The nature of war is constant change. We live in an era of exponential technological acceleration which is transforming how wars are waged. Today, the battlespace is transparent; multi-domain sensors can see anything, and long-range precision fire can target everything that is observed. Autonomous weapons can be unleashed into the battlespace and attack any target from above, hitting the weakest point of tanks and armoured vehicles. War now develops at hyper-speed, risking operational, informational, and organisational paralysis induced by the rapid convergence of key disrupters in the battlespace. Hit with too many attacks in multiple domains, all occurring simultaneously, the force is paralysed.Imagine a peer fight against Communist China, a new war in Europe against a resurgent Russia, or a conflict against Iran in the Middle East. How can our forces survive an enemy-first strike in these circumstances? Can we adapt to the ever-accelerating tempo of war? Will our forces be able to mask from enemy sensors? How will leaders execute command and control in a degraded communications environment? Will our command posts survive, and will our commanders see and understand what is happening in order to plan, decide, and act in real time? Written by military strategy and leadership expert, John Antal, this book addresses these tough questions and more.

"The literature of ideas." When author Pamela Sargent used those words to describe science fiction in 1975, the genre had exploded into the literary mainstream. As a literature of ideas, science fiction has proven to be a powerful metaphor for the world around us, offering a rich tapestry of imagination through which to explore how we lead, how we think, and how we interact. To Boldly Go assembles more than thirty writers from around the world - experts in leadership and strategy, senior policy advisors and analysts, professional educators and innovators, experienced storytellers, and ground-level military leaders - to help us better understand ourselves through the lens of science fiction.Each chapter of To Boldly Go draws out the lessons that we can learn from science fiction, drawing on classic examples of the genre in ways that are equally relatable and entertaining. A chapter on the burdens of leadership by Ghost Fleet author August Cole launches readers into cosmos with Captain Avatar aboard the space battleship Yamato. In another chapter, the climactic Battle of the Mutara Nebula from The Wrath of Khan weighs the advantages of experience over intelligence in the pursuit of strategy. What does inter-species conflict in science fiction tell us about our perspectives on social Darwinism? Whether using Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to explore the nuances of maritime strategy or The Expanse to better understand the threat poses by depleted natural resources, To Boldly Go provides thoughtful essays on relevant subjects that will appeal to business leaders, military professionals, and fans of science fiction alike.

The first two decades after the end of the Cold War were characterised by government’s desires to reduce the sizes of their armed forces, not least in order to save money. Hand in hand with this general reduction went an intellectual and doctrinal re-orientation of the armies from conventional warfare to counter-insurgency operations. These trends combined had a deep impact on all armies, in particular in Europe. The geo-political landscape and the real and perceived threats from terrorist groups allowed for such developments to take place. As a result, capabilities were lost and the current generation of army leaders have lost the ability to think in terms of large-scale, conventional military operations.Recent changes to the geo-political situation and current developments in Eastern Europe have resulted in a new shift of thinking. The pendulum has now swung back to large-scale, conventional operations. Once again, this has huge implications for the forces, from training to equipment. Today, armies are growing again in size and all armies look back to the past in order to learn something about the build-up, composition and use of large formations. Lessons that had been learned by armies the hard way and had been the accepted wisdom for decades or even centuries now have to be re-learnt. It is these lessons from history that this book addresses. What does history tell us about these processes? How did armies prepare and train for a major conflict in times of peace? What internal structure did the armies adopt? What were the problems in the areas of equipment and how could an army ensure that in the case of war enough of the right material was available? How did the armies ensure that the doctrine and training used in a small army was adequate for a much enlarged army in the case of total war? All these questions were as relevant then as they are now.This anthology analyses a number of case studies and provides insights into themes and topics that characterised the so-called ‘reconstitution’ of armies in their historical and social contexts. The emphasis is on land forces, but air forces and navies of the relevant countries are also included. The period covered is the “age of total war” from the French Revolution to the end of the Second World War, which provides the intellectual framework for the challenges that armies are facing today.

