Angus Mitchell Oration - 2003/2004

It was with a great deal of pleasure that the Club invited Major General Peter Cosgrove AC MC to deliver the thirty-fourth Sir Angus Mitchell Oration.

Angus Mitchell Oration

I feel very honoured that you have invited me to deliver this year's Angus Mitchell Oration.  I hope I am able to meet the high standard set by previous orators over the last 33 years.

The Rotary Club of Melbourne has a proud history, with some very eminent Australians who have been members - Angus Mitchell, of course, and Sir John Monash - a man who was also fundamental in shaping the defence forces and this country as a whole.  Reading through Dr Parnaby's excellent history of the club I was impressed with what your club has achieved since its inception in 1921.  In particular, the work that your club is currently doing in Baucau, with the East Timor Roofing Training Cooperative is commendable, and something that strikes a resonant chord with me.

Today I would like to give you an overview of the Australian Defence Force, provide you with a snapshot of where our troops are currently deployed, and explain what the challenges are that face us in this new millennium.

Current ADF Operations

Let me begin by giving you a few brief details of the current operations we are undertaking.

We currently have around 2000 troops deployed on more than 10 operations around the world.  This includes around 850 people deployed in the Middle East on Operation Catalyst conducting rehabilitation operations in Iraq.  On Monday, the Government announced that the ADF would deploy a team of 53 soldiers to help train the emerging Iraqi Army.  This represents yet another positive step in moving Iraq along the path to stability and recovery.

We still have a significant contingent of about 440 troops in East Timor as part of UNMISET conducting peacekeeping operations for the world's newest nation.

A varying number of our people are currently deployed in operations such as Australian border protection and the Southern Ocean fisheries protection.

There is the long-standing peacekeeping in the Middle East: Israel, Syria, Lebanon, and the Sinai region in Egypt; in Eritrea and Ethiopia; and with a modest contribution in Afghanistan.

We also have military liaison officers in important coalition headquarters and diplomatic missions around the world.

And, of course, our current deployment of around 500 sailors, soldiers and airmen and women as part of the regional assistance mission to the Solomon Islands to restore law and order at the request of our neighbour.  Called Operation Anode, the Australian Defence Force contribution joins around 190 Australian Federal Police and Australian Protective Service personnel.  We are working together with about 190 military personnel from Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.  This is an Australian police-led operation and the military contingents are there essentially to provide security for the police as they undertake their tasks, as well as assisting with logistics and operational support as required.  This mission has so far been very successful to the point where a large proportion of our initial deployment of troops has come home.

Success in Operations

From my experience, I can say that our success in recent military operations stems from being able to deploy trained, equipped, experienced and disciplined military forces.

If you apply these criteria - well trained, well equipped, experienced and disciplined - to the Australian Defence Force you will see that we have laid the groundwork for success before any of the current specific missions became apparent.

Training

There is no doubt that the ADF continues to be one the very best trained forces in the world. Our heritage, our performance in war and our performance and our achievements in United Nations operations and coalition operations over the past decade provides a powerful validation of this fact.

Well Equipped

We are a well-equipped force.  We would always like to have more of some capabilities or more modern versions of what we already have in our inventory - what military wouldn't.  But, we have enjoyed strong public and bi-partisan support during the high demands that have been placed upon us over the past few years.  The reality is that throughout the Australian Defence Force's recent history, we have always deployed very well equipped for the task at hand.

Experienced

The three Services - Navy, Army and Air Force - and the broader Defence organisation are now very experienced and we have been maintaining a high operational tempo for a number of years.  Our troops are seasoned, our leadership is experienced and the Defence organisation has a strong record of being able to support the deployment, sustainment, re-deployment and reconstitution phases of our operations. 

