Welcome to our highly anticipated ‘Chief of Army History Conference 2017’ series of videos.  The conference was held in Canberra on 19-20 October 2017, and was sponsored by the Army History Unit. Now in its 24th year, the conference saw some of the world’s most prestigious military historians presenting on the theme  ‘The Skill of Adaptability: The Learning Curve in Combat.’ Topics ranged from the Boer War through to modern conflicts such as the War in Afghanistan.

We hope you enjoy the presentations which the speakers have generously agreed to share with us.  The presentations represent the speakers personal views and are not the official view of the Australian Army or any other organisation. This presentation on ‘Case Studies of British Army adaption: Northern Ireland and Iraq' is delivered by Colonel Richard Iron (Ret'd).

About the presenter: Richard Iron served for 37 years in the British Army, largely spent on operations in Northern Ireland, the Falkland Islands, the Balkans and Iraq. He instructed at the UK’s Joint Staff College and subsequently led development of British Army doctrine. He also deployed to the Coalition Land Component HQ in Kuwait in 2002-03, where he led a UK/US planning team. COL Iron was also responsible for the British Army’s subsequent analysis of the Iraq War. He also led development of land doctrine in NATO for six years and was an expert military witness for the prosecution in the Sierra Leone War Crimes trials.