Topics

Air and space power are arms of national power. Air power is the capacity and ability of a nation to project its power or assert its will in, through, or from the air domain. Recognising the additional operational domains of space, maritime, land, and cyber, it represents a highly agile and potent form of military power for any joint combat force. Space power is the ability of a nation to exploit space to accomplish national objectives, whilst denying access to adversaries, by conducting activities in, through, and from space. The Runway will source content from leading air and space practitioners, academia, air operators, and industry innovators to inform a comprehensive understanding of air and space power for Australia's future.

Leadership is both a research area and a practical skill encompassing the ability of an individual or organisation to "lead" or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organisations.

As a topic of Program Wirraway, Military Management (formerly Business Skilling) focuses on promoting professionalism through up-skilling in the broad areas of management, organisational and cultural competence, attitudes, values and ethics, resilience and strategies to be employed as you navigate the complex Defence systems as you navigate military and civilian organisational systems throughout your career.

Communication and Cognition go hand in hand. Communication, broadly speaking, describes the act of conveying, and receiving, meaning from one entity, be it living or artificial, to one or more others through the use of language - spoken, written, body movement; the use of signs, symbols, and is culturally identified and understood by a unique system of norms. Cognition refers to mental processes such as thinking, whether conscious or unconscious, and its effectiveness therefore is fundamental to performance outcomes. The Runway content is concerned with improving cognitive performance with a focus on content that can optimise cognitive abilities including such areas as creative, critical and systems thinking.

Technology has become something akin to a new food source for modern society. It grows economies, inspires ideas, sustains employment, enables education, bridges distances, improves precision and safety, entertains us, provides connectivity, captures our thoughts and actions, and absorbs a major portion of the average person's time and money. Innovation is a necessary companion to technology. Without innovation technology would quickly be made redundant and any unique value is lost. The Runway will focus its efforts on bringing you content from an array of sources in the technology and innovation space.

Cyberwarfare is a broad term describing the use of technological force within cyberspace.

Williamson Murray and Mark Grimsley explain strategy as a 'process of constant adaption to shifting conditions and circumstances in the world where chance, uncertainty, and ambiguity dominate. Moreover, it is a world in which the actions, intentions, and purposes of other participants remain shadowy and indistinct, taxing the wisdom and intuition of the canniest policymaker.' Strategy involves 'human passions, values, and beliefs...' In such a world Carl von Clausewitz suggests that a strategy must always fall short in the face of such complexities. Influences are those 'levers' that shape or have an effect on strategic objectives such as economics drivers, proximity to potential adversaries, ideology, culture, history and preconceptions'. The Runway will focus specifically on our near region.

Wellbeing is important to all of us and is vital to the health and performance of any person. The term 'not just a job' could not be more accurate than when describing life in the military. Military life brings with it layers of challenges. Whilst highly rewarding, the military member will juggle extraordinary and often competing priorities. An individual will balance requirements for physical fitness, training and education schedules, long stints away from home, frequent relocations, and dedication to a service beyond reproach, just to name a few. This doesn't include the 'other' serving members - their family, without whom service would be less effective. The Runway focus is on reputable professional and academic sources that provide practical and authoritative guidance that can help motivate and inform your decision to reflect often, plan the changes necessary, and ultimately improve your physical, mental, and social wellbeing.  

Military History enables the understanding of how different lived experience is from that of our past, yet how similar we are in our goals and values. Being able to learn from and appreciate everything we do, everything we use, everything else we study is the product of a complex set of causes, ideas, and practices. History and previoulsy learnt experiences allows us to provide the data to derive military policy and praxis going forward. Military History not only informs and enriches the discipline of history, but assists in providing the informaiton needed in a range of other fields including political science, sociology, and public policy.