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In any case, it's time to strengthen the army's specialist capabilities

By Des Moore - posted Wednesday, 13 November 2002


Are any changes to our force structure required in present circumstances?

Yes, principally to increase the manpower, firepower, mobility and sustainability of the Army. The old doctrine of focussing on territorial defence led to over-concentration on the Airforce and Navy. Fighting further out in space and time, including to uphold some governments and changing others, cannot be done from air and sea alone. And the war on terrorism requires additions to our capacity to contribute to military activity overseas, including against "rogue states", as well as bolstering our intelligence capabilities.

But no-one is talking about a huge expeditionary force, complete with heavily armoured formations. Nor would we tackle a major enemy on our own. Rather, we would act overseas with the USA; which puts a premium on interoperability and niche-filling, not across-the-board capability.

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Another reason for building up the Army is its central role in Rescue Operations, ranging from Timor-like operations and other peacekeeping-type tasks to assisting failing governments, for which are required boots on the ground rather than massive firepower from air and sea.

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This article was first published in The Age on 1 November 2002.



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About the Author

Des Moore is Director, Institute for Private Enterprise and a former Deputy Secretary, Treasury. He authored Schooling Victorians, 1992, Institute of Public Affairs as part of the Project Victoria series which contributed to the educational and other reforms instituted by the Kennett Government. The views are his own.

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