Defence

Air Force

Reflecting on security issues

The Chief of Air Force receives a brief from officers of HMAS Kanimbla on the humanitarian aid situation ashore in Lahewa, Nias island. Photo by POCIS McGraw

I have been very privileged to serve as Chief of Air Force during a period when Air Force, along with the wider ADF, have deployed successfully on numerous operations in Australia and overseas.

A consistent theme of this period has been the importance of Defence working together as part of a national response.

Australia is an island continent that relies very heavily on trade with other nations. Managing global interests, balanced with strong regional engagement, requires a coordinated local response.

The Defence White Paper released in 2000 defined four tasks: The Defence of Australia, contributing to the security of the immediate neighbourhood, supporting wider interests and importantly conducting peacetime national tasks.

The Defence Update 2003 verified that the White Paper remains extant, and that the defence of Australia is our enduring primary focus. That is not to say that we focus exclusively on our continent and territories.

The strategic framework for the ADF's contribution to national security has been defined in terms of shaping, deterrence and response.

Shaping is a whole-of-Government activity. By developing influence through relationships, by contributing to coalitions, and through regional training activities, the ADF contributes to a common understanding of security issues with regional neighbours and promotes an environment consistent with Australia's national interests.

Deterrence in the strategic context is the use of national power to dissuade someone from taking action. It may include diplomatic and/or economic action such as UN sanctions. The ADF's capacity for deterrence relies on maintaining capable forces that can competently defend Australian interests and project a credible strike capability. This remains particularly important for Air Force and our 'continuously improving' air combat system that we deliver today through our F/A- 18 Hornets and F-111s, and that we will deliver into the future with the introduction of the F35 JSF.

Response with measured force is a unique option that Defence provides to Government. In the event that whole-of- Government shaping and deterrence has not been successful, the Government retains the last resort capability of using force to protect Australian interests.

In the past, much has been made of inter-service rivalry. The reality is that the Navy, Army and Air Force have been 'working together' ensuring Australia's security for many years. I might add that in my experience over the last 10 years in key operational appointments, and as the Chief of Air Force, I have never seen a single service operation. All our operations have been joint or combined.

In Air Force we have long given up the concept of an independent Air Force. We now see the RAAF as a vital part of the ADF team delivering the outcomes required by Government.

This requires that the four sides of the Defence community work together seamlessly across organisational boundaries.

We educate many ADF Officers with the essential concept of 'working together' through initial officer training at the Australian Defence Force Academy and, for our more senior officers, in our joint Staff College and through our joint and combined exercises. Part of learning to work effectively together also involves working with our Defence civilians. They too have the opportunity to attend the joint courses at Staff College.

Security Tasks

We are living with uncertainty in an uncertain world and we must plan for a spectrum of possible operations. When the current White Paper was written in 2000, it would have been considered incredible if we had said that within 12 months the ADF would have forces deployed in Afghanistan.

Our strategic planning for a wide range of tasks, and the flexibility and adaptability of our forces, has enabled us to make a valued contribution to many security tasks in recent years.

Now, we are seeing a trend towards whole of government responses to crises with Prime Minister and Cabinet, Defence, Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Attorney General's Department and the Australian Federal Police involved in the planning of operations. I refer to this core group as the key departments and agencies.

I cite the Solomons as a great example of this cooperation.

The Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands - RAMSI - was a major operation and was most capably led by DFAT. The Australian Federal Police were supported directly by Defence, with the significant Defence presence acting as a deterrent to those who had established a culture which did not respect law and order.

One significant factor that contributed to the success of this operation was the whole-of-Government team at the strategic level, 'working together' before and during the operation in support of Australia's security and national interests.

This inter-agency system of working together has improved remarkably over recent years. The Olympic Games, for example, provided a very useful opportunity not only at the national level, but also in working with responsible state government agencies.

Away from home, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has always been involved in diplomatically working with our neighbours, and nations further afield, to advance our security interests.

