Australian Defence Force turns to top civilian minds for new war playbook

Australian author Thomas Keneally is among top civilian minds that influenced a new military manifesto.

The Australian Defence Force has turned to some of the world’s best civilian minds to help write a 72-page “foundational” doctrine to redefine ADF culture and leadership in the 21st Century.

Revered Australian author Thomas Keneally, pioneer of business and culture change management Harvard’s JP Kotter, famed American psychologist Abraham Maslow and even Plato are among those cited as indirectly contributing to the new military manifesto.

The result represents a significant departure from the usual military service “expectations” manual and instead is a lively thesis on war, leadership, human behaviour and mateship.

A marching drill during practice for the Australian Defence Force Academy Graduation Parade. Picture: Defence

“It is a real page turner,” ADF chief General Angus Campbell said of the doctrine released this week in written and audio book form.

“Australia’s future strategic environment will be challenging and to overcome these challenges we need well-trained, thoughtful, forward-looking leaders at all levels of our organisation,” he said.

The doctrine is a part-philosophy, part-instructional manual that flags its “intellectual debt” to various sources from a variety of civil and military figures in history, all aimed at guiding ADF leadership training today.

Chief of Defence Force General Angus Campbell presents the CDF Sword of Honour for Leadership to Officer Cadet Tavis Ellis-Southwell during the 2020 ADFA Graduation Parade in Canberra. Picture: Defence

“Leadership is about inspiration, how you connect with people,” Gen Campbell said.

“It’s not about just having people obey your legal direction – that’s command authority – leadership is about inspiring people to do so much more, to believe in the purpose, to achieve great things.”

Afghanistan War hero Corporal Daniel Keighran is one of only two personnel singled out in the doctrine with a detailed description of his leadership and courage under fire that earned him the Victoria Cross in 2010.

The other is Chief Petty Officer ‘Buck’ Rogers GC and a harrowing account of his leadership and death during the HMAS Melbourne-HMAS Voyager tragedy in 1964.

Corporal Daniel Keighran outside Patrol Base Anar Joy, Tangi Valley, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan (2010).

Victoria Cross recipient, Corporal Daniel Keighran VC.

Mr Keneally said he was not aware his thoughts were considered in the doctrine but was pleased to be a modern day influencer of sorts for such a book, particularly since his life was bound and guided by family who served in world wars.

He said there was a purity of brotherhood in the armed forces forged from Aussie history, idealism and culture both in and out of the military.

“That purity is possible, men are fallible and often wretched creatures but we have our virtues and there is a genuine fraternity for which you would sacrifice your life and … that fraternity makes good leaders and there are some events which can only be explained in those terms, purely fraternal love, the ‘bugger me I’m not going to have this happen to one of our blokes’. There are guys who have died for this.”

He added it was hard to be a modern soldier with justifications guiding anything that may or may not have to be done in conflict and he wished the next generation well.

Author Thomas Keneally, chuffed he could indirectly help the ADF in their new manifesto. Picture: Supplied

Gen Campbell told the popular military Dead Prussian Podcast series the doctrine was fundamental in highlighting where ADF leadership at every level needed to be and to inspire the best leaders to confront future conflict challenges.

“We will see the capacity for very high tempo and very high intensity warfare, we will see levels of technology that will confound, we will also see the openings of artificial intelligence challenges,” he said.

When asked to describe war he said: “War is a failure of politics and policy by other means in the Western tradition and war is now, enduring and on all fronts in the Eastern tradition and for Australia war is both and we must master both and find its integration.”