AFGHANISTAN - SYDNEY

NOBODY can be sure exactly how the terrible actions of a deranged lone gunman in Sydney will play out.

The "National Security Cabinet" is meeting as I write this . . . why, I'm not sure.

Image courtesy The Australian 

I'd actually begun writing this column some time ago.

It's not about terror, or Martin Place, at all.

It's really about what we're doing - or rather, not doing - in Iraq.

SAS soldiers - image from Herald Sun

There are certainly no troops fighting against Daesh, at any rate.

I had to rewrite the column to reflect the events in Sydney. It's a pity that those events have meant the impact of the piece will inevitably be diluted . . .

PAY 2 - THE BIG PICTURE

The second surprise for the forces is an early Christmas present.

"Better alignment of leave provisions to make it more equitable amongst the forces."

Look who's laughing now

Not everyone feels quite the same way, as this news story for the Canberra Times pointed out . . .

KEEPING INSTITUTIONS VIBRANT

THIS column isn't interesting, but it is important. Perhaps more surprisingly, it's based on an original thought.

It's about the need to keep the Services vibrant.

It shouldn't be a job for life

Becoming an officer in the military is still one of the few careers to which you're expected to make a life-long commitment.

As I said in this piece in Saturday's Canberra Times, I don't think that works for either the services or the individuals . . .

Buying Into War

Nobody should want to pick a fight. Least of all us.

Yet this is, it seems, exactly what Australia is doing.

This Canberra Times column asks if Tony Abbott is acting in Australia's interests or being cleverly manipulated by Shinzo Abe . . .

THE ANSWER TO OUR SECURITY

Soon we'll have a bright new Defence White Paper.

But it's this man who'll probably have most to say about our security.

Prabowo looking Presidential

Prabowo looking Commanding

This column for the Canberra Times considered the link between the two issues . . . 

CONFORMITY IN ORGANISATIONS

It's only natural for people in organisations to try and conform with the boss. After all, everyone knows that's the way to get ahead.

David Morrison providing some media training

(Naturally that's not the case in the media. By the way, did I mention my editor's great?)

So how does a leader create a 'learning organisation'?

I had to fit a lot into this column and didn't really get the chance to suggest that the Army still has a lot of work to do and doesn't cope with challenges particularly well.

Nevertheless, this is the piece that appeared in the Canberra Times . . .

Defence

Spending. It's most bizarre.

Can you spot the Gold-plated taps?

Cuts everywhere . . . except the military.

This column for the Canberra Times asked, 'why'?

ANZAC DAY, 2014

Anzac Day. Again.

It's so hard to write about.

So this was my attempt to conjoin other people's losses with my own experience of someone terrific, SSM Frank Tattersall, who lost his life serving his country . . .

SUBMARINES

Submarines. Let's sing along now:

"We're here, because we're here, because we're here."

But it appears as if the government's backing away from the commitment, as this special column in today's Canberra Times pointed out . . . 

CHINA'S SEAS

The majority of wars don't begin with careful planning and aforethought: we blunder into the killing in an unthinking way.

(Thanks to Airpower Australia for the image)

I don't think we should necessarily stop playing in the water.

But if we wish to do so we need to consider the full implications of doing so, as this column for the Canberra Times points out . . .

TO SPY, OR NOT . . .

At one time the image of the spy was straightforward . . .

(Sigourney, not Mel)

Today we dismiss the deeper understanding that comes from human interaction. We think we can read peoples minds by listening in to their phone conversations.

This column for the Canberra Times stands back and asks what it is all that spying is actually attempting to achieve . . .

THE PRECISION REVOLUTION

Not so long ago soldiers lined up in a mass and blasted away at one another until one line finally broke.

Today any soldier who exposes himself on a battle-field risks getting shot.

This is one of the revolutions in warfare that will make the next war, again, so different from the last.

I put some thoughts together on this concept for the Canberra Times . . .

SPYING, TRANSPARENTLY

To spy or not to spy?

I guess it really depends on whether you can get away with it or not.

At one time the West had the edge in technical spying; monitoring the communications of others. Now I don't believe we do.

Perhaps the moral is to be more transparent about what's going on, as this column in today's Canberra Times suggests . . .

WARFARE'S NEW FRONTIER

The trip to the US opened my eyes.

Warfare is undergoing another period of dramatic technical change.

This is nowhere more evident than in space.

Once again, the war of the future won't be like the war of the past, as this article in today's Canberra Times suggests . . .

WAR; WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING . . .

The original's always the best http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01-2pNCZiNk .

But personally, I like Frankie Goes to Hollywood's version of the song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h__zgVz9fN4 .

Take your pick.

The problem is, once the next war starts, there's no obvious way back.

It's something the drafters of our new Defence White Paper might like to consider, as this article in today's Canberra Times points out . . .

JOINT STRIKE FIGHTERS

No quibbles about the technology.

A trip to the US has left me convinced the JSF really does offer an advance on alternative fighter aircraft options for the RAAF.

The issue is to balance the cost against the need.

But, as this column for the Canberra Times points out, the decision that will emerge from this process is far from certain . . .

JUST WHEN DID THE CAMPAIGN FALL APART?

There's no doubt in my mind when Rudd lost the campaign.

Labor was gone, we knew that. But then came what for me will be the defining image of this election battle - Kevin Rudd's brush with Barry O'Farrell. And when a NSW Premier wins a defence debate you know your re-election bid's in difficulty.

Andrew Meares captures the confrontation.

This piece, for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's blog The Strategist considers the way Defence issues have been used for partisan political advantage during the campaign . . .

COMPETITION FOR FUNDS

The biggest question faced by the military is always money. 

The initial challenge is getting enough from the government, then fighting for a greater proportion of that pie. 

This analytical piece appeared in a Canberra Times Defence Supplement . . . 

EXIT WOUNDS

The war in Afghanistan continues - yet there's been little analysis of what's occurring from an Australian perspective. 

Until now. One of the former Australian commanders, Maj Gen John Cantwell, has released an extraordinarily honest book about his life. 

This was my take on the book . . . 

JOINTERY

My bad. I'm afraid I thought I'd posted this week but hadn't. 

This column was prompted by the Williams Foundation Seminar at the Australian War Memorial last Thursday. I'm sorry I wasn't able to credit the Foundation in the piece that appeared in the Canberra Times. 

The column itself had to be filed effectively five days before it was published because of new requirements to ensure it gets on the Fairfax website. This is extremely unfortunate and explains why it did not even mention the biggest story in Defence this week  - the shifting of the Secretary, Duncan Lewis, to become Ambassador to Brussels . . .