At the recent Senior Leadership Recall Day, the Chief of the Defence Force, ADML Chris Barrie, officially announced the Defence vision:

'A force for good - a force to be reckoned with - a force to win'.

ADML Barrie stressed the importance of a vision that inspires individuals to want to be part of an organisation and presents how we want others to see us.

"A short, snappy and memorable vision will also serve to guide the work that we do," ADML Barrie said.

"When we began work on what we were aspiring to - the vision - our first attempt reflected concepts of joint war fighting. It seemed a bit repetitive and it seemed to be lacking on the inspiration front. We had also been considering wording that captured the concepts of deterrence and a winning force".

"In the vision, 'A force for good - a force to be reckoned with - a force to win,' we don't talk about a joint force, yet implicit in the term "a force" is a very strong sense of jointness," he said.

I recognise and support wholeheartedly the contribution that our Navy, Army and Air Force bring to 'a force.' Then there will be the specific contributions of our civilian, community, contractor and industry supporters as well. Though we lead the world, in my opinion, in joint operations we still have a lot of work to do to get to where we want to be.

We have to continue to see the seamless transitioning of responsibility from one part of the force to another as being a vital ingredient of our work. We must have a professional respect for each element of the force, from one side to the other and get out of the business of duplicating what we do. We must put in very sensible management and capability arrangements as part of creating and continuing to create the world's best joint force.

First, there is a strong sense of coalition in 'a force' as well. We are going to be working with others and we have worked with others in most situations I can think about. And we already have a proven track record in this regard.

Throughout our history, we have mostly worked alongside others who were leading operations outside Australia. In East Timor, we had the responsibility and the accountability for keeping a coalition operation for the first time in our history, and we have acquitted ourselves with excellence. We put ourselves on the map, earning a great deal of professional respect.

'A force' means all of us. 'A force' means our contractors, our civilian colleagues and Reserve Forces. There is no qualification for the term 'a force.'

"The idea of 'a force' is one that the Secretary, Dr Allan Hawke, also feels strongly about. Defence is all about people - all those in uniform and all those in our fourth service, the Australian Public Service, whose job it is to support the military arm. This also extends to the important contribution of our embedded contractors and defence industry.

"Let me explain each component of the vision, as I see it, in more detail:

A force for good

Australian Service people are renowned for their ability to mix professional war fighting skills with the need for compassion and commitment to build a better world for all, especially overseas. We have earned a well-deserved reputation for our peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts

• We serve in a force that is greatly admired in our community as a force for good, bringing with it a strong sense of upholding, in everything we do, the rule of law.
• Everyone in our organisation should strive to do the right thing by each other, and by people outside Defence. And, we are remarkably supportive of charity work, and helping in our community whenever the opportunity presents itself.
• Being good to each other must remain a key value in the way we behave. Inappropriate behaviour has no place in Defence.
• We will do everything possible to foster peace and stability in our region. This means that we will be transparent and work assiduously to build confidence and explain all that we do to our international colleagues.

A force to be reckoned with

We will nearly always be a small force in terms of the number of people we enlist and retain in our force. We will seek to engage as much as possible, our civilian colleagues, our contractors and industry and the Australian community in all that we do. In this way we will become a force that punches well above its weight when called upon to do so. We will also harness the benefits of technology wherever possible to enhance our defence capability.

No serious person, least of all our defence force, would like to see a resort to armed conflict as a means of resolving differences. Rather, we hope to see the resolution of differences taking place through acceptable institutions and mechanisms. In this context, if the quality of our force is demonstrated visibly and frequently as among the best in the world, we may deter people from taking up arms to resolve their disputes and encourage them to use peaceful ways of resolving them.

A force to win

We need a first class defence force - one in which the members of our Navy, Army and Air Force work together comprehensively, across-the-board to deliver the totality of our combat capability. Our force must have a strong focus on its war-fighting skills to make sure that, if the test ever comes, we will be up to the mark. We need to make certain that our levels of combat training, right down to all individuals, and our training in command and control and battle procedures are effective and appropriate for the range of tasks we may have to undertake.

Australia has significant security responsibilities for about one-tenth of the earth's surface. We have a very small population, comparatively, from which to provide and build our defence force. Our professionalism must become the hallmark by which we are known, whether we are operating by ourselves, in a joint force, or making a substantial contribution to a coalition force.

'A force for good - a force to be reckoned with - a force to win'.

With all our people focussing on our vision and appreciating the importance of the work they do in conjunction with everyone else, we will reach towards the achievement of the future we seek in our thoughts, words and deeds. Together, we will set a new standard of performance in delivering what our people want and our mission 'Defending Australia and its national interests.'

Prepared and supplied by the Chief of the Defence Force, ADML Chris Barrie and the Secretary of Defence, Dr Allan Hawke