Page 39 - Williams Foundation Integrated Force Design Seminar

Designing the Integrated Force: How to Define and Meet the Challenge?

Obviously, this is a very challenging set of outcomes to achieve. But without setting out these targets, the point
of joint force design would simply be lost and become a PowerPoint bureaucratic exercise.

And for this senior officer, force design is not a word game; it is about ensuring the safety, survival and
combat effectiveness of the Australian Defence Force. And without integrated force design these objectives
will be sub-optimized. Put bluntly, if you do not design a force with joint effect as a key objective, you are
st
putting your people at unnecessary risk and you will not train your people for success in the evolving 21
century context of combat operations.

Australian Army Modernization: An Update from Brigadier General Mills

During my recent visit to Australia to attend the Williams Foundation seminar on integrated force design, I had
a chance to discuss Army modernization with the head of the effort, Brigadier General Chris Mills. This is the
third time I have had the opportunity to interview Mills, and during this interview, he provided an update on
how the Australian government was approaching defense modernization and the evolving Army perspective.

http://www.sldinfo.com/an-update-on-air-sea-land-integration-for-the-adf-the-perspective-of-brigadier-
general-mills/

http://www.sldinfo.com/the-australian-army-modernizes-for-the-21st-century-battlespace-an-interview-with-
brigadier-general-chris-mills-australian-army/

At the heart of the Australian Army modernization effort is ensuring enhanced lethality and survivability for
st
the modular force packages being shaped by a 21 century approach to force development and integration.
The objective of Army modernization is to empower smaller army units and ensure their modular integration
into larger force packages, as and when required. Army modernization is focused on evolving and

Page 38