Defence also plays an important part in this by working with other Defence Forces in the region and beyond to establish relationships of trust and understanding. Personal contact remains vital here. This international Defence role was most important during the preparations for the deployments to East Timor, when the Vice Chief of the Defence Force was deployed by the Government to consult through well-established relationships in regional countries.

I was personally involved with similar activities with DFAT, Attorney Generals and Defence staff, during negotiations over basing arrangements in the Middle East. I was deeply impressed with the professionalism of my inter-departmental colleagues.

Relief Efforts

More recently, Australia has responded, along with other nations and agencies to assist those devastated by the tsunami and earthquakes in Indonesia.

At the time the tsunami hit, the Air Force had people coming home from other operations to spend Christmas with their families. As the extent of the disaster became apparent, we had to ask many of them to forego their long-overdue family time, turn around and commit to intensive operations to assist the recovery operation. And they did it brilliantly.

Within 24 hours of the order, our people had five C-130s on the way, which is significantly above what was expected of them in any of our preparedness planning. During our time in Indonesia, all our people further enhanced Australia's reputation for working cooperatively with other nations.

The Government response to the Bali and Jakarta bombings, and the recent tragedies, reinforces the need for continued cooperative work, particularly for the key departments and agencies.

Working closely with Indonesia in this way has enhanced our relationship and mutual security. My two visits to Indonesia this year reinforced this perception. The Air Force to Air Force relationship between our two countries has never been better.

Terrorism

We are all cognisant that there is a threat from terrorism to our security. The terrorist threat is global and there seems to be little respect for the fundamental values we hold. Terrorism is but one component of a broader struggle that includes propaganda, education and the transnational flow of capital.

Terrorists are patient, persistent and adaptive. They have used the world's media exceptionally well. These people are using the openness and tolerance of our nations as a vulnerability.

Our response to the threat of terrorism has been to continually improve our effectiveness in working together for Australia's security, both nationally and internationally.

All levels of Government are now actively engaged in working to improve our security. Defence is doing its part in the whole-of-Government response to terrorism. I for one had not expected that I would ever see armed F/A-18 Hornets patrolling the skies over our capital cities as we did during the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in 2003 and during the visit of the President of the United States.

Clearly the increase in resources the Government has provided to our intelligence community is a most important aspect of our coordinated national efforts.

We have again called upon the cooperative skill and combined experience of our people as we plan for and support the Commonwealth Games in 2006, and the APEC forum in 2007. An important part of our planning will be to consider a possible terrorist threat.

A key element of the Defence contribution will involve our Special Forces. Through years of practice and operational experience they epitomise the professionalism and expertise we all respect. They set the standard in working together with Governments and agencies in Australia, and working together with regional partners and allies.

The ADF, in conjunction with the rest of Government, is also taking a very proactive view in regard to regional engagement.

The fact that Australia along with ten regional countries, has signed Memoranda of Understanding to combat international terrorism is a very positive step. MoU such as these have allowed a wide range of specific defence-based counter-terrorism cooperation - including intelligence sharing, training initiatives, exercises and seminars.

Part of the Government response is to enhance our Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance capability. This year's Federal Budget demonstrates the ongoing commitment to key security projects with increased Defence funding for the offshore protection of the North-west Shelf, maintaining the surveillance of our northern approaches, and enhancing the security of our ADF bases and facilities.

Flexibility

The Government requires Defence to provide options that enable freedom of action to pursue a broad range of legitimate national interests. Defence must carefully balance its capability options to cater for a broad range of scenarios, not only the threat of terrorism.

We plan for the delivery of the capabilities necessary to respond to a range of potential scenarios, but we should not be surprised if the actual scenario faced is something for which we hadn't necessarily planned.

We rely on our innovative people and their ongoing training to help us adapt to new challenges.

My experience leads me to believe that Australia is very well placed. All the advances, which have been made by our key agencies working together, have significantly enhanced our security, and we continue to strengthen relationships with our counterparts overseas.

A cooperative, consultative and coordinated approach across all parts of Government will continue to be essential to secure our future.

Excerpt from Air Marshal Houston's speech at the recent Security In Government conference.

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