Ibid - Australian Army

Land Warfare Studies Centre 18
The most interesting and original aspect of the 1977 Fundamentals
was, however, the chapter entitled ‘Characteristics of Australian
Strategic and Tactical Doctrine’. 63 This chapter emphasised
Australia’s unique strategic situation as ‘an island continent of vast
size, largely dry, empty, and undeveloped’. 64 For the first time in
a Regular Army publication, there was a primary focus on
developing doctrine for land force operations to meet Australia’s
unique physical environment. The enduring problems of
geographical size, of a limited population located mainly in the
south-eastern and south-western coastal fringes, and of an
underdeveloped infrastructure in the north and north-west were
described as causing Australian strategic and tactical doctrine to
have five ‘special characteristics’. 65
These five special characteristics were identified as self-reliance,
mobility, logistic support, austerity and resilience. 66 Under the
characteristic of self-reliance, a premium was placed on structuring
Australian land forces for a primarily independent role rather than
an allied capability. The Army had to be prepared to operate
successfully on Australian soil against superior forces by avoiding
attrition strategy and tactics that relied for effect on the ‘direct
application of massive forces’. 67
In terms of the second characteristic of mobility, the Army faced
a wide theatre of operations over thousands of kilometres. Vast
distances required ‘an effective Australian surveillance system and
a high level of strategic mobility to confer on the Army the ability
to deploy and redeploy over vast distances’. 68 Tactical mobility was
also needed to fight a fluid battle of manoeuvre over extensive
areas. Strategic and tactical mobility required not only appropriate
63
64
65
66
67
68
Ibid., chap. 4.
Ibid., para. 402.
Ibid., para. 404.
Ibid., paras 405–16.
Ibid., paras 405–7.
Ibid., para. 408.