Portal:Military of Australia
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The Military of Australia Portal |
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The Military of Australia, officially known as the Australian Defence Force (ADF) since 1976, consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The Australian Department of Defence administers the Australian Defence Organisation (ADO) which consists of the ADF and the civilian personnel supporting the ADF. Approximately 53,000 men and women serve in the ADF with another 21,600 serving in the three reserve components.
The ADF is constituted under the Executive Government sections of the Australian Constitution, Section 68, that says, "The command in chief of the naval and military forces of the Commonwealth is vested in the Governor-General as the Queen's representative." In practice, the control of the ADF is, politically, vested in the Minister for Defence and several subordinate ministers. The Minister acts on most matters alone, however, important matters are considered by the National Security Committee of Cabinet. The Minister then advises the Governor-General who acts as advised in the normal form of executive government. The current Chief of the Australian Defence Force is General David Hurley.
The Military history of Australia covers a period of around 200 years starting with the colonisation of Australia by the British in 1788. Australians have fought in nearly every major war of the 20th Century including the Second Boer War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War as well as numerous UN peace-keeping missions.
Selected article
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Although Australia was remote from the main battlefronts of World War II, there was considerable Axis naval activity in Australian waters during the war. A total of 53 German and Japanese warships and submarines entered Australian waters between 1940 and 1945 and attacked ships, ports and other targets. Among the best-known attacks are the sinking of HMAS Sydney by a German raider in November 1941, the attack on Darwin in February 1942 and the Japanese midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour in May 1942. In addition, many Allied merchant ships were damaged or sunk off the Australian coast by submarines and mines. Japanese submarines also shelled several Australian ports and submarine-based aircraft flew over several Australian capital cities.
Selected picture
Photo credit: USN
A soldier from the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment on patrol during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2005.
Selected quote
- — Last words of Harry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant, said to his firing squad, 27 February 1902
Selected anniversaries
- 1916 - World War I: Australian Light Horse troops capture El Arish, Egypt
Did you know...
- ...that Alick Bryant is believed to have been the youngest Australian soldier to serve during the First World War?
- ...that AV2767 Crusader (pictured) was the largest ship commissioned into service with the Australian Army during World War II?
- ...that HMAS Wyatt Earp made an unsuccessful voyage to Antarctica while part of the RAN?
New articles
- Judge Advocate General (Australia) - 18 January 2016
- Air Force Reserve (Australia) – 18 August 2015
- Gallipoli Campaign order of battle - 5 May 2013
- Search and Rescue Wing RAAF - 4 May 2013
- Alan McNicoll - 4 May 2013
- Stan Sismey - 1 March 2013
- Seahorse Standard - 25 January 2013
- Wallaby-class water and fuel lighter - 23 January 2013
- RAAF 227 Radar Bunker - 19 January 2013
- Boeing C-17 Globemaster III in Australian service - 19 January 2013
- HMAS HDML 1324 - 17 January 2013
- Bertram-class air-sea rescue boat - 16 January 2013
- HMAS HDML 1321 - 16 January 2013
- Anti-aircraft defences of Australia during World War II - 15 January 2013
- Structure of the Australian Army during World War II - 12 January 2013
News
- 8 November, 2010 - The Spitfire flown by and remains of Flight Lieutenant Henry Lacy Smith have been found in Normandy. He was killed after being shot down five days after D-Day during World War II.Read more...
- 16 March, 2010 - The remains of Special Air Service Patrolman Lieutenant Kenneth Hudson and Private Robert Moncrieff have been found after being missing in action since 1966 during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation.Read more...
- 18 February, 2010 - AN Australian Defence Force inquiry has backed navy seamen who saved their colleagues before asylum seekers when a boat exploded near Ashmore Reef last year. Read more...
- 13 February, 2010 - Japan, Australia To Sign Military Logistics Pact-Nikkei. Read more...
- 30 July, 2009 - The remains of Flying Officer Michael Herbert and Pilot Officer Robert Carver, missing in action (MIA) in Vietnam have been found. They were the last Australian MIA in Vietnam. Read more...
- 16 January, 2009 - Trooper Mark Donaldson is awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia following his actions in Afghanistan on 2 September 2008. Read more...
