Mitchell McAlister

Homegrown radicalisation is something that has gained considerable momentum since the Islamic State became a global name synonymous with terror.

We look at terrorism-related events in Australia since September 2014 to gauge just how serious the problem of homegrown radicalisation is shaping up to be.

Multiple high-profile terrorist incidences in Australia in a short period of time have forced the government to reconsider its radicalisation problem.

Australia’s military and law enforcement can act as the pioneers of positive action to initiate the reform of draconian, heavy-handed gun laws.

There should be special considerations for Australia’s police tactical groups and military when it comes to firearms provisions when off duty.

It is disgraceful that Australia’s government fails to afford us a legal avenue to protect ourselves domestically from the threats posed by groups like IS.

With gun laws as they are in Australia, if a terrorist were to attack a soldier on home soil, the terrorist would be the only one with a weapon.

“The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good […]

Note: This is a continuation of a series. Read part three here. This ultimately accelerated the remainder of the staff process and paved the way for our joint operations to get underway. Australia and the SOTG’s Force Element Bravo (FE-B, which was the 2nd Commando Regiment) were now given the green light to partake in […]

  The first time I was made aware that one of my Special Operations Task Group (SOTG) rotation videos had been obtained by the media and was being reported on was early last year. The Sydney Morning Herald published an article on 16 March 2014 titled “DVD exposes Australian commandos at play in Afghanistan.” The […]

  The DEA FAST are an elite tactical unit which focuses exclusively on counter-narcotics (CN) operations. There are only five of these teams within the administration with one permanently stationed in Afghanistan. They are there to conduct CN and counterterrorist missions as Afghanistan is the world’s most prolific narcotics production and trafficking countries. Although they […]

In coordination with the DEA FAST teams, Australia’s 2nd Commando Regiment incapacitated insurgent leadership groups throughout Afghanistan.