Operational Culture: Is The Australian Army Driving the Train or Left at the Station

摘要

Operational culture is a new wave of study enjoying much enthusiasm and popularity within most Western contemporary armies. Governed by the mission at hand, 'operational culture' encompasses those aspects that can influence the outcome of a military operation, or conversely, those military actions that influence the cultural balance within an area of operations. As such, the correct application of operational culture is critical for any military force to favorably shape its own operating environment. In the Australian Army today, no cultural training is currently formalized. Individuals or units notified for deployment have to invent their own training objectives and this lack of institutional training necessitates adaptation while on operations. The decision on training objectives, how much training to conduct and how to adapt while on operations is largely left to the commander's discretion. To improve organizational paradigms resulting in enhanced shaping capabilities, the Australian Army needs to define cultural capabilities that will function in future warfare and train individuals and units to be able to fulfill that capability.