Selected biography
Clive Robertson Caldwell DSO, DFC & Bar (28 July 1910 – 5 August 1994) was the leading Australian fighter ace of World War II. Caldwell was born in Lewisham, Sydney and joined the Royal Australian Air Force at the outbreak of war. Caldwell is officially credited with at least 26 aircraft claimed shot down, 4 shared destroyed, 11 probables and 25 damaged in over 300 operational sorties. His nickname was Killer because of his habit of shooting up any enemy vehicles spotted when returning from a sortie. In 1945, he led the "Morotai Mutiny", in which several senior flyers resigned in protest following the relegation of RAAF fighter squadrons to dangerous and strategically worthless ground attack missions. Caldwell retired in 1946.
Daily unit
The 1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers is a current Australian Army Reserve Reconnaissance Regiment. The regiment is based at Lancer Barracks in Parramatta, New South Wales. The regiment is currently equipped with M113A1 APC but it is currently being converted to a light cavalry role and is being equipped with 4x4 Land Rover patrol vehicles. The current regiment was formed in 1956 when the 1st Royal New South Wales Lancers and the 15th Northern River Lancers were joined, 1st/15th carries the former regiments' battle honours. The band of the 1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers is one of the few RAAC regimental bands still in existence.
Selected equipment
The Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN) is an over-the-horizon radar network that can monitor air and sea movements across 37,000km2. It has an official range of 3,000 km but depending upon certain atmospheric conditions has a range up to and including the Korean peninsula. It is used in the defence of Australia and can also monitor maritime operations, wave heights and wind directions. It was built by RLM Management, then in Burwood East in Melbourne, in partnership with Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Lockheed Martin, Telstra, BAE and Tenix Defence Systems. Up to now, the network has cost approximately $A1.8 billion.
WikiProjects
Major topics
Featured, A-Class and Good content
Featured articles: 1940 Brocklesby mid-air collision • Admiralty Islands campaign • Adrian Cole (RAAF officer) • AHS Centaur • Alan McNicoll • Alexander Pentland • Alister Murdoch • Allan Walters • Arthur Henry Cobby • Attack on Sydney Harbour • Australian contribution to the Battle of Normandy • Australian Defence Force • Axis naval activity in Australian waters • Battle of Arawe • Battle of Arras (1917) • Battle of Bardia • Battle of the Bismarck Sea • Battle of Cape Esperance • Battle of Greece • Battle of Milne Bay • Battle of Kaiapit • Battle of Morotai • Battle of Rennell Island • Battle of Savo Island • Battle of Sio • Battle of Tassafaronga • Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu-Tanambogo • Battle of the Eastern Solomons • Black Friday (1945) • Blair Anderson Wark • Bobby Gibbes • Brian Eaton • Bruce Kingsbury • Cedric Howell • Charles Eaton (RAAF officer) • Colin Hannah • Convoy GP55 • David Evans (RAAF officer) • Edgar Towner • Edmund Herring • Ellis Wackett • Elwyn Roy King • Frank Berryman • Frank Bladin • Frank Headlam • Frank Hubert McNamara • Frederick Scherger • Garnet Malley • George Jones (RAAF officer) • Guadalcanal Campaign • Harry Chauvel • Harry Murray • Hector Waller • Henry Burrell (admiral) • Henry Wells (general) • Henry Wrigley • HMAS Melbourne (R21) • HMS Nairana (1917) • Ian Dougald McLachlan • Invasion of Tulagi (May 1942) • Issy Smith • Iven Mackay • James Newland • James Rowland (RAAF officer) • James Whiteside McCay • Jerry Pentland • Joe Hewitt (RAAF officer) • John Balmer • John Francis Jackson • John Lerew • John Lloyd Waddy • John McCauley • John Treloar (museum administrator) • John Wilton (general) • John Whittle • Landing at Nadzab • Les Holden • Lester Brain • List of Australian George