Personnel from each Five Eyes nation have studied together on this year’s Joint Warrant Officer Course for the first time since its establishment in 2011.

The course introduces senior enlisted leaders to Australia’s strategic and Defence environment, joint capabilities, and command leadership and ethics.

It does this by providing executive-level understanding of Defence issues at strategic, operational and functional levels of command.

It also prepares ADF warrant officers for Tier B and C senior enlisted appointments.

The course was conducted from August 11 to September 5 and included students from the Defence Cooperation Program and nations including the Maldives, Fiji, Tonga, Singapore, Japan and the Philippines.

International observers also attended from the United Kingdom and the United States Coast Guard (USCG).

One participant, Royal Air Force (RAF) Warrant Officer Stacey Marshal, said both countries had similar challenges with their workforce but different challenges with geography and strategic issues. 

“In the UK, we've got a saying within our RAF fleet program, ‘your network is your net worth’,” she said.

“Here the network is invaluable, with the amount of experience in the room from different countries. Combined knowledge is much better than just a single person.”

Course manager Major Greg Barron said international participants benefited from understanding how the Australian Defence Force works, contextualising it with their own military and how they could operate with Australia.

He said a common ‘light-bulb moment’ was students evolving beyond unit-level tactical thinking.

“They have a complete mind shift from day one to the end of the course where they move from a tactical mindset into a strategic picture,” Major Barron said.

'Combined knowledge is much better than just a single person.'

One of the students, Warrant Officer Victoria Brady, first joined the Navy as a medic and now aspires to be a command warrant officer on board a ship.

For her, the course reinforced the importance of looking after personnel.

“Without the people, we can't actually achieve the capability that we're trying to reach,” she said.

“My focus on people is something that I’ve been able to draw on through all of our presentations. It’s been a common theme through the course that people are the most important capability.”

Warrant Officer-3 Rifaq Rasheed, the first person from the Maldives on the course, said it would be a stepping stone for command appointments. 

“Critical thinking and design thinking has been a big subject here – command, leadership and ethics was major,” he said.

“And to know about where Australia sits in the global stage as a middle power and then how Australia [interacts with] neighbours and supports them in various means and methods available.”

Building relationships, particularly with international personnel, was also a highlight for Warrant Officer Class 1 John Craig.

“It’s just not the ADF, but it’s our allies and partners and what we will bring at that strategic level,” he said.

The course runs each year at the Australian Command and Staff College in Canberra, but is limited to 40 Australian and 10 international students, with panelling conducted by respective career management agencies.