Media Alerts 2006 Archive
7 December 2006 - 382 STUDENTS TO receive AWARDS AT CANBERRA CAMPUS
4 December 2006 - UNSW@ADFA launces new Formula SAE-A Racing Car
30 November 2006 - Robbery under arms at the high court
29 November 2006 - Chief of Defence force to launch an atlas of australia’s wars
1 November 2006 - Canberra To Host High Fliers at International Spaceplane Conference
14 September 2006 - 19th Annual Warman Design-and-Build Competition
1 September 2006 - The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism
14 August 2006 - Lost Plays brought back to life
11 August 2006 - Achievements of Women in Science
29 July 2006 - Top World Economist To Visit ADFA
23 June 2006 -THE WINTER SCHOOL ON COMPLEX ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS
2 June 2006 - THE WARMAN STUDENT DESIGN-AND-BUILD COMPETITION
18 April 2006 - Passchendaele – Beyond Imagination
18 April 2006 - ADFA Students To Put Formula SAE-A Racing Car Through It’s Paces
24 March 2006 - Former NATO General to Visit ADFA
7 December 2006
382 STUDENTS TO receive AWARDS AT CANBERRA CAMPUS
What: UNSW at the Australian Defence Force Academy Degree Conferral Ceremonies
Where: Adams Hall, ADFA off Northcott Drive, Campbell, ACT
When: Wednesday 13 December 2006
The Chancellor of the University of New South Wales, Mr David Gonski will award degrees to 382 students at two ceremonies at the ADFA Campus. The majority of the degrees being presented will be to Midshipmen and Officer Cadets of the Australian Defence Force.
Media opportunities exist for visuals during the ceremony and limited interviews.
A media release with detailed information will be forwarded on Tuesday 12 December.
Media should assemble at the Memorial Tree outside of Adams Hall 15 minutes before the start of each ceremony.
- Humanities and Social Sciences Ceremony: (commences 10.00am) 200 Awards
- Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business
- Graduate Programs (Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma and Masters) in Arts, Arts (English), Defence Studies, Management Studies
- Research Degrees – PhDs in Economics, Management, English, Literature, Language, History, Politics, Geography and Master of Arts
Guest Speaker: Rear Admiral James Goldrick.
RADM Goldrick is the Commander Joint Offshore Protection Command and Director General Coastwatch. He has 32 year’s service in the Royal Australian Navy and has a strong interest in naval history and contemporary naval affairs. He has lectured and written extensively on various topics.
During the ceremony Chancellor Gonski will present RADM Goldrick with an honorary Doctorate.
- Science and Engineering Ceremony: (commences 2.30pm) 182 Awards
- Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of Technology
- Graduate Programs (Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma and Masters) in Science, Engineering Science, Information Technology, Operations Research and statistics
- Research Degrees – PhDs in Engineering, Chemistry, Computer Science, Oceanography, Geography, Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, Master of Science and Master of Engineering
Guest Speaker: Professor Veena Sahajwalla
Professor Sahajwalla leads the research on Sustainable Materials Processing at UNSW and is also a frequent panel member on the ‘New Inventors’ television series.
4 December 2006
UNSW@ADFA launces new Formula SAE-A Racing Car
Who: ADFA Racing Team
What: Will launch their new Formula SAE-A Racing Car WS03
Where: Hard Parade Ground Area A (No.86 on attached map) below the Rugby Field (Wet Weather - ACME Laboratory - Building 18)
When: 2.30pm Wednesday 7 December 2006
The ADFA Formula SAE-A Racing Team will launch their new entry into the 2006 Formula SAE-A Championships being held in Werribee Victoria from the 15th – 17th December 2006.
The car will be unveiled at a ceremony at ADFA attended by sponsors, staff and team members. The program for the event will be as follows:
- From 2.30 PM - Driving demonstration using WS02. This car was placed third in the acceleration event at last year’s competition effectively reaching 0 -100 kph in 4 seconds and ADFA finished 10th in the overall competition.
- 3.00 PM - Formalities and Unveiling of WS03
- Following - a demonstration of WS03 and, for some guests, a driving experience of WS02
The Formula SAE competition requires university students to design and build a formula styled racing vehicle. The competition was established in the United States and was first introduced to Australia in 2000. The School of Aerospace, Civil and Mechanical Engineering (ACME) at UNSW@ADFA has been involved in the event for past three years.