Cross recipients • List of Australian Victoria Cross recipients • Lockheed C-130 Hercules in Australian service • McDonnell Douglas A-4G Skyhawk • McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet in Australian service • McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II in Australian service • Michael Woodruff • Military history of Australia during World War II • Morotai Mutiny • Naval Battle of Guadalcanal • Neil Hamilton Fairley • Nicky Barr • No. 1 Flying Training School RAAF • No. 1 Squadron RAAF • No. 1 Wing RAAF • No. 2 Operational Conversion Unit RAAF • No. 33 Squadron RAAF • No. 34 Squadron RAAF • No. 36 Squadron RAAF • No. 450 Squadron RAAF • No. 77 Squadron RAAF • No. 79 Squadron RAAF • No. 90 Wing RAAF • Operation Kita • Oswald Watt • Otto Becher • Paterson Clarence Hughes • Peter Jeffrey (RAAF officer) • Raymond Brownell • Reg Pollard (general) • Reg Saunders • Richard Williams (RAAF officer) • Roderic Dallas • Roy Dowling • Roy Phillipps • Singapore strategy • Shrine of Remembrance • Stanley Goble • Stanley Savige • Thomas Baker (aviator) • Thomas Blamey • Tom Derrick • Valston Hancock • Victoria Cross for Australia • Walter Peeler • William Bostock • William Brill • William Ellis Newton • William Hely
A Class: 2/18th Battalion (Australia) • Admiralty Islands campaign • Air Combat Group RAAF • Alan Charlesworth • Australian Army during World War II • Australian light destroyer project • Battle of Bita Paka • Battle of Kaiapit • Battle of Kapyong • Battle of Slater's Knoll • Battle of Wau • Boeing C-17 Globemaster III in Australian service • Central Flying School RAAF • Clare Stevenson • Clarence Smith Jeffries • Eric Harrison (RAAF officer) • First Battle of Maryang San • Frank Berryman • Frank Bladin • Frank Lukis • George Alan Vasey • George Julian Howell • George Ingram • George Mackinolty • Battle of Goodenough Island • Henry Petre • Henry Wrigley • Hippolyte De La Rue • Horace Robertson • John Northcott • Joseph Maxwell • Landing at Saidor • Leslie Morshead • Lewis McGee • No. 78 Wing RAAF • No. 81 Wing RAAF • No. 82 Wing RAAF • No. 84 Wing RAAF • No. 86 Wing RAAF • Operation Brevity • Operation Coburg • Operation Crimp • Ordnance QF 25-pounder Short • Percy Herbert Cherry • Percy Statton • Roy Burston • Rupert Downes • Samuel Burston • South West Pacific Area (command) • Sydney Rowell • Teddy Sheean • Tet Offensive • Vernon Sturdee • Wilfred Arthur • William Anderson (RAAF officer) • William McAloney
Good articles: 1940 Brocklesby mid-air collision • 12th Light Horse Regiment (Australia) • 14th/32nd Battalion (Australia) • 1st Armoured Regiment (Australia) • 1st Parachute Battalion (Australia) • 2/14th Battalion (Australia) • 2/18th Battalion (Australia) • 2/31st Battalion (Australia) • 2/48th Battalion (Australia) • 2/9th Battalion (Australia) • 23rd Battalion (Australia) • 27th Battalion (Australia) • 29th Battalion (Australia) • 2nd Battalion (Australia) • 31st/51st Battalion (Australia) • 3rd Division (Australia) • 6th Battalion (Australia) • 61st Battalion (Australia) • 7th Battalion (Australia) • Arthur William Murphy • Australian Army Reserve • Australian Army ship Crusader (AV 2767) • Battle of Amiens • Battle of Chongju (1950) • Battle of Coral–Balmoral • Battle of France • Battle of Gang Toi • Battle of the Hongorai River • Battle of Kranji • Battle of Kujin • Battle of Lone Pine • Battle of Long Khanh • Battle of Pakchon • Battle of Porton Plantation • Battle of the Samichon River • Battle of Sattelberg • Battle of Sungei Koemba • Battle of Suoi Bong Trang • Battle of Suoi Chau Pha • Battle of Yongju • British nuclear tests at Maralinga • Charles Crombie • Charles Read (RAAF officer) • Charles Scherf • Dave Shannon • Demobilisation of the Australian military after World War II • Ernest Albert Corey • Frederick Birks • General Dynamics F-111C • German attacks on Nauru • Gordon Steege • History of the Royal Australian Navy • HMAS Sydney (1934) • Hobart