{"id":24491,"date":"2016-02-05T11:00:54","date_gmt":"2016-02-05T00:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=24491"},"modified":"2016-02-05T15:29:54","modified_gmt":"2016-02-05T04:29:54","slug":"forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland\/","title":{"rendered":"Reader response to \u2018Forging Australian Land Power: A Primer\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/20141017RAAF8526964_0060.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-24492 size-full\" title=\"Members of Rifle Company Butterworth carry-out Urban Operations Training during Exercise Bersama Lima 2014.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/20141017RAAF8526964_0060.jpg\" alt=\"Members of Rifle Company Butterworth carry-out Urban Operations Training during Exercise Bersama Lima 2014. *** Local Caption *** Exercise Bersama Lima 2014 (BL14) was a Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) major tactical Command Post Exercise and Field Training Exercise held in the Singapore, Malaysia and the South China Sea from 7 \u0096 22 October. The aim of BL14 was to enhance interoperability and strengthen the professional relationships of the FPDA nations (Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom) by conducting maritime, land and air operations in a simulated multi-threat environment. Approximately 500 Australian Defence Force personnel were involved in BL14 from all three Services.\" width=\"640\" height=\"438\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/20141017RAAF8526964_0060.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/20141017RAAF8526964_0060-205x140.jpg 205w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In an author\u2019s response to a critique of one\u2019s work, perhaps it might seem unusual to start by agreeing with the criticiser! In his review of my monograph <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.army.gov.au\/Our-future\/Publications\/Research-Papers\/Army-research-papers\/ARP7\" target=\"_blank\">Forging Australian Land Power: A Primer<\/a><\/em>, Dr John Blaxland, from the ANU\u2019S SDSC, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/a-critique-of-forging-australian-land-power-a-primer\/\">has implied that I<\/a>\u2019ve drunk from the Army\u2019s Kool-Aid in regards to my view of the Defence of Australia (DOA) construct. While \u2018drunk\u2019 is perhaps too strong, I admit that I\u2019ve certainly sipped. Blaxland rightly points out that much good came out of DOA and he justifiably lists achievements that still resonate today.<\/p>\n<p>But much was also wrong with DOA and that part of its legacy mustn\u2019t be forgotten because the implications for the ongoing security of Australia are profound. DOA reduced land power to the second tier because its drafters under-appreciated its importance in the human activity called war. Such neglect is the road to the next <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aei.org\/publication\/the-lesson-of-task-force-smith\/\" target=\"_blank\">Task Force Smith<\/a>, those undertrained, underarmed, and poorly-led US soldiers who were overrun during the opening days of the Korean War. Thus, while DOA did accomplish many things, and I appreciate Blaxland\u2019s reference to them, it also would have placed at risk the lives of good men and women, as well as the nation\u2019s security, if the unexpected had occurred.<\/p>\n<p>Blaxland also points out that in recent years the Australian Army has done all that has been asked of it. I agree, but only because not much has been asked of it. All of its most successful operations have been non-warfighting, while the Army\u2019s contribution to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan\u2014much less successful operations in my opinion\u2014was as a small boutique force (to use Blaxland\u2019s words) with limited objectives. Perhaps Australia need not prepare for a more serious war-fighting role and perhaps it will receive an adequate warning time sufficient for building a more potent land force, but insufficient warning time is historically too common and the consequence potentially too grave in the future to be content with such a hope.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, I believe Australia\u2019s threat environment is changing and not for the better. My primer deliberately didn\u2019t identify any threats in order to avoid readers being distracted by the detail of various contingencies. I wanted the monograph to set out how to plan an appropriate land force (and a joint force) that can succeed no matter the eventuality. That\u2019s the importance of the seven truths. But it does seem to me that we\u2019re entering a more hostile phase of existence that will reverse the progress in human nature that <a href=\"http:\/\/stevenpinker.com\/publications\/better-angels-our-nature\" target=\"_blank\">Stephen Pinker<\/a> writes of. I fear that Australia isn\u2019t ready, both physically and mentally, for such an eventuality. Certainly the Army isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>The last of Blaxland\u2019s points that I would like to comment on is my choice of the expression \u2018compartmentalisation\u2019 rather than his suggestion of \u2018delusional thinking\u2019. The latter is certainly more dramatic, and possibly more correct. However, what I was trying to say was that Army in particular and Defence in general resort to compartmentalised thinking because this allows the organisation to avoid dealing with the contradictions of its actions. For example, by employing compartmentalisation Defence was able to resolve the buying of the LHDs without first settling on a maritime strategy, a small matter that\u2019s still being worked out. Acquisition and strategic direction were isolated from each other, a compartmentalisation that eased the making of the purchase decision.<\/p>\n<p>I thank Blaxland for taking the time to critique my monograph. I look forward to further engagement with those who consider the nation\u2019s security.