What is The Forge?
The Forge is an online portal operated by the Australian Defence College providing access to a broad range of learning material to support members of the profession of arms and those with an interest in Defence, national security and strategy.
How can I access The Forge?
The Forge can be accessed from any web-enabled device including personal computers, laptops, tablets and mobile devices. It is recommended visitors use Chrome. Edge or Safari on personal devices to browse the site.
Can I access The Forge on the DRN?
Yes. It is recommended visitors use Chrome or Edge to browse the site.
Who can access The Forge?
The Forge is open to the public. All material on The Forge is Unclassified with nil logins required.
Do I have to create an account to use The Forge?
No. There is no requirement for users to have an account to interact with The Forge. This means you can search, explore, read, view and share content without logins or passwords.
What is JPME?
JPME stands for Joint Professional Military Education. The term JPME refers to the professional continuum around which education and training is structured and delivered to members of the Defence organisation. The JPME levels reflect whether the material is dealt with at an introductory level or at a higher level of complexity. The Levels allow users to determine which material is likely to be most suitable for their professional development based on their experience level.
Will The Forge enable users to complete online courses?
The site is not linked to any formal training courses and is intended instead to be a platform for engaged learners to actively seek out material to support their professional development. In the future, we envisage that there will be greater access to Australian Defence College courses and other Defence organisation education opportunities.
Will The Forge be linked to any other defence online learning tools?
Yes. At this stage the site is standalone, however, links to other Australian Defence, international military institutions and external links are provided in the Additional Resources section of the site.
Can I get accreditation for completing activities on The Forge?
While we are confident the material on this site will assist with your continuous professional development, The Forge currently does not have the capability to deliver accredited courses or to track students’ engagement with its content.
Can I contribute to The Forge?
Yes, please. The Forge welcomes your submissions via the CONTRIBUTE page.
What kind of material is The Forge interested in receiving from contributors?
The Forge is designed to host a wide variety of materials from academic articles, videos, audio, blog posts, social media or website links. Content submissions should fit naturally within one of the four core study areas in the JPME although some cross over is possible. When content is submitted it will be reviewed, categorised and tagged so that it is published under the correct subject area and JPME level.
If I contribute to The Forge, will I be recognised as the author?
Yes. A secondary benefit of the site is that it provides a platform to put ideas forward and have your original content published. All submissions will be attributed to the original author to ensure that the intellectual property of submissions is respected.
Can I comment on content within The Forge or ‘rate’ articles?
At this stage, the functionality for comments and debate within the site is limited. However, you are able to share artefacts via email or social media to facilitate discussion and to share your opinion.
Are there any social media sites directly associated with The Forge?
Not at this stage but please share content from The Forge on your preferred social media platforms and follow ADC’s professional discussion through @WarInTheFuture.
Why are there QR Codes on The Forge?
Each artefact on the site has a unique QR Code so that users can save a link to an article or video they are interested in and view it at another time. This is just one way users can interact and customise their Forge experience.
How do I retrieve old content items?
Use the SEARCH function. The Forge allows users to search using a range of fields including title, author, date and keyword.
What is the classification of material on The Forge?
Unclassified. All material published on The Forge will be Unclassified (or below) and appropriate for public release. Through a moderation and review process, all content contributions will be reviewed prior to publication on The Forge.
Where is content in The Forge sourced?
The Forge encourages a broad range of contributions from both domestic and international sources. Due to the wide variety of subject matter, there is likely to be both academic commentaries as well as mainstream commentary from media and other popular sources. All contributions are welcomed as long as the content contributes to the quality of discourse on the topics covered.
Can I bookmark items so I can read/refer to them at a later date?
Yes. Much like any website, you can add bookmarks and save links to particular pages or articles. We would also recommend using the QR Code functionality for specific resources so that you can save a link to use later on your mobile, tablet or other devices. Remember too that you can add a bookmark to your Home Screen and access The Forge much like any other app or website.
Can I access this site on my phone or tablet?
Yes. The site is mobile-first. There is a user-friendly, customised view that is compatible with most mobile devices. You can also add a bookmark to your Home Screen and access The Forge much like any other app or website.