The competition includes static events and scrutineering, skid pan and acceleration events, an autocross event (time trial over 1 lap) and an endurance event.
30 November 2006
Robbery under arms at the high court
Who: The Honourable Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG FAHA
What: Launch the latest addition to the Academy Editions of Australian Literature:
Rolf Boldrewood’s Classic tale Robbery Under Arms - Edited by Paul Eggert and Elizabeth Webby
When: 5.30 pm on Wednesday 6 December 2006
Where: High Court of Australia
By special arrangement, body armour from the Kelly Gang will be on display for this event
Background:
Joe Byrne was the penman of the Kelly Gang. He was the only one of them with enough education to write out for Ned Kelly his rebellious and angry Jerilderie Letter. Their hold-up of the whole town took place in February 1879. The same armour that Joe Byrne wore at Glenrowan later that year in the Gang’s famous last stand, in battle with the Victorian police, will silently witness the launch of a wonderful new scholarly edition of our most famous bushranger classic, Robbery Under Arms. In the High Court of Australia.
This novel, written by a police magistrate and gentleman, but in the voice of a young bushranger who only partially regrets his thrilling life as an outlaw, will be launched by the Honourable Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG in the High Court, Canberra, on 6 December 2006 at 5.30pm.
The novel now appears in the Australian Academy of the Humanities landmark series of literary classics, the Academy Editions of Australian Literature, published by the University of Queensland Press. It is the ninth title in a series that has opened up our colonial and early twentieth century past in ways invisible to conventional forms of history writing.
This Academy Edition is the first full-scale scholarly edition of the novel and is particularly vital given the instability of the text. It restores some 29,000 words cut from later book editions and lets readers see at a glance what was cut and what was mangled. In this edition, the bushman’s voice rings true once again.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
‘Rolf Boldrewood’ was the pen-name of Thomas Alexander Browne (1826–1915), failed squatter in colonial Victoria and New South Wales, then police magistrate, goldfields commissioner and part-time writer of serialised novels. Ultimately the author of sixteen novels, Robbery Under Arms was the work that earned him an enduring international reputation.
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Paul Eggert faha is Professor of English at the University of New South Wales at ADFA, Canberra, where he has directed the Australian Scholarly Editions Centre since 1993 and served as general editor of the Academy Editions of Australian Literature. Elizabeth Webby am faha is Professor of Australian Literature and Director of Australian Studies at the University of Sydney. Since 1962 she has been researching the literary and cultural history of Australia, with a particular emphasis on the nineteenth century.
29 November 2006
Chief of Defence force to launch an atlas of australia’s wars
Who: CDF Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston
What: Will launch 2nd Edition of An Atlas of Australia’s Wars by Lt. General John Coates (Ret)
When: 1045 for 1100 on Thursday 30 November
Where: Reading Room - Academy Cadets Mess - ADFA (Bldg 4)
Background:
An Atlas of Australia’s Wars comprehensively covers the frontier conflict
and colonial wars during the nineteenth century and all the wars in which
Australians were involved in the twentieth century and the early twenty-
first century.
First published in 2001, the atlas has now been considerably expanded to
include Australia’s involvement in more recent military engagements and
also covers peace-keeping operations.
The purpose of this atlas is to give readers a tangible link between the
operations and campaigns described in the text and their expression in
graphic form in the accompanying maps.
An Atlas of Australia’s Wars relates a magnificent story of professionalism,
courage and self-sacrifice by Australia’s armed services.
Further information about the author and book content is contained in the attached Media Kit.
1 November 2006
CANBERRA To HOST HIGH FLYERS AT INTERNATIONAL SPACEPLANE CONFERENCE
Who: The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the Australian Hypersonics Initiative (AHI)
What: Hosting the 14th AIAA/AHI International Spaceplanes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conference
When: November 6-9 2006
Where: National Convention Centre, Canberra
The Minister of Defence, the Honourable Dr Brendan Nelson MP will officially open the 14th AIAA/AHI International Spaceplanes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conference.
The AIAA and AHI are jointly hosting this conference in Canberra, thanks to the efforts of Canberra hypersonics researcher, Dr Russell Boyce from UNSW@ADFA.