coastal defences • Hughie Edwards • Huon Peninsula campaign • John Hines (Australian soldier) • Len Waters • Les Clisby • Leslie Douglas Jackson • Mary Bell (aviator) • Military history of Australia • Military history of Australia during World War I • Neville McNamara • Nigel Cullen • No. 1 Aircraft Depot RAAF • No. 1 Basic Flying Training School RAAF • No. 1 Long Range Flight RAAF • No. 1 Operational Conversion Unit RAAF • No. 2 Service Flying Training School RAAF • No. 38 Squadron RAAF • No. 457 Squadron RAAF • No. 5 Airfield Construction Squadron RAAF • No. 6 Squadron RAAF • No. 71 Wing RAAF • No. 72 Wing RAAF • No. 73 Wing RAAF • No. 75 Squadron RAAF • No. 76 Wing RAAF • No. 77 Wing RAAF • No. 78 Squadron RAAF • No. 79 Wing RAAF • No. 8 Service Flying Training School RAAF • No. 80 Wing RAAF • Operation Bribie • Peter Isaacson • Peter Raw • Peter Roy Maxwell Drummond • Peter Turnbull (RAAF officer) • Richard Minifie • Robert A. Little • Russell Foskett • Second Battle of Passchendaele • Selarang Barracks Incident • Stuart Clarence Graham • Virgil Brennan • Wilfrid Kent Hughes • Australian contribution to the Allied Intervention in Russia 1918–1919
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- Popular pages
- Full list
- Cleanup needed
- 2nd Division (Australia) • 2nd Division (New Zealand) • 4th Division (Australia) • 8th Division (Australia) • Court martial of Breaker Morant • History of the Royal Australian Navy • Military history of New Zealand • Military history of New Zealand in World War I • Military history of New Zealand during World War II • New Zealand Army • New Zealand in the Vietnam War • Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment • Slouch hat • Uniforms of the New Zealand Army
- Requested articles
- 15th Brigade (New Zealand) • 34th Battalion (New Zealand) • 37th Battalion (New Zealand) • Auckland Regiment • Canterbury Regiment (currently a redirect) • Otago Regiment (currently a redirect) • Wellington Regiment • 1st Field Regiment, Royal New Zealand Artillery • 2nd Field Regiment, Royal New Zealand Artillery • 4th Medium Regiment, Royal New Zealand Artillery • 6th Light Anti-aircraft Regiment, Royal New Zealand Artillery • 12th Heavy Anti-aircraft Regiment, Royal New Zealand Artillery • Queensland Imperial Bushmen • Queensland Citizen Bushmen • South Australian Imperial Bushmen • South Australian Citizen Bushmen• South Australian Mounted Rifles • Tasmanian Citizen Bushmen • Tasmanian Mounted Infantry • Tasmanian Imperial Bushmen (currently redirect) • Victorian Citizen Bushmen • Victorian Imperial Bushmen • Western Australian Mounted Infantry (currently redirect) • Western Australian Citizen Bushmen • New South Wales Mounted Infantry • New South Wales Citizen Bushmen • 22nd Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, 2nd/4th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment • 3rd/6th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment • No. 83 (Army Cooperation) Wing • No. 16 Army Light Aircraft Squadron • No. 52 Squadron RNZAF • No. 51 Squadron RNZAF • No. 43 Squadron RNZAF • No. 12 Squadron RNZAF • No. 11 Squadron RNZAF • No. 10 Squadron RNZAF • Territorial Force (New Zealand) • CAC/North American Avon Sabre in Australian service • GAF/Dassault Mirage III in Australian service • Lewis Ernest Stephen Barker • Harry Charles Bundock • Frederick Alexander Burrows • Grant Cavenagh • Frederick Hay Christison • John August Clareborough • Jack Kerr Coffey • Bertrand Combes • Combined Arms Training Centre (Australia)• John Craven • Ralph Daly • Charles Stewart Davies • Harold Charles de Low • Francis Plumly Derham • Harold Clive Disher • William Huggett Douglas • Herbert Frederick Henry Durant • Leslie Glanville Howard Dyke • Henry Herrick Edwards • Cyril Maurice Lloyd Elliott • Albert Cecil Fewtrell • Frederick Percy Herbert Fewtrell • Alexander Moore Forbes • Stephen Gilbert Friend • Vivian Harrold Gatliff • Arthur Harry Langman Godfrey • Leonard