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The 'poor man's air force' is a term for employing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hobbyist drones or uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) to strategic level military effect, and that effect cannot be understated (Waters, 2018; Nadeau, 2022; Shift, 2023). The ability for terror organisations to coordinate multiple layers of effects, including using COTS drones, to destroy Command and Control (C2) nodes in Israel causes alarm. Couple this with the use of COTS drones for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, strike and battle-damage assessment missions, and the threat posed by what are essentially toys is alarmingly real.

Warrant Officer (WOFF) David Turnbull provided his insight and point of view (Turnbull, 2023) on the struggle of getting the best people into Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG). Whilst it is a great read and the scene is set for further nail-biting episodes, the one standout observable from my point of view is that his theme is focussed on the ability or struggle of encouraging Enlisted Aviators to seek employment within CASG.

Over the past years, the theme of resilience has been firmly enshrined as one of the many attributes required of the contemporary war fighter. Nowhere in the country is the preparedness of our Air Force more succinct than in northern Australia.