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Australia’s compulsory service schemes since 1945
from Part 5 - Force preparation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 May 2025
In the intervening 54 years between the end of the Second World War and the Australian-led international intervention in East Timor, much about the way soldiering was conducted in Australia had changed. National service had ebbed and flowed in various guises and an Australian Regular Army had emerged as the lead force, a ready deployment force. But it was nothing like the large land force that could be mustered at its peak in early 1943. At the end of the first post-Cold War decadethe Australian Army was at best what could be described as a boutique force with limited experience on peacekeeping operations, limited deployable strength and a larger but considerably hollowed out Reserve. This chapter examines a part of the journey there.
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