - reviewed by Philip Carey
Article not available online Tobruk by Peter Fitzsimons - reviewed by Gordon Maitland
Article not available online Long Tan - the true story by Bruce Horsfield et al. - reviewed by David Leece

Cover

Commissioner M. J. Keelty, APM, Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, who was the guest of honour at the Institution's 118th Anniversary Dinner at Parliament House, Sydney on 18 August 2006. His after-dinner address is published at pp. 11 - 13 of this issue. Photo: Australian Federal Police.


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