This week, it’s all about the US-Australia alliance with conversations on Australia-US special operations forces cooperation and opportunities to strengthen the alliance through enhanced mutual understanding.

Bec Shrimpton speaks to Chris Maier, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict in the US Department of Defense. They discuss the origin of special operations forces, the role they play in integrated deterrence and their ability to work across multiple domains. They also discuss the history of cooperation between Australian and US special operations forces and the importance of war gaming to force design.

Recently, ASPI’s US Army War College Fellow, Colonel Alan Throop, released the report ‘Impactful mateship’ which focuses on strengthening the US-Australia defence relationship at a vital time as it develops in complexity and as it builds towards the ambitions of AUKUS. Jennifer Parker speaks to Alan about his fellowship at ASPI and the report’s recommendations, including more training for inbound US personnel and conducting allied-centric training. The views expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, the US Department of Defense or the US Government.

Mentioned in this episode:

‘Impactful mateship: Strengthening the US-Australia defence relationship through enhanced mutual understanding’: https://www.aspi.org.au/report/impactful-mateship

Guests (in order of appearance):

Bec Shrimpton: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/bec-shrimpton

Chris Maier: https://www.defense.gov/About/Biographies/Biography/Article/2776774/christopher-p-maier/

Jennifer Parker: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/jennifer-parker

Colonel Alan Throop

Music: "Phychic" by Ketsa, licensed with permission from the Independent Music Licensing Collective - imlcollective.uk