ADC Forge Media

Artificial intelligence and data analytics are changing how military forces understand, influence and act within the information environment. This article examines how AI can turn vast quantities of data into strategic advantage, from predictive analysis and data fusion to cyber operations, psychological influence and countering misinformation. It also considers the risks accompanying these capabilities, including privacy, bias, accountability and compliance with international law. As data becomes an increasingly important strategic asset, the article argues that achieving data dominance — while maintaining appropriate human oversight — will be critical to success in the future battlespace.

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The Australian Defence Force needs thousands of new recruits each year, yet the pool it can realistically draw from is far smaller than Australia’s population figures suggest. This article examines how health, education, criminality and other national characteristics combine with ADF selection requirements to leave fewer than half of 17–24-year-olds eligible to serve. Once willingness to join is added, the potential recruiting pool falls to just 16% — and potentially as low as 11%. It explores what these numbers reveal about the ADF’s persistent recruiting challenge and the limited levers Defence has available to address it.

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What role could memes play in the future of warfare, and what does that mean for the Australian Defence Force? This article explores the evolution of memetic warfare and examines how memes, narratives and ideas can shape behaviour, influence decision-making and contest the information environment. Drawing on the Russia–Ukraine war and the emergence of online civic resistance groups such as NAFO, it considers how similar dynamics could emerge in a future Indo-Pacific conflict. Rather than presenting memetic warfare as a new military panacea, the article argues that it offers the ADF a useful framework for thinking about narrative and cognitive warfare, with potential applications from operations to training, recruitment and organisational culture.

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Dr Lucas Marie sits down with TX Hammes, a distinguished fellow at the National Defence University's Institute for National Strategic Studies and a 30-year United States Marine Corps veteran with operations in Somalia and Iraq.TX is a leader in his field as one of the most respected voices on the future of warfare, military strategy, and insurgency. He holds a doctorate in modern history from the University of Oxford and is the author of The Sling and the Stone, a landmark examination of how modern conflict has evolved alongside deglobalisation and shifting strategic competition.His research on future conflict and emerging technology has shaped professional military education programs around the world — including here in Australia.

In this season-opening episode of Lives in Leadership, Dr Lucas Marie speaks with Warrant Officer Ken Robertson, the inaugural Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chief of the Defence Force. Drawing on more than 30 years of service, Robertson discusses the role of influence in leadership, the value of trusted relationships, and how the voice of the enlisted workforce helps inform strategic decision-making across the ADF.

The conversation explores leading without formal authority, building a genuinely integrated joint force, and why technical expertise must be matched by emotional intelligence and professional judgement. Relevant well beyond Defence, this episode offers practical insights for anyone seeking to lead effectively in complex organisations.