The International Spaceplanes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies conference series is held every 18 months and is the world’s leading hypersonics gathering. It provides the forum for researchers and organisations from across the globe to meet and discuss advances, setbacks and ongoing work with the development of the aerospace plane class of vehicles and hypersonic technologies. It provides an opportunity to share knowledge, encourage discussion and the exchange of information about systems and related technology for hypersonic flight and an opportunity for developing co-operative ventures.
This is only the fourth time that the international conference has been held outside of the United States. Previous international host countries include Japan, France and Italy.
The Australian Hypersonics Initiative is a co-operative venture which draws together expertise from the Defence Science and Technology Organisation; The University of Queensland; The University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy; and the Australian National University.
Hypersonic refers to objects travelling at speeds greater than approximately five times the speed of sound – Mach 5 (5500 km/hour).
14 September 2006
19th Annual WARMAN DESIGN-AND-BUILD COMPETITION
Who: Weir Minerals Australia and Engineers Australia
What: 2006 National Finals of Design and Build Competition
When: 11 am & 2 pm Sunday 24 September
Where: Power House Museum Sydney
Why: Prospective engineers display their skills and creativity to design and deliver unique solutions to an engineering problems.
Background:
Innovative and creative designs, working models and moving parts, appeal to future engineers (Australia needs more Engineers!), good visuals, high levels of energy and enthusiasm………
“PROJECT ABC”
Each year Weir Minerals Australia and Engineers Australia sponsor a Design and Build Competition among second year “mechanical” engineering students throughout Australia and New Zealand. The winning teams, from some 20 campuses from all states, territories and islands, will compete in the Final. The National Coordinator is Dr Warren Smith of UNSW@ADFA, Canberra. The rules for the competition can be viewed at: http://www.ncedaust.org/warman.htm.
Project “ABC”– Autonomously Beautify Countryside, asks the students to design a device, in response to a fictional requirement on the Planet Gondwana. The objective is to design, build and prove a prototype device in a laboratory environment that serves to accurately and rapidly distribute seeds along the planet’s highways.
“The Gondwanan people are quite proud of their planet and its beauty and while hosting the intergalactic millennium conference wish to make a good impression on visiting dignitaries. It is proposed that an autonomous device be designed and trialled to accurately and rapidly distribute wild flower seeds along the planet’s highways and byways.
In the ‘ACME Pinnacle Laboratory’, the Gondwanan Horticultural Society is struggling to arrive at a design that might be feasible. Fortunately, teams of engineering students from Earth are about to visit Gondwana as part of their work experience programmes. On previous visits engineering students have rendered invaluable assistance, and the Gondwanans again seek help from these budding engineers.”
All interested members of the public are welcome to attend the competition. The first round of the competition will start at approximately 11 AM. The second round will start at approximately 2 PM.
1 September 2006 - The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism
WHO: Professor Robert Pape, Political Scientist, University of Chicago
WHAT: Giving a Free Public Lecture
WHEN: 6.00 pm Tuesday 5 September
WHERE: Lecture Theatre 7 – Bldg 32, Australian Defence Force Academy
Background:
Robert Pape, US author of the critically acclaimed Dying to Win: the strategic logic of suicide terrorism will be visiting Australia in the last week of August to September 6th to give a series of lectures on suicide terrorism.
Robert Pape is Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago where he teaches international politics, and also the director of the Chicago Project on Suicide Terrorism. A distinguished scholar of national security affairs, he is a contributor to The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, The New Republic, and The Washington Post and has appeared on ABC’s Nightline and World News Tonight, National Public Radio, and other national television and radio programs.
His publications include Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism (Random House 2005 US, SCRIBE 2005 Australia); Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War (Cornell 1996), "Why Economic Sanctions Do Not Work," International Security (1997), "The Determinants of International Moral Action," International Organization (1999); "The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism," American Political Science Review (2003); and "Soft Balancing against the United States," International Security (2005).
Before moving to Chicago in 1999, he taught international relations at Dartmouth College - New Hampshire USA, for five years and air power strategy for the USAF's School of Advanced Airpower Studies for three years. He received his Ph. D. from the University of Chicago in 1988 and graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Pittsburgh in 1982. His current work focuses on the causes of suicide terrorism and the politics of unipolarity.
