Staff
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Professional Background
2008 (onwards) Senior Lecturer in History, HASS, UNSWW@ADFA
2006-08 - Lecturer in History, HASS, UNSWW@ADFA
2004-05 - Staff officer (PT) at Australian Defence Force Academy
2003 - Aide-de-Camp to the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia
2001-02 - Staff Officer, Headquarters Training Command – Army
1998-2000 - Regimental Officer, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment
Courses Taught
2005 - Introduction to Strategic Studies (tutor)
2006 - Introduction to Strategic Studies
2007 – History 1A & History 1B
2008 – History 1A & History 1B
2009 - Introduction to Strategic Studies, History 1B and Insurgency/Counterinsurgency
Research Interests / Projects
My research focuses on Australian military history. More particularly and more recently, I have concentrated on operational analysis and uncovering the battlefield ‘truth’, too often obscured by the distorting effect of Anzac mythology. My current research project, for example, is a critical evaluation of the Battle of Bardia, North Africa, 1941. The project has two objectives. It will investigate the first serious Australian land battle of WWII, seen then and now as a test of the Anzac legacy. Despite its importance, at present the historiography of the battle is scant with no published accounts focusing specifically on this key action. The project’s second and more important objective, however, is the issue of why the Australians were so successful beyond time-honored Anzac mythology or ethnic slurs against the Italian enemy. This project aims to do what no equivalent has done - provide a balanced, analytical account of success and failure from Australian, British and Italian perspectives. It will investigate the real factors behind victory and defeat beyond too often uncritical accounts of the ‘innate’ qualities of the Australian infantryman. The wider aim of the project is therefore challenge the pervasive and warping effect of the Anzac legend. When complete, I intend to apply the same methodology and principles to a more ambitious project concerning Australian involvement in WWII..
Beyond this particular project I have a wider interest in issues surrounding Australian and international military history. My focus tends to be towards the operational or ‘battlefield’ end of the spectrum, but I am also interested in political / strategic issues connected to conflict.
Member of Editorial Board for International Refereed Journal, War & Society.
In the process of my research, in addition to a number of competitive grants, I have been awarded the C.E.W. Bean Prize for Military History (2007) and Margaret George Award (National Archives) (2007).
Publications
Books & Monographs
2000 Paratroopers as Peacekeepers: 3 RAR in East Timor, 3rd Battalion, Imprint, Sydney.
2007 The Torch & the Sword: A History of the Australian Army Cadet Movement 1866-2006, UNSW Press, Sydney.
2007 The Making & Breaking of the Post-Federation Australian Army, 1901-09, Land Warfare Studies Study Paper No. 311, Canberra, July 2007.
2007 The Domain in which we Dwell: The Foundations, Form and Future of Land Warfare, SDSC Working Paper No. 403, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, Canberra, April 2007.
2009 Bardia: Myth, Reality and the Heirs of Anzac, UNSW Press, Sydney, 2009.
Book Chapters
2008 ‘Upheaval, Uncertainty and Opportunity’, in Horner, D & Bou J., (eds.) Duty First: The Royal Australian Regiment in War and Peace, (2nd Edition), Allen & Unwin, North Sydney, 2008.
Articles
2007 ‘A Survey of Military, Educational & Community Expectations of the Cadet Movement in Australia, 1866-2006, Australian Journal of Politics and History, Vol. 53, No. 2, 2007.
2007 ‘Germanic Influences on the Evolution of Strategic Thought’, Australian Defence Force Journal, No. 174, 2007.
2007 ‘The End of Strategy? – Not So Fast’, Australian Army Journal, Vol. 4, No. 1, Autumn, 2007.
2007 ‘Airpower and the Myth of Strategic Bombing as Strategy’, ISAA Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, 2007 (co-authored).
2008 ‘Khaki in the Classroom: Compulsory Junior Cadet Training in Australian Schools, 1911-31’ History of Education Review, Vol. 37, No. 1, 2008.
2009 'In the shadow of Anzac: the Battle of Bardia, 1991' Momento, No. 36, January 2009
2009 ‘Beyond the Anzac Myth - Relative Technological Advantage and the Battle of Bardia’, Journal of Battlefield Technology, Vol. 12, No. 1, March 2009.
Areas of Potential Postgraduate Supervision
- Australian (and international) military history
- Operational analysis
- Experiences of war
- Strategic studies
- Origins of modern military thought
- Military biography
- Strategic / defence planning