The concept of guerrilla warfare is not decades, but many centuries old, with earliest writing on the subject by Sun Tzu dating back to the 6th Century BC. Some guerrilla tactics are probably as old as the first armed groups of cavemen, being a natural evolution of conflict between groups of disproportionate sizes. One of the earliest examples of guerrilla tactics deployed by a consummate institutional military leader was the Roman general Fabius Maximus who took a course of evade and harassment against Hannibal’s columns. This is a compendium of prominent worldwide guerrilla leaders beginning with William Wallace in the thirteenth century to modern day Sri Lanka. It profiles each leader to analyze their personal history, military tactics and political strategy. All are home grown leaders in extended guerrilla campaigns many of whom ended up as the first leaders of their countries or liberators of entire regions such as Simon Bolivar. It includes victories and defeats in an effort to tease out not only effective guerrilla tactics but counter-insurgency strategies with some likelihood of success. The advice expounded by Mao Zedong that: “the guerrilla must move amongst the people as a fish swims in the sea” with his experiences of long marches over distant countryside regions of China has evolved into a more urbanized context. The name insurgent, freedom fighter or jihadi is fast replacing guerrilla. The old guerrilla associated with fights for independence and the end of colonialization has dimmed with modern and far-reaching religious insurgencies taking their place. This concise history gives a fascinating overview of a once history-altering form of warfare.

The Marine Corps Way of War examines the evolving doctrine, weapons, and capability of the United States Marine Corps during the four decades since our last great conflict in Asia. As author Anthony Piscitelli demonstrates, the USMC has maintained its position as the nation’s foremost striking force while shifting its thrust from a reliance upon attrition to a return to maneuver warfare.In Indochina, for example, the Marines not only held territory but engaged in now-legendary confrontational battles at Hue, Khe Sanh. As a percentage of those engaged, the Marines suffered higher casualties than any other branch of the service. In the post-Vietnam assessment, however, the USMC ingrained aspects of Asian warfare as offered by Sun Tzu, and returned to its historical DNA in fighting “small wars” to evolve a superior alternative to the battlefield.The institutionalization of maneuver philosophy began with the Marine Corps’ educational system, analyzing the actual battle-space of warfare—be it humanitarian assistance, regular set-piece battles, or irregular guerrilla war—and the role that the leadership cadre of the Marine Corps played in this evolutionary transition from attrition to maneuver. Author Piscatelli explains the evolution by using traditional and first-person accounts by the prime movers of this paradigm shift. This change has sometimes been misportrayed, including by the Congressional Military Reform Caucus, as a disruptive or forced evolution. This is simply not the case, as the analyses by individuals from high-level commanders to junior officers on the ground in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, demonstrate. The ability of the Marines to impact the battlefield—and help achieve our strategic goals—has only increased during the post-Cold War era.Throughout The Marine Corps Way of War: The Evolution of the U.S. Marine Corps from Attrition to Maneuver Warfare in the Post-Vietnam Era, one thing remains clear: the voices of the Marines themselves, in action or through analysis, describing how “the few, the proud” will continue to be America’s cutting-edge in the future as we move through the 21st Century. This new work is must-reading for not only every Marine, but for everyone interested in the evolution of the world’s finest military force.

Historically, prolonged campaigns have been frequently lost or won because of the greater fitness of one of the combatant armies. In the twentieth century, infection was still a major problem, leading to withdrawal from Gallipoli, and the near defeat of the Allies due to malaria early in the Second World War’s Pacific campaign. Malaria emerged again as a major problem in the Vietnam War. The Australian Army Medical Corps, founded in 1901, learned from past medical experience. However, errors leading to significant morbidity did occur mainly in relation to malaria. These errors included lack of instruction of doctors sent to New Guinea with the Australian Force in the Great War, inadequate prophylactic measures against malaria in New Guinea early in World War Two, failure to perceive the threat of emerging resistant strains of malaria in the 1960s, and military commanders not fully implementing the recommendations of their medical advisers. Many Australian campaigns have taken place in tropical locations; a substantial amount of scientific work to prevent and manage tropical diseases has therefore been conducted by the Army Medical Corps’ medical researchers—particularly in the Land Headquarters Medical Research Unit and the Army Malaria Institute. Their work extends well beyond the military, greatly improving health outcomes throughout the world. This book recognises the efforts of both individuals and the Army’s Tropical Disease Research units since Federation in helping the Army succeed in battle.

Chaplain Graeme Ramsden served in Vietnam as a soldier and subsequently studied theology and was ordained as a deacon of the Roman Catholic Church. He commenced duties as a chaplain in the Australian Regular Army and was deployed on operations to support the Joint Support Unit with the international force in East Timor (INTERFET). Letters from Timor is his personal and moving account of his deployment and a unique perspective of Australian Military Operations.

