Drawing on best practices in strategic thinking about land power, this paper is intended to provide the Australian Army with the philosophical guidance for achieving its mission.
Introduction
War and warfare continue to plague the human race. War remains the most complex and dangerous strategic challenge faced by nations. In the future, warfare will be waged by information and technology-enabled military forces, in land, sea, air, space and cyber space. This will be notably irregular in style when compared with most interstate strategic practices in modern times. Preparing for such conflict requires the investment of very significant human, materiel and technological resources. Being able to fight and win under such circumstances depends ultimately on having the right force structure and military capabilities.
Australia’s geostrategic and environmental situation has shaped the development of the nation’s defence capacity. Demography, geography and economic power contribute to and influence doctrine which is unique to the Australian Defence Force and the Australian Army. For the Army, doctrine is the repository of military knowledge, and is a dynamic embodiment of the Army’s ethos. To remain relevant as the basis for military thinking, doctrine must evolve to allow for changes in policy and circumstances. Continue reading
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