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14 August 2006 - Lost Plays brought back to life
WHO: Aubrey Mellor OAM, Director of NIDA
WHAT: Launch of Australian Plays for the Colonial Stage 1834 - 1899
WHEN: 6.30 pm – 7.30 pm Wed 16 August 2006
WHEN: Parade Space, National Institute of Dramatic Art, 215 Anzac Parade, Kensington NSW
Background:
The Australian Academies of the Humanities edited by Professor Paul Eggert from UNSW at ADFA has recently gathered and published nine of the best local plays of the nineteenth century. The collection of works Australian Plays for the Colonial Stage 1834 – 1899 edited by Professor Richard Fotherinhgam, Executive Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Queensland will be launched by the Director of NIDA, Aubrey Mellor OAM.
The launch will be preceded by a rehearsed reading by NIDA students of scenes from some of the plays, while the general editor Professor Paul Eggert will describe the Academy Editions of Australian Literature project.
Between 1834, when the first surviving Australian play was staged, and 1930, when the world financial depression and Hollywood movies combined to decimate the live theatre industry, thousands of locally-written plays were performed, many of them commercially.
11 August 2006 - Achievements of Women in Science
WHO: Professor Veena Sahajwalla, UNSW
WHAT: Launching the Women in Science Exhibition
WHY: National Science Week
WHEN: 1030 am Tuesday 15 August 2006
WHERE: ADFA Library, Bldg 1
Background:
As part of 2006 National Science Week, UNSW@ADFA is holding an exhibition, in the Academy Library, showcasing the achievements of Women in Science.
Permission to display a range of spectacular posters emphasising the achievements of women in science has been generously given to UNSW@ADFA by the Fachhochschule Lübeck, Germany. Dr Heiko Timmers, from the School of Physical, Mathematical and Environmental Sciences saw the exhibition in Lubeck and undertook the arrangements which enabled UNSW@ADFA to host it in Australia.
The exhibition showcases the work of nineteen women scientists, ranging from Maria Sibylla Merian, discoverer of metamorphosis, to Rosalind Elise Franklin, discoverer of DNA. It includes the first female Nobel Prize winner, Marie Curie, Physics in 1903 and Chemistry in 1911; Gerty Theresa Cori, Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology, 1947; Maria Goeppert-Mayer, first US woman to win Nobel Prize in Physics, 1963; and Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1964.
Part of the exhibition includes examples of the work of current women researchers at UNSW@ADFA in areas as diverse as oceanography, quantum computing, and fluvial geomorphology. Another area of the exhibition includes a display featuring Women in Antarctica, using material from the Elizabeth Chipman and other collections held by the Academy Library.
Professor Veena Sahajwalla, Director of Sustainable Materials Processing Research in the School of Materials Science, UNSW, will open the exhibition.
Professor Sahajwalla's research focuses on the sustainability of materials processing, including the novel recycling of waste plastics in steel making.
Among many achievements and appointments, Professor Sahajwalla received an award in Australia’s inaugural Fresh Innovators competition in 2004 and was also the 2005 winner of the Eureka Prize for Scientific Research, awarded for outstanding curiosity-driven scientific research, undertaken in Australia by an Australian scientist under the age of 40. In her 'spare time' she is also a judge on the ABC TV show, "The New Inventors".
The exhibition will be on display in the Academy Library from 12 August - 1 September 2006.
29 July 2006 - Top World Economist To Visit ADFA
UNSW@ADFA and Harvard Club of Australia Foundation proudly present:
WHO: Professor Richard Freeman, Herbert Ascherman Chair in Economics at Harvard University
WHAT: Public Lecture "Schizophrenic Economics: Battling over the Soul of Capitalism"
WHERE: Lecture Theatre 7 Bldg 32 see attached map
WHEN: 6.00pm Monday 10 July 2006
WHY: Professor Richard Freeman is a leading World Economist and an expert in Trade Unions and labour reforms
Professor Richard Freeman holds the Herbert Ascherman Chair in Economics at Harvard University. He is currently serving as Faculty Co-Chair of the Harvard University Trade Union Program. He is also director of the Labour Studies Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research, Senior Research Fellow in Labour Markets at the London School of Economics' Centre for Economic Performance, and visiting professor at the London School of Economics.
Professor Freeman is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of Sigma Xi. He has served on five panels of the National Academy of Sciences, including the Committee on National Needs for Biomedical and Behavioural Scientists.