George Goss • Peter Haddad • William Allan Hailes • Eric Fairweather Harrison • Neville Gordon Hatton • Health Services Wing RAAF • William Alexander Henderson • John Hill • Frederick Brock Hinton • Oswald Vick Hoad • Austin Claude Selwyn Holland • Interim Infantry Mobility Vehicle • Maurice Barber Bevan Keating • Douglas Oswald Luke Kitto • Errol Knox • Ian Lillie • John Edward Lloyd • William James Macavoy Locke • Thomas Steane Louch • Leonard Cuthbert Lucas • Daniel Aston Luxton • John Walter Main • Gordon Edward Manchester • James Eric Gifford Martin • Athelsan Markham Martyn • John Maxwell • Patrick Sanfield McGrath • Eric George Henderson McKenzie • Kenneth Alan McKenzie • Douglas Murray McWhae • Charles George N. Miles • Arthur James Mills • Raymond Frederic Monaghan • Gerald Vincent Moriarty • Edward Michael Neylan • Reginald Havill Norman • Francis Roger North • Harry Scott Nurse • David O'Brien • John William Alexander O'Brien • Douglas Paine • William Edward Hill Pascoe • Michael Phelps • Owen Forbes Phillips • Claude Esdaile Prior • Ralph Carlyle Geoffrey Prisk • Beauchamp Worters Pulver • John Herbert Rasmussen • John Dalylell Richardson • John David Rogers • Henry Gordon Rourke • Robert Amos Row • Harry Blamyre Sewell • Colin McOlvin Sharp • Edward Lonergan Sheehan • James Thomas Simpson • Fritz Peter Max Solling • William Howard St. Clair • Noel William Simpson • John Rowlstone Stevenson • Robert Mackay Stodart • Roy Buchanan Sutherland • Harold Bourue Taylor • Percy Chamberlin Thompson • Roy Meldrum Thompson • • Walter James Urquhart • Donald Norwood Veron • Eric Lacy Vowles • Roy William Whiston Walsh • Augustine William Wardell • Thomas Edgar Weavers • David Welch • Frank Elwyn Wells • Allan Respen Wendt • John Laurence Whitham • Ernst Morgan Williams • Kenneth Williams • Thomas Rhys Williams • Kenneth Agnew Wills • Robert Emmet Winning • Australia and the Empire Air Training Scheme • Consolidated PBY Catalina in Royal Australian Air Force Service • Roy Gordon
- Expansion needed
- 2nd Infantry Brigade (New Zealand) • Australian Army Veterinary Corps • Military history of Australia during the Malayan Emergency • 32nd Small Ship Squadron, Royal Australian Engineers • 1st Aviation Regiment (Australia) • 1st Combat Engineer Regiment (Australia) • II Anzac Corps • 5th Division (Australia) • 8th Brigade (Australia) • 11th Division (Australia) • 11th Brigade (Australia) • Alfred Richard Baxter-Cox • Australian military involvement in peacekeeping • Battle of Cape Gloucester • Emile Dechaineux • Harold Farncomb • History of the Australian Army • History of the Royal Australian Air Force • John Baker • John Royston • Lark Force • New Britain campaign • New Guinea campaign • Northern Territory Force • Robert William Rankin • 3rd Division (New Zealand) • Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers • HMNZS Resolution (A-14) • Military history of New Zealand in Malaysia • New Zealand and Australian Division • New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade • New Zealand Rifle Brigade • Survey Motor Boat • List of Royal Australian Air Force aircraft squadrons • List of Australian generals and brigadiers • List of Australian armoured units • Australian Army Artillery Units, World War I • Air Lift Group • Surveillance and Response Group • Combat Support Group RAAF • Aerospace Operational Support Group RAAF • 41 Wing • No. 26 Squadron RAAF • No. 29 Squadron RAAF • Air Movements Training and Development Unit RAAF• Surveillance and Control Training Unit RAAF • No. 386 Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron RAAF • No. 322 Combat Support Squadron RAAF • No. 323 Combat Support Squadron RAAF • No. 324 Combat Support Squadron RAAF• No. 1 Combat Logistics Squadron RAAF • No. 1 Air Terminal Squadron RAAF • No. 3 Airfield Defence Squadron RAAF • New South Wales Mounted Rifles Combat Reserve Wing RAAF • more...
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