Disciplined

There is no doubt that one of the strengths of our Defence Force is our discipline.  And, I mean discipline in the widest sense of the word.  The achievements of our Navy over many years in the Gulf show their ability to achieve operational results well above their weight.  The serviceability and mission sortie completion achievements of our Air Force personnel based in Kyrgyzstan were exceptional by any standard.  The performance of our Army in Timor, Afghanistan and elsewhere has been outstanding.  Our Special Forces' latest success was, of course, in Iraq.  Here they remained deep within Iraq, denying Saddam Hussein's regime freedom of action in the west of the country.  The Special Forces troops defeated Iraqi forces, interdicted Iraqi leaders leaving through their areas of operations, and prevented the reinforcement of Baghdad by Iraqi and volunteer para-military forces in their area of operations.  The Special Forces took up their positions during the first night of conflict and at that time were among the first coalition elements on the ground in Iraq.

These brief examples - and there are many more - are a reminder that we are a professional and disciplined military force.  Where issues arise we deal with them thoroughly and learn from our experiences.

There is one other key aspect of our activities in recent years that prepared us for success. That key aspect is strong experience in coalition operations.

Our ADF has a wealth of experience in operations inside coalition force constructs.  We have a very mature understanding of the nature of coalitions and how to position ourselves inside a coalition to achieve meaningful roles.  In the case of Iraq, we sent troops who offered specialised war-fighting capability.  Our size and other commitments precludes us from contributing major ground elements.  However, we are able in a very significant way to supplement and enhance coalition efforts with specialist skills.  The contributions we can make are substantial and necessary, and are much sought after and appreciated by our coalition partners.

Now that we are in a new phase in Iraq, our experience and flexibility allows our role in the Coalition to be successfully varied.  This is applicable to whether it's the ADF leading peace enforcement operations, like those in East Timor, as a junior partner in the warfighting coalition in Iraq, or in a supporting role for security and logistics in the AFP-led operation to bring law and order to the Solomon Islands.

Our successful warfighting skills mean that we make successful peacekeepers as well.  This is based very much on the professionalism of our people and the particular culture in Australia of a 'fair go'.

We remain committed to the longest standing peacekeeping operation in the UNSTO, where we have been continuously involved since 1956. While we're serving a useful purpose, we'll remain committed to this and other similar missions.

We have a long history of being willing and able to assist others around the world to make it safer and more peaceful for all.

Strategic Uncertainty

There's no doubt that the opening events of the 21st Century have prompted the Australian Defence Force to reflect on the challenges, the opportunities and the uncertainties that the future may hold and how, as an organisation, we should meet these to keep our country secure now and in the future.

The big issue facing the Australian Defence Force for 2004 is that confronting the entire international community: the fight against terrorism.

This is a fight for the long-term and will require the Government using all the levers of national power and international cooperation, be they diplomatic, legal, economic, humanitarian aid or military.  In this whole equation, it's interesting to note that military forces will often play only a minor or supporting role.

Apart from more immediate threats from terrorism, other features of our new security environment include increased concerns about the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and instability in our immediate region.

So in these times of uncertainty the Australian Defence Force must be capable of many things.  This is reflected in the very high operational tempo that the ADF is currently experiencing across a wide range of roles.

As I mentioned, we presently have approximately 2000 ADF personnel deployed on more than 10 operations around the world with our people using a wide variety of the skills from war fighting to peace keeping.

The men and women of the ADF are undertaking border surveillance, support to United Nations mandated operations, coalition operations and some national support tasks, such as our support to the Rugby World Cup last year.

During 2003 we moved from being a coalition partner fighting a war in Iraq to providing support to a police-led regional coalition in the Solomon Islands.

We tailor our contributions for the particular needs of the operation, proportionate to the interests of the government, and complementary or supplementary to other coalition-member capabilities.

The greater strategic uncertainty we face means that our emphasis must be on having the flexibility and adaptability to respond to the unexpected as readily as we manage the expected, more routine issues.

Our approach to building a more flexible Defence Force is not scenario or adversary specific. It can't afford to be.  A narrow threat-based approach to strategy would be of little utility in these uncertain times.  Rather, our approach focuses on our military strategic priorities arising from government guidance and addressing the range of missions the Defence Force must be capable of performing.  This is based on assessments of discretion, likelihood, consequence and national interest.

Our primary responsibility is ensuring we are capable of conducting operations where Australia's overriding interests lie.  That is, at home, in our neighbouring region and then further afield, by contributing to the efforts of the international community to uphold global security.

