US military ‘blind spots’ on Australia risk AUKUS alliance friction
The AUKUS alliance is at risk of being exploited by other nations, a US Army Colonel warns. See why.
National
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US Defense does not “get” Australia, its culture, geography or armed forces in “a blind spot” that threatens creating friction in the AUKUS alliance that China could exploit, a US Army Colonel has warned.
And America should establish a US Forces Australia headquarters here similar to what it has in Japan and South Korea to improve co-ordination against complex adversaries including China and its expanded partnership with Russia and Iran.
In a surprisingly frank assessment in a report to be released Friday, the US has vowed genuine affection for the ADF that it fights, trains and deploys with but don’t get the entire ADF is smaller than a single US Marine Division.
“Despite US and Australian personnel serving side-by-side in every major conflict since World War I, most recently in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, there are potential blind spots within the bilateral relationship,” US Army War College fellow Colonel Alan W. Throop concludes in a report released through the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).
Col Throop, who served two years in Canberra as US Defense liaison and will soon be based in Japan, said size matters and success for “the great mates” relied on the US Department of Defense quickly attaining a better understand of Australia.
“If not, there will be the potential for otherwise avoidable fracturing in the relationship, wasted effort and the potential for unnecessary friction in a space where time and resources are challenged,” he has reported.
The officer, who based his reports on interviews with US personnel past and present based here, said Australia remained pivotal to the US defence strategy and the underpinning of Indo Pacific security but a more robust alliance would be benefited by greater understanding.
Most of the recorded comments from survey participants point to under appreciation of the size of Australia’s military force.
“You just have to be patient with [the ADF] because things move slower because they have less people. And when those people are out of the office, there’s nobody else you can direct [a US person] to,” one stated.
And another: “Americans typically don’t have an appreciation for the size or scale of the Australian military. The entire ADF is smaller than One [US] Marine Expeditionary Force, and I mean that’s small.”
The report notes the US has discovered the drain of the ADF to tend to bushfires, floods and other natural disasters with Australia lacking a national guard or civil defence corp capability. While the ADF “punches above its weight” it was limited by capacity.
The US also tended to forget Australia was a sovereign nation and not an adjunct to its own armed forces.
“Adversaries are seeking to exploit fractures in US alliances. As a result, allies can’t ignore potential areas of misunderstanding that can be exploited because of a lack of awareness, a perceived lack of time or higher priorities. The fortunate challenge for the US is that these perceptions only partially exist within the US – Australia alliance. However understanding the nuances of each of these relationships now is critical to avoid fissures when the pressures of crises weigh on developing relationships.”
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