He has published over 300 articles dealing with a wide range of research interests including the job market for scientists and engineers; the growth and decline of unions; the effects of immigration and trade on inequality; restructuring European welfare states; Chinese labour markets; transitional economies; youth labour market problems; crime; self-organizing non-unions in the labour market; employee involvement programs; and income distribution and equity in the marketplace. In addition, he has written or edited over 25 books, several of which have been translated into French, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese.
Professor Richard Freeman is visiting UNSW@ADFA with a fellowship from the Harvard Club of Australia to work on a project studying the flows of scientists and engineers between Australia, (the UK), and the U.S. with Dr Massimiliano Tani, of the School of Business.
The Harvard Club of Australia Foundation is a non-profit organisation established by Australian alumni of Harvard University to support learned exchange between Harvard and Australia.
Prof Freeman's Bio is available at http://www.nber.org/~freeman/
23 June 2006 -THE WINTER SCHOOL ON COMPLEX ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS
WHO: School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering at UNSW@ADFA in conjunction with the ARC Centre for Complex Systems (ACCS)
WHAT: Hosting the Inaugural Winter School on Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS): Theory and Practice of Complex Systems.
WHY: CAS has become an important area of research over the last decade or so and has derived from and been applied to a wide range of research areas from the biological, social, communications and environmental sciences, amongst others
WHEN: 26 -30 June 2006
WHERE: School of ITEE UNSW@ADFA
Background: What is Complex Adaptive Systems?
Complex adaptive systems (CAS) is a relatively new interdisciplinary field focusing on studying the interaction and dynamics in systems with many interconnected components. Normally, these systems can be seen as a network, where the nodes represent the components and the links represent the interaction. Examples include the brain, crowd behaviour, economies, environments, genes, governments, societies, swarm of robots, and many others. The use of CAS as a lens to look at these systems is changing our views on how to design and/or control these systems; opening many new challenges.
This winter school will take the audience into a journey in the world of CAS covering basic principals, tools, methodologies, and applications. The winter school will have a particular value for those who are new to complex systems, or those who wish to understand how to apply CAS in real-life situations. It is hoped that this forum will become an annual event.
The program is centred around several themes including CAS, Data Analysis, Decision Making, Artificial Life, Evolution, Mind and Brain, Neural Networks, Multi-agent Systems, Software Engineering, Military and other applications, Ethics, and Networks.
On Thursday 29th June at 8.30 am, Professor Peter Lindsay from School of IT&EE at Uni Qld will be delivering an address on Free Flight System. Professor Lindsay who is the Boeing Chair in Systems Engineering was appointed founding Director of the ARC Centre for Complex Systems in 2003.
For more details: http://www.itee.adfa.edu.au/~alar/cas06.html
2 June 2006 - THE WARMAN STUDENT DESIGN-AND-BUILD COMPETITION
WHO: School of Aerospace, Civil and Mechanical Engineering
WHAT: 2006 Warman Student Design-and-Build Competition
WHY: Campus Heats to determine finalists for National Comp.
WHEN: 2-4 pm Wednesday 7 June 2006
WHERE: Main Laboratory, Level 1, Building 18 Aerospace, Civil and Mechanical Engineering
Background:
Each year, Weir-Warman and the Institution of Engineers, Australia sponsor a Design and Build Competition among second year “mechanical” engineering students throughout Australia and New Zealand. All second year aeronautical and mechanical engineering students at UNSW @ ADFA are participating in the competition as a part of their studies in design. The winning team from the campus competition will go on to the National Finals to be held in Sydney in September.
Project “ABC”– Autonomously Beautify Countryside, asks the students to design a device, in response to a fictional requirement on the Planet Gondwana. The objective is to design, build and prove a prototype device in a laboratory environment that serves to accurately and rapidly distribute seeds along the planet’s highways.
Setting the Scene:
“The Gondwanan people are quite proud of their planet and its beauty and while hosting the intergalactic millennium conference wish to make a good impression on visiting dignitaries. It is proposed that an autonomous device be designed and trialled to accurately and rapidly distribute wild flower seeds along the planet’s highways and byways.