Early one cold, wintry morning in late May 1942, the bullet-ridden body of Driver Roy Willis was found on the side of the road. He had been shot a number of times with a military revolver. Despite extensive enquiries by some of the Victoria Police’s most experienced homicide detectives, the murderer was not found. Then three months later, the killer struck again. In September 1942 Gunner John Hulston went missing whilst on guard duty. His gun crew immediately began a search. Two soldiers followed what appeared to be drag marks from the gate down towards the beach. They saw a figure some way off and thinking it was Hulston, they called out to him. Instead of a friendly reply, they were met with a barrage of bullets. The figure ran off and disappeared towards the camp. Incredibly the garrison was not turned out to search for the missing man or the mysterious figure. The searchlights which could have turned the night into day along the beach, were not activated. Hulston’s rifle and bayonet were found in the water. His torn trousers were also found on the beach. His body was eventually recovered further along the coastline, 10 days later. Like Driver Willis, back in May, he had also been shot in the chest with a .455 calibre army revolver. As with any good murder mystery, this story has more twists and turns than the Great Ocean Road. They range from black market operations, confessions, suspects identified in later years, lost or missing police files, disagreements between the police and the army over the investigation, and an attempted cover-up that went all the way to the wartime Deputy Prime Minister’s office.

The Phantoms of Bribie is a highly readable blend of an engaging yarn and a fascinating portrayal of operational service in Vietnam as an infantry company commander, leading some 100 fine young national service and regular soldiers in close quarter jungle fighting. Ian's training within the SAS and operational service in Malaya served him well in Vietnam where he was a company commander of Bravo Company 6 RAR. During Operation Bribie he lead his outnumbered company’s desperate bayonet charge, followed by close quarter fighting, against a well dug in and determined enemy. This action sharply illustrated the courage, the battle discipline and the spirit of the well trained Australian combat infantryman. On leaving the Army, Ian excelled in the Australian and international business worlds. A multi-talented sportsman, Rugby Union remained his passion, in which he performed to international level. Ian outlines the difference between leadership and management using many interesting and often humorous examples. Both qualities are vital for successful senior operatives in both civilian and military organisations. Most importantly, as Ian explains, a good leader must also be an effective decision maker and a good communicator. This book is a tribute to Ian Mackay’s qualities as a battlefield commander, an international sportsman, a successful businessman and an entertaining author.

Much of Australia’s military history literature focuses on battles and the way generals plan and prosecute an action or campaign. But what do generals do when they are not fighting battles? "The Battles Before" examines the role of senior leaders in preparing an army for war — fighting bureaucratic battles, mobilising forces for operations, or preparing for a future that is impossible to anticipate. The five cases examined in this book focus on strategic leadership and describe how major organisations grapple with political, strategic, economic and cultural change over time. The first three case studies analyse a series of pivotal moments in the history of the Australian Army: the dramatic downsizing that followed the Vietnam War, the seminal 1985 Dibb Review, and the build-up to the East Timor intervention in 1999. Further cases describe planning within a large organisation, particularly the way senior leaders grapple with the demands of multiple operations while facing significant impetus for force modernisation. The final chapter focuses on the crucial role of the Army’s leadership in developing the next generation of leaders. The book concludes with a series of insights into the study of command in peacetime and its relevance to wartime command, particularly given the challenges that face peacetime commanders who operate within considerable constraints. "The Battles Before" uses recently declassified documents and interviews with key participants in a meticulous examination of a 30-year period characterised by profound and far-reaching change. This was a period that would reshape the Australian Army.

Edwin Llewellyn Charles was a slim, handsome youth, but Terence John, his brother, was beautiful and he knew it. Technically, the boys were twins, but their personalities could not have been more different. So begins this sweeping true story of a fractured but close-knit Australian family during World War II, focusing on the service of the twins and life on the home front as experienced primarily by their elder sister and mother. When hostilities are declared, Terry joins the Australian Military Forces and is quickly promoted. However, as a militiaman, he is banned from serving overseas. Having watched Edwin join the glamorous RAAF and become a pilot, Terry resigns his commission to follow his twin. Forced to swallow the disappointment of failing to emulate Edwin by winning his wings, Terry becomes a navigator in heavy bombers in the closing stages of the European war. Readers are transported from the Charles family home in northern NSW to Canberra, Africa, England, Scotland, the United States, the Subcontinent and Ceylon between 1939 and the end of 1945 as the perspective shifts between the two protagonists. Little-known aspects of wartime experience are explored, including the so-called ‘wet canteens’ debate; the international negotiations over the release of interned Allied and Japanese diplomats, and the life of the Raj on the north-west frontier and in India and Ceylon. The author’s clever interweaving of primary documents with historical fact gives rare insights into the lives and relationships of the Charles family and creates an authentic snapshot of wartime Australia. The Charles Family’s War is a compassionate and multilayered examination of two intelligent and articulate young men who come of age in the cauldron of global conflict.