Download - Royal Australian Navy

124 australian maritime issues 2009: spc-a annual
One of the lessons learnt from past maritime expeditionary operations is that land
and air units do not need to establish bases ashore in a foreign country during an
expeditionary campaign, when they can operate at sea from a secure sea base. For
example, during the initial response to the East Timor crisis in 1999 Australian
commanders put much effort into establishing a secure base for communications ashore
when the equivalent communications base already existed in Dili Harbour, onboard a
Royal Australian Navy warship. 23 Similar experiences are not all that unusual in the
historical record although the frequent application of Australian single Service units
under Allied command has tended to camouflage the joint lessons learnt. 24
Expeditionary not Amphibious
Before proceeding further it is necessary to clarify another common misconception:
‘expeditionary’ is not synonymous with ‘amphibious’. 25 Unlike amphibious operations
which are primarily military in purpose and form part of a series of other operations
within a military campaign, expeditionary operations are broad in concept and highly
politicised. The strategist Geoffrey Till provides a list of interconnected criteria that
apply to expeditionary operations:
• conducted at the operational level
• traditionally undertaken by Western nations
• distant
• self-contained
• limited in aim
• of short duration
• against varied opponents
• demanding and specialised
• fought in urban littorals
• highly politicised. 26
Unfortunately many within the ADF continue to mistakenly conflate amphibious
operations with expeditionary operations. Such blinkered thinking is in opposition to
the necessary cultural and structural reforms that the ADF must pursue, and to state it
bluntly, cannot be allowed to continue unchallenged. The ADF’s move to expeditionary
warfare must be reflected in an integrated web-like framework within its concepts,
doctrine and force structure.