USMC air assets assigned to Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One (MAWTS-1), operating from a forward arming and refueling point during Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) course 2-23, near Yuma, Arizona, April 1, 2023. WTI is a seven-week training event hosted by MAWTS-1, providing standardization advanced tactical training and…
By Robbin Laird In March 2020, I was visiting Western Australia including HMAS Sterling. I was there to visit the HMAS Rankin, one of the Collins class submarines homeported at HMAS Sterling on Garden Island. When I informed a senior U.S. Navy Admiral that I was going to visit the…
By Robbin Laird At the recent Sir Richard Williams Foundation Seminar held on 30 March 2023, Air Marshal Harvey Smyth, the Deputy Commander Operations, presented a UK perspective of the challenges facing the UK and her allies in the contentious 2020’s. I first met Smyth when he was the head…
U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey aircraft, assigned to Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One (MAWTS-1), lands during a ground threat reaction drill, in support of Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) course 2-23, at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, March 30, 2023. WTI is a seven-week training event hosted…
By Robbin Laird My colleague John Blackburn and I met with Air Vice-Marshal Darren Goldie, the Air Commander of the RAAF, in his office on 4 April 2023. One key element which we discussed was the growing significance of agile basing and operations as part of the evolving Australian deterrent…
U.S. Marines with Command, Control and Communication, Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One (MAWTS-1), board an MV-22B Osprey aircraft during an offensive air support exercise, part of Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) 2-23, at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, April 4, 2023. WTI is a seven-week training event…
By Robbin Laird The Williams Foundation seminar on deterrence held on 30 March 2023 provided a chance to think about the way ahead for Australian defence. The seminars started with the introduction of the F-35 as a forcing function into the ADF and the shaping of a joint force by…
With the Australian Army having been heavily invested in the Middle East land wars and working closely with the U.S. Army in those endeavours, what is role in the enhanced emphasis on the direct defense of Australia? Of course, each of the services and the joint force itself is facing…
