Panel 3

Narrative

The past decade has seen 1(NZ) Brigade personnel respond to a range of crises, from earthquakes to floods, fires to oil spills, and violent extremism to pandemics. Experts predict that the intensity and frequency of disruptive events like these are likely to increase over the decade to come.

While the COVID-19 state of emergency has offered practical lessons in pandemic readiness, it has also presented a timely reminder of the importance of organisational resilience and continuity planning at every level.

It is true that in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous operating environment it is impossible to foresee or check every vector of disruption. However, as the panel will argue, 1(NZ) Brigade can reframe this problem in advantageous and operationally-transferable terms; posturing itself to normalize and thrive amidst constant change.

Drawing on the works of Dr Judith Rodin, Prof Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Gen Stanley McChrystal and numerous reflections from the Defense community, this panel will discuss how 1(NZ) Brigade can enhance resilience and continuity to successfully deliver against planned operations and contingencies. This will maintain an applied focus on future pandemics, but will consider broadly-applicable resilience principles throughout.

By aligning with the Chief of Army’s intent for Army 25, the panel will consider:

• How the Brigade integrates disparate people, disciplines, information, and technology to train, communicate and coordinate through disruption.
• How the Brigade self-regulates through world class junior leaders who are enabled to think diversely and empowered to act decisively.
• How the Brigade enhances both its threat-awareness, and its capacity to repurpose, realign and rescale for changing circumstances through approaches to DLOC.
• [Sustainability of the] Light Combat Force. How the Brigade ensures that agile, adaptive responses to disruption can be sustained though austerity (with a focus on welfare and wellbeing).