Mitchell McAlister

One of the most enduring and successful partnerships I’ve been a part of was when the 2nd Commando Regiment officially partnered with DEA FAST.

Under NVGs, the two parallel trails of gunfire went well above the opening that we could see out of, and for those of us lucky enough to see the fireworks, we immediately knew that it was an anti-aircraft weapon.

For those insurgents unbalanced enough to want to stir up the 40-vehicle deep hornet’s nest bristling with Australian operators itching for a gunfight, they were certainly not disappointed.

Why the biggest drawback for Australian SOF in Afghanistan was a lack of dedicated helicopters to support our counter-insurgency and counter-leadership ops.

There has been a lot of conjecture as to why the Tactical Assault Group – East (TAG-E) were not used as the resolution force for this attack. Before I explore this notion further, I will provide a brief history of TAG-E as well as a summary of the organisation’s primary roles and responsibilities. On the 13 […]

If governments or media continually fail to diagnose these events as being Islamic-driven, albeit a radicalized version of the faith, then how effective are subsequent counter-radicalization and counterterrorism strategies going to be?

#illridewithyou: The phenomena that gained global media attention deserves a special mention, although not for the reasons that made it an international social media trend in the first place. For those unfamiliar with this hashtag campaign, let me start by giving some background on it.

Almost immediately after news of this siege broke, a very good friend of mine and my former Tactical Assault Group – East team commander messaged me saying, “Terrorists have taken a café in Martin Place. Lindt Café. An Arabic flag is up. Can’t believe we’re not on team for this.”

The removal of gender restrictions gained momentum in 2011 after Defence personnel were embroiled in a number of high-profile scandals. The scandals and allegations involved the sexual humiliation and denigration of both male and female ADF employees across all three services.

The contemporary global security climate is entering an extremely complex and equally alarming phase. Extremist political, religious, and ethno-nationalistic enablers of modern terrorism have found no shortage of ecumenical audiences in which to spread their brutal and lethal messages to. There also appears to be no shortage of individuals willing to carry out indiscriminate acts […]

Australia is gearing up to host the 2014 G20 Leader’s Summit which will be held in Brisbane on 15 and 16 November. The city has transformed as a result of the security arrangements necessary to accommodate the world’s most powerful people. Approximately 2000 Australia Defence Force (ADF) personnel from across all three of the nation’s […]

In Australia and many Allied nations of the First World War, November 11 is celebrated as Remembrance Day, which recognises the moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front in 1918.