The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and a number of 'tri-service' units. The ADF has a strength of just under 81,000 full-time personnel and active reservists, and is supported by the Department of Defence and several other civilian agencies.
During the first decades of the 20th century, the Australian Government established the armed services as separate organisations. Each service had an independent chain of command. In 1976, the government made a strategic change and established the ADF to place the services under a single headquarters. Over time, the degree of integration has increased and tri-service headquarters, logistics and training institutions have supplanted many single-service establishments.
The ADF is technologically sophisticated but relatively small. Although the ADF's 59,023 full-time active-duty personnel, 21,850 active reserves and 22,166 standby reserves make it the largest military in Oceania, it is still smaller than most Asian militaries. Nonetheless, the ADF is supported by a significant budget by worldwide standards and is able to deploy forces in multiple locations outside Australia.
Read more about Australian Defence Force: Current Structure, Logistic Support, Military Intelligence, Personnel, Current Equipment, Current Bases, Domestic Responsibilities, Foreign Defence Relations, Assessment of Capabilities
Famous quotes containing the words australian, defence and/or force:
“The Australian mind, I can state with authority, is easily boggled.”
—Charles Osborne (b. 1927)
“They aroused me to a determination to understand more fully the position of women, and the character of those men who talk so much of the need of our being “protected”Mremoving from us, meanwhile, what are often the very weapons of our defence [sic], occupations, and proper and encouraging remuneration.”
—Harriot K. Hunt (1805–1875)
“Mountains are to the rest of the body of the earth, what violent muscular action is to the body of man. The muscles and tendons of its anatomy are, in the mountain, brought out with force and convulsive energy, full of expression, passion, and strength.”
—John Ruskin (1819–1900)