To do this we require a comprehensive suite of capabilities:

•           fundamentally the Australian Defence Force is designed for the defence of Australia against a range of plausible, albeit, in the most part, currently unlikely threats, requiring a combination of joint capabilities and the invigoration of the whole Australian community;
•           to defend Australia and support our region we also require joint forces capable of operating in a maritime/littoral environment;
•           and, we must provide for ongoing national support tasks.  They include sovereignty protection - a patrol boat force, comprehensive surveillance, tailored rapid response elements from all three services as required - and domestic security support - such as an incident response regiment, specialist counter-terrorism forces, air/sea lift and medical support.

Defence Initiatives for 2004

There are a number of initiatives that we are pursuing in 2004 to make sure that the men and women of the ADF continue to be able to do their job in this challenging environment, ably supported by the whole Defence organisation.

These initiatives embrace some of the major lessons from our operations last year.  To continue to meet the demands of modern operations, we must take further advantage of technology to improve command and communication networking during operations.  We need to transform our military into a networked force rather than a force of discrete platforms, which requires significant changes to our military culture and acquisition philosophy.

The Government recently announced the results of a Defence Capability Review which considered the effects of the changes in our strategic environment, as well as reaffirming that the defence of Australia and regional requirements should be the primary drivers of force structure.

The review identified an increased requirement to strengthen the effectiveness and sustainability of the Army.  We also need to be able to provide air defence protection to deploying forces, enhance the strategic lift capabilities, and to position the ADF to exploit the systems networking available in the information age.  The full effect of this review on the 10-year Defence Capability Plan will be pursued this year.

The Government also recently announced decisions flowing from the review of Defence procurement led by Mr Malcolm Kinnaird.  These changes will strengthen the capability and assessment process, improve project delivery, provide a better basis for project scope and cost, and give greater recognition to the importance of managing through life support for capabilities.

There are also a number of contemporary issues that shape the command and control of operations.  These include the enhanced lethality and mobility of modern warfare, which necessitates increased command responsiveness, utilising technology to rapidly transmit information across the tactical, operational and strategic levels.  Government is considering these issues and we expect any decisions will complement the establishment of the new ADF operational headquarters at Bungendore, just outside of Canberra.

Our People

To move forward on these initiatives in 2004, the Secretary of the Department of Defence, Mr Ric Smith, and I will be relying on the energy and enthusiasm of all our people.  This is our great strength.

From my experience, I can say that our success in recent military operations stems from being able to deploy well-trained, well-equipped, experienced and disciplined military forces, who are given excellent support from the wider Defence Organisation.

Today and into the future we will always have a focus on making sure we have the equipment and training to empower our most potent capability - our people.

There's no doubt in my mind that the ADF continues to be one of the very best trained military forces in the world.  Our heritage, our performance in war and our achievements in United Nations peacekeeping over the past few decades provide a powerful validation of that fact. And we will continue this focus by reinforcing another lesson we learned last year - the importance of our long-standing experience training and working with our friends and allies, and the value of effective liaison officers for planning with coalition partners.

Our men and women of the three services are seasoned, the leadership is experienced and working with the Defence organisation we have repeatedly demonstrated our ability to support the deployment, sustainment, redeployment and reconstitution phases of our operations.

The people I have the privilege to lead continue to do an excellent job.  We throw a lot of challenges at them but they continue to prove that the ADF is combat capable, rapidly deployable, responsive to change and thoroughly professional.

And we must keep improving to protect and promote Australia's interest at home or abroad.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that the ADF is currently busy on a number of operations - however the important point I would like to reiterate is the wide range of roles the ADF undertakes.

In less than half a year, we have moved from being a junior coalition partner in a warfighting role in Iraq, to leading a regional coalition in our own neighbourhood to restore law.

And none of these roles takes away from our ability and focus on ensuring that we can meet any domestic and regional security threats as required.

The men and women of the Australian Defence Force continue to do an excellent job.  Despite the many challenges we throw at them, they continue to display a high degree of professionalism, and are held in high regard by our coalition partners in all operations they are involved in.

You and I can be sure that they are serving our nation very well.