Presentation Title: Understanding the Incomprehensible: Military Intelligence in the Cold War
Theme: Intelligence, Operations and Media
Presenter: Mr Glenn Wahlert

By the end of the Second World War the Australian Army’s intelligence system had evolved into a diverse, highly specialised and efficient system. Post-war, Army’s intelligence had to evolve to keep pace with the transformation of the Australian Army from a largely volunteer force into a full-time, professional military organisation. It also had to support the high-tempo of diverse military commitments ranging from the occupation of Japan, the first combat deployment of the new Australian Regular Army to Korea, and the transition back to jungle operations in support of the Malayan Emergency, Indonesian Confrontation and the Vietnam War. The aim of this research is to understand how effective the Australian Army’s battlefield intelligence system was in supporting the force commander during operations in the Cold War (1945-1975). Despite the official histories and other research on the campaigns that the Australian Army was involved during this period, there is dearth of knowledge around how the Army’s intelligence networks functioned and kept the commander and his headquarters informed. There are also no known published works or scholarly studies specifically covering the Australian Army’s battlefield intelligence role post the Second World War.

Glenn is a retired Australian Army officer, intelligence executive and Army historian. He has published and co-authored several books on Australian military history and national security issues in between his frequent motorcycle rides around Australia. As computers are now so small, and the internet so accessible, he found there was no longer any excuse not to combine his research with this riding.