The Edge

The Defence Coach

This article follows WGCDR Jacqueline Carswell’s excellent contribution to the Forge ‘One Step to Maximising our People’s Potential’ of 15 Jul 19.

One Defence needs one Performance Report

This article calls for a consolidation of Australian Defence Force personal appraisal reports in order to tighten and strengthen ADF organisational alignment and integration within the broader One Defence enterprise.

Harnessing the Intellectual Edge: Reform of the ADO from a Loss-focused culture to an Outcomes-focused culture

“There is no intelligence where there is no change and no need of change” H.G. Wells (Time Machine)

Changes in warfare in the 16th and 17th centuries - a ‘military revolution’?

The 16th and 17th century was a period of significant change in the character of war. The drivers accounting for these changes were not all based in military reforms, despite Western Europe being engaged almost continuously in war. While tactical applications is interesting, it was the beginnings of some profound changes in the development of warfare; the professional military, the standing army, scale of warfare and subsequent emergence of the state (Crown) owning the monopoly on violence and the arrival of proper naval forces.

An Australian War College

Mick Ryan discusses the establishment of the new Australian War College in 2019.

Joint Professional Military Education (JPME)

The Australian Joint Professional Military Education Continuum is Australia’s system to develop mastery in the Profession of Arms and aims to cultivate an intellectual edge in warfighting. The Joint Professional Military Education Continuum comprises:

Links to Follow

Twitter feeds and podcasts to follow.

Journals

Recommended publications.

Australian Links

Useful JPME Links - Australia.

Overseas Links

Useful JPME Links - Overseas.

Dr. Phillip Karber on the Russian Way of War

Speaking to staff and cadets at the United States’ West Point Academy, Dr. Phillip Karber describes what he has learned about the Russian way of war from thirty trips he has made to Ukraine, including six months on the front lines of the war in the country's east. This lecture highlights how a re-imagined Russian military is conducting technologically advanced joint-land combat against a ‘near peer’ military – the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

How the Military Fights Climate Change

Military leaders have known for millennia that the time to prepare for a challenge is before it hits you, says scientist and retired US Navy officer David Titley. He takes us from the humanitarian catastrophe in Syria to the icy shores of Svalbard to show how the military approaches the threat of climate change, in a refreshingly practical, nonpartisan take on climate preparedness. "The ice doesn't care who's in the White House. It doesn't care which party controls your congress. It doesn't care which party controls your parliament," Titley says. "It just melts."