In the ‘ACME Pinnacle Laboratory’, the Gondwanan Horticultural Society is struggling to arrive at a design that might be feasible. Fortunately, teams of engineering students from Earth are about to visit Gondwana as part of their work experience programmes. On previous visits engineering students have rendered invaluable assistance, and the Gondwanans again seek help from these budding engineers.”
Preliminaries will begin at 1.40 pm, with the first round of the competition starting at approximately 2 pm. The second round will start at approximately 2.45 pm.
18 April 2006 - Passchendaele – Beyond Imagination
WHO: Murray Kirkland
WHAT: Launch of Major Artwork
WHERE: Australian Defence Force Academy Library
WHEN: 20 April at 5.30 pm
The 1917 Battle of Passchendaele was one of the major military engagements fought by the ANZACS, British and Canadian forces during the First World War. This horrific battlefield on marshland and swamps was made worse by British bombardment and saw over a half a million soldiers from both sides of the conflict lose their lives.
The small Belgian village of Passendale close to Ypres in the Flanders region was occupied by the Germans. In a campaign that lasted over three months, the village was finally taken by the Canadians in November 1917.
The artwork by Murray Kirkland entitled Passchendaele: beyond Imagination comprises a major drawing some five metres by two metres in pencil, ink and washes. It shows the battle scarred - landscape - bomb cratered and the destroyed town beyond.
The exhibition will be launched at 5.30 pm on Thursday 20 April by renowned expert on the history of the First World War, Professor Robin Prior from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at UNSW@ADFA.
18 April 2006 - ADFA Students To Put Formula SAE-A Racing Car Through It’s Paces
WHO: Australian Defence Force Academy Students
WHAT: Midshipmen and Officer Cadets will demonstrate their Formula SAE-A Racing Car to sponsors and invited guests.
WHERE: Hard Parade Ground Area A (No.86 on attached map)
WHEN: 1330 Thursday 20 April 2006
WHY: Students compete in the Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) competition. The competition is held annually and requires the team members to design and build their own open wheel race car, keeping in mind the design regulations set by the event organisers.
The School of Aerospace, Civil and Mechanical Engineering (ACME) is entering it’s third year of involvement with the Formula SAE event. The first time ADFA entered a vehicle in the Australian competition in 2004, the team came in at 19th position. At the 2005 Championships, ADFA moved into the top ten teams Formula SAE-A in Australia and the region.
The function will consist of a presentation on the team’s performance at the 2005
(F-SAE) competition and presentations to sponsors at 1330 h, afternoon tea, followed by a driving demonstration at 1400 h. The event will conclude with an opportunity for selected guests to drive the 2005 car. The presentation will be held at the ADFA Parade Ground A, a map is attached.
24 March 2006 - Former NATO General to Visit ADFA
WHO: General Sir Rupert Smith (British Army – Retired)
WHAT: Delivering Public Lecture
WHERE: Lecture Theatre 7 Bldg 32 see attached map
WHEN: 6.00pm Wednesday 5 April 2006
WHY: General Sir Rupert Smith recently published “Utility of Force” - Penguin Books.
General Sir Rupert Smith retired from the British Army in 2002. Smith’s last command was Deputy Supreme Commander Allied Powers Europe. This senior military position was responsible for NATO’s role in the Balkans during 1998-2001, and included the Kosovo bombing.
Prior to holding this command, Smith had been involved in the Northern Ireland conflict, Sarajevo and the Gulf War in 1990-1992.
In September 2005, Smith published “The Utility of Force”. He notes that his book goes some way to explain the conundrum faced by governments who are reduced to employing military force to achieve an outcome.
Smith makes the point that whilst there has been a steady stream of military interventions across the globe; the use of force has not delivered on governments’ promise of peace or political resolution.
Smith is on the public record as saying that government leaders globally, fail to deploy military force in an efficient manner and adds that rather than providing a conclusion to a situation, military conflict seems to extend the confusion.
Born in 1943, Rupert Smith was educated at Haileybury, Imperial Service College, and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He enlisted in 1962 and was commissioned into the Parachute Regiment in 1964. He has served in East and South Africa, Arabia, the Caribbean, Europe and Malaysia.
He holds an honorary doctorate from Surrey University and is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. His interests include history and sailing.
General Sir Rupert Smith’s visit is being hosted by Professor Robin Prior from the School of Humanities and Social Science, UNSW@ADFA Canberra.