Preparing for the future: key organisational lessons from the Afghanistan campaign

Released in March 2022, 'Preparing for the future: key organisational lessons from the Afghanistan campaign' is the second in the part in the Vanguard occasional paper series.

"We can't rewind the clock in Afghanistan... we should learn from the 20 years, not try to forget it and wash it away, or sweep it under the rug." - John Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction

With the conclusion of the Afghanistan War in 2021, the Australian Defence Force is now in a position to reflect on what the campaign may teach us that will help prepare it for the future. As the lead of the Preparing for the Future: Key Organisational Lessons from the Afghanistan Campaign research project, Major General Andrew Hocking has identified 21 key lessons and proposes 50 recommendations across five focus areas - strategy making, campaign design, command and control, ADF culture and ADF learning, adaption and risk management.

This study is not a history of the campaign, rather it is a reflection of the ADF's commitment to continuous learning and preparing itself and its people for the future. As such, it provides an opportunity for objective reflection and debate on how the ADF may further evolve and contribute to whole-of-government actions to achieve national strategic objectives.

"While the ADF's strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures, contributions and lapses were on occasion magnified or exacerbated by the conflict environment in Afghanistan, none of them were created there. As for generations of military forces going back to antiquity, we fought essentially as we trained. Reflecting thoughtfully on our Afghanistan experience provides a lens through which to strengthen our training and preparation for the challenges of the future. " - General Angus J Campbell,Chief of the Defence Force, September 2021

Organised into five focus areas, this study identifies 21 key organisational-level lessons and provides 50 associated recommendations aimed at preparing the ADF for the future. It also identifies a further 20 general observations.

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