The Edge

Losing Our Religion: The ADF’s Chaplaincy Dilemma

With a predicted 75 per cent of ADF members no longer identifying as religious within 10 years, the traditional concept of the Christian chaplain is fast becoming outdated. How does the ADF best provide pastoral care and wellbeing support to an increasingly secularist military force?

The Intellectual Edge

This piece challenges common stereotypes and assumptions about intellectualism and puts a price on the pursuit of knowledge for Defence.

Human Development at ADFA

The talk emphasises the need for a comprehensive development of staff, including aspects such as Cognitive, Social, Psychological, Physical and Social. Professional development is incomplete without personal development.

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) and Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) - What's the Story?

Dr. Heather Skousgaard gives an excellent, easily accessible taster to the importance of cultural intelligence (CQ) and why it is nested within the Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) continuum. Stay engaged for further discussion on this topic by Dr. Skousgaard on the Forge!

We are ‘Better Together’: A contemporary case study #2

The much-anticipated key lessons by Ben McLennan, as applied to the contemporary case study - we are 'better together'.

We are 'Better Together': A Contemporary Case Study #1

In his third installment for The Forge, Ben McLennan discusses the enduring cooperative endeavour between the Australian Defence Force and the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Ben presents us with a contemporary case study in cross-cultural leadership, collaboration, and cooperation. Stay tuned at the end of the week for the lessons-learned for this case study of working 'better together'...

Us as the Enemy: Jihadism and the Strategic Narrative of Anti-Westernism

Delivered during the Chief of Army’s Land Forces Conference 2018, Ms Theodorakis’ lecture highlights how jihadists adhere to a worldview that has painted the West as a morally corrupt enemy, and the jihadists themselves – despite their involvement in such atrocities as extra-judical killings, beheadings – are the ethical actors trying to bring about a more just world.

The Australian Military and Logistics: When Preparedness Equals Survival

The material comprises a 2014 interview with Air Vice Marshall John Blackburn (Retired), in which he poses a number of questions relating to the resilience of Australia’s Defence logistics capabilities. The questions and tacit solutions he proposes have become more relevant given recent instability in the South China Sea and the current shifts in US foreign policy.

How to Survive a Posting to a joint Unit: The Three Services’ Cultural Approaches to Leadership and Discipline

Introduction