Peter Mitchell competition

In the July 1 edition of Navy News, we incorrectly published one of the questions in the 2004 Peter Mitchell Essay Competition.

Question three, applying the concept of a medium maritime power to Australia, refers to Rear Admiral Richard Hill, RN (Rtd) and not to Senator Robert Hill, the current Minister for Defence.

Entrants have until November 14, 2004 to submit their essays on one of the following topics: Technology and strategy are closely linked, particularly for activities at sea.

How will forecast technological possibilities in propulsion, hull forms, sensors or weapons impact on how medium navies operate at sea over the next 30 years?

• Australia is currently operating within a framework of Cold War era alliances such as ANZUS and the Five Power Defence Arrangement (FPDA).
  
  Do Australia’s future national security interests lie with continuing these alliances or with emergent regional or supraregional alliances?
  
  How might this impact on RAN capabilities and missions?
  
  
• Applying Hill’s concept of a medium maritime power, does the RAN have the capacity and capability to meet its enforcement roles as outlined in “Australia’s Ocean Policy”?
  
  What changes might be required to policy and or capability to allow the RAN to perform successfully as a medium maritime power.
• Discuss the role of mine clearance operations in contemporary expeditionary warfare and postulate how this might be realised in minimum time in a networked, combined and joint campaign in the littoral environment.
• What impact will the changing international ship and port facility security obligations embodied in the International Maritime Shipping and Port Security (ISPS) Code, have on the traditional role of naval forces after July 1, 2004?
  
  Full rules for the competition, together with the entry declaration form, are available on the Sea Power Centre - Australia website at www.navy.gov.au/spc or by contacting the Senior Research Officer at the Centre, LCDR Glenn Kerr, on (02) 6127 6505, fax 6127 6519 or email to glenn.kerr@defence.gov.au.

Case of mistaken identity

The front page photo in the July 29 edition of Navy News contained incorrect caption details.

The person identified in the picture should have been POCK David Farrugia and not CPOCK Kevin Cox.

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