Reading for War
CO 1 Intelligence Battalion's Reading and Resource List 2016
By Tom McDermott December 21, 2016
The Cove's collection of reading and resource lists continues to build.
Here the CO of the Australian 1st Intelligence Battalion shares his 2016 reading and resource list.
It includes a broad selection of texts and links on specific intelligence matters, but also bridges to tactics, strategy, military history and operational planning. If you look deeply, you'll even find some ethics in there. Hyperlinks have been included where available.
If you've got a library card for the Defence Library Service Digital Media Library, you can access almost all the books in a 'collection' here. If you don't have a library card, all the info on how to get one is here.
Got a view on this list? Leave a comment below and either the Cove or the CO will be able to get back in touch.
Biography
Tom McDermott
Tom McDermott is a serving Australian Army Officer and a student of strategy and military ethics. You can follow him on Twitter via the handle @helmandproject.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Australian Army, the Department of Defence or the Australian Government.
Comments
Thanks Nick for the list. Jumping off Liz's recommendation on the topic of Afghanistan - as a short "must-read" for both Intelligence specialists and Intelligence staff - is the LTG Mike Flynn (Retd) co-authored 'Fixing Intel: A Blueprint for Making Intelligence Relevant in Afghanistan.' It makes some important observations that are unlikely to be tied to just the coalition's Afghanistan experience during the ISAF years.
Yes, the List is a very useful resource. For Australian intelligence operations during the Vietnam War, I would recommend the inclusion of:
Chamberlain, E.P., The Viet Cong D445 Battalion: Their Story (and the Battle of Long Tan), 2016. A complimentary copy is held in the Battalion, and it is free-to-read on the Internet. The 348,200-word work includes an extensive index and bibliography. The 49-page Annex E on SIGINT operations would be of particular interest to Battalion personnel.
For background to operations in East Timor, I would recommend: Chamberlain, E.P., Independence Movements in East Timor, 2010 - free-to-read on the Internet. The work includes coverage of operations in Timor by Indonesia's BAIS and ABRI/TNI's RPKAD/Kopassandha/Kopassus.
Add new comment