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In an author\u2019s response to a critique of one\u2019s work, perhaps it might seem unusual to start by agreeing with the criticiser! In his review of my monograph Forging Australian Land Power: A Primer, Dr &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":24492,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[488,1114,824],"class_list":["post-24491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australian-army","tag-defence","tag-land-power"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Reader response to \u2018Forging Australian Land Power: A Primer\u2019 | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reader response to \u2018Forging Australian Land Power: A Primer\u2019 | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In an author\u2019s response to a critique of one\u2019s work, perhaps it might seem unusual to start by agreeing with the criticiser! In his review of my monograph Forging Australian Land Power: A Primer, Dr ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-05T00:00:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-02-05T04:29:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/20141017RAAF8526964_0060.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"438\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Albert Palazzo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Albert Palazzo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI&#039;s analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/20141017RAAF8526964_0060.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/20141017RAAF8526964_0060.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":438,\"caption\":\"Members of Rifle Company Butterworth carry-out Urban Operations Training during Exercise Bersama Lima 2014. *** Local Caption *** Exercise Bersama Lima 2014 (BL14) was a Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) major tactical Command Post Exercise and Field Training Exercise held in the Singapore, Malaysia and the South China Sea from 7 \u0096 22 October. The aim of BL14 was to enhance interoperability and strengthen the professional relationships of the FPDA nations (Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom) by conducting maritime, land and air operations in a simulated multi-threat environment. Approximately 500 Australian Defence Force personnel were involved in BL14 from all three Services.\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland\/\",\"name\":\"Reader response to \u2018Forging Australian Land Power: A Primer\u2019 | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-05T00:00:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-05T04:29:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/9c99dd8fa0c6f5d6c8bf39c7632994c2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Reader response to \u2018Forging Australian Land Power: A Primer\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/9c99dd8fa0c6f5d6c8bf39c7632994c2\",\"name\":\"Albert Palazzo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/46c0d5f0201461049fc621e3fbe0c139?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/46c0d5f0201461049fc621e3fbe0c139?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Albert Palazzo\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/albert-palazzo\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Reader response to \u2018Forging Australian Land Power: A Primer\u2019 | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Reader response to \u2018Forging Australian Land Power: A Primer\u2019 | The Strategist","og_description":"In an author\u2019s response to a critique of one\u2019s work, perhaps it might seem unusual to start by agreeing with the criticiser! In his review of my monograph Forging Australian Land Power: A Primer, Dr ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2016-02-05T00:00:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-02-05T04:29:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":438,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/20141017RAAF8526964_0060.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Albert Palazzo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Albert Palazzo","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI&#039;s analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/20141017RAAF8526964_0060.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/20141017RAAF8526964_0060.jpg","width":640,"height":438,"caption":"Members of Rifle Company Butterworth carry-out Urban Operations Training during Exercise Bersama Lima 2014. *** Local Caption *** Exercise Bersama Lima 2014 (BL14) was a Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) major tactical Command Post Exercise and Field Training Exercise held in the Singapore, Malaysia and the South China Sea from 7 \u0096 22 October. The aim of BL14 was to enhance interoperability and strengthen the professional relationships of the FPDA nations (Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom) by conducting maritime, land and air operations in a simulated multi-threat environment. Approximately 500 Australian Defence Force personnel were involved in BL14 from all three Services."},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland\/","name":"Reader response to \u2018Forging Australian Land Power: A Primer\u2019 | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2016-02-05T00:00:54+00:00","dateModified":"2016-02-05T04:29:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/9c99dd8fa0c6f5d6c8bf39c7632994c2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-australian-land-power-a-primer-a-response-to-john-blaxland\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Reader response to \u2018Forging Australian Land Power: A Primer\u2019"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/9c99dd8fa0c6f5d6c8bf39c7632994c2","name":"Albert Palazzo","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/46c0d5f0201461049fc621e3fbe0c139?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/46c0d5f0201461049fc621e3fbe0c139?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Albert Palazzo"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/albert-palazzo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24491"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24491"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24532,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24491\/revisions\/24532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}