Editorial

Infectious Diseases in Military Medicine In spending a little less time on COVID-19, I have been reflecting on the role of infectious diseases in military operations, as diseases like tuberculosis, Japanese encephalitis and even syphilis make a resurgence in Australia and overseas. Biselli et al. provide an excellent historical review of the role of military… Read more »

By Andy Robertson In   Issue Volume 32 Number 1

Editorial

Vale Colonel Peter Leggatt, AM, ADC, JP, KSTJ As we gather for the first AMMA Conference to be held in Perth, it is with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing of Emeritus Professor and Colonel Peter Leggat on 20 September 2023. Peter graduated in medical science and medicine from the University of Queensland, before… Read more »

In   Issue Volume 31 Number 4

Editorial

Inaugural Perth AMMA Conference The first AMMA Conference in Perth will be held from 12-15 October 2023. Perth, and wider Western Australia (WA), has had long links to Australian military history and to past and contemporary military strategy. From the initial deployment of the Australian Imperial Force through Albany in 1914 to key submarine bases,… Read more »

By Andy Robertson In   Issue Volume 31 Number 3

Editorial

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Military Medicine The growth of AI chatbots, like ChatGPT, poses a range of challenges in preparing and publishing articles in journals, including JMVH. As an example, I asked ChatGPT to prepare a brief Editorial on the use of AI in military medicine with references, which is outlined below. While this is… Read more »

In   Issue Volume 31 No 2

Editorial

DECEPTION IN WAR AND PEACE Deception of an enemy force in conflict dates back millennia. In the lead up to the second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942, Lieutenant General Montgomery initiated a deception plan, Operation Bertram, to mislead the Axis forces on the time, place and direction of any future attacks. This involved… Read more »

In   Issue Volume 31 No. 1

Editorial If you want peace

Vegetius wrote these comments sometime in the fourth or fifth century AD. Unfortunately, this observation is as true today as it was then. As military health personnel, with many of us serving in active or reserve roles within the Australian Defence Force. We must always be striving for peace by preparing for conflict. Unlike one,… Read more »

By Andy Robertson In   Issue Volume 9 No. 2

EDITORIAL Disaster Prepared

AS WE GET THIS ISSUE TO PRINT, l am integrally involved with reviewing Disaster Preparedness and Management Plans for the WA Department of Health. Events like the Bali bombing in October 2002, the Waterfall train crash in Sydney, the recent Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in Asia and Canada, and the continuing threat of… Read more »

By Andy Robertson and Captain, RANR In   Issue Volume 12 No. 3

EDITORIAL Disaster Prepared…

AS WE GET THIS ISSUE TO PRINT, l am integrally involved with reviewing Disaster Preparedness and Management Plans for the WA Department of Health. Events like the Bali bombing in October 2002, the Waterfall train crash in Sydney, the recent Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in Asia and Canada, and the continuing threat of… Read more »

By Andy Robertson In   Issue Volume 13 No. 1

Editorial

The recent Asian Tsunami has resulted in an unprecedented number of Australia military medical personnel on deployment throughout the world providing both health care to our deployed forces and humanitarian support. Currently, health staff are providing services in the Solomon Islands, the Middle East Area of Operations and Indonesia. Australia’s contingent of personnel involved in… Read more »

By Jenny Graham In   Issue Volume 14 No. 1

Editorial – Russ Schedlich

This issue of Australian Military Medicine concentrates, like the last, on operational medicine, which is the backbone of military medicine. Continuing from their earlier article, Payne et al have analysed data on abdominal gunshot wounds from a major trauma centre to assess the types of injuries, and their outcomes, in victims who do not require… Read more »

By Russ Schedlich In   Issue Volume 6 No. 1

Editorial

As 1998 draws to a close, it is time to reflect on the past year. It has been a year full of challenge and change, triumph and tragedy. As a result of the Navy’s worst peace­time disaster since the loss of HMAS Voyager in 1964, your erstwhile Editor spent a considerable part of the year… Read more »

By Russ Schedlich In   Issue Volume 7 No. 3

Editorial

Waxing lyrical as always, your Editor feels a need to touch on a number of diverse topics in his Editorial. A Varied Lot This edition of the Journal offers, once again, a good mix of copy. We start with Ben Fitzgerald’s very good study on fungal infections at sea, which has shown, with statistical credibility,… Read more »

By Russ Schedlich In   Issue Volume 7 No. 1

Editorial – Rumours of war

AS WE APPROACH the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 11 September, the Australian Defence Force remains actively involved in Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf and central Asia, as well as East Timor, Bougainville and the Solomon Islands, and in the seas to our north. For all three Services, this continues to be one of… Read more »

By Andy Robertson In   Issue Volume 11 No. 2

Editorial – And Anthrax …

ANOTHER INTERESTING FORTNIGHT has come to an end, as our ADF ships and personnel pre-deploy to the Gulf. One of the key issues over this period has been the Australian Defence Forces Anthrax Vaccination Program. While generally not controversial, the Anthrax Vaccination Program has reached that status with help from the media and the ADF… Read more »

By Andy Robertson In   Issue Volume 12 No. 1

Editorial – Six months on …

IT IS NOW SIX MONTHS since the tragic and frightening attacks of 11 September (or 9-11 as the Americans now seem to refer to it). The new Bush government has gone from its initial unilateralist and isolationalist stance to a more involved (although still often unilateral) role in world affairs. The Australian Defence Force is… Read more »

By Andy Robertson In   Issue Volume 11 No. 1

Editorial – September 11

What a difference three months makes! When I wrote editorial for the August edition of Australian Military Medicine, I was thinking ahead of the tenth AMMA conference and my vision for the future for the journal. What none of us had planned for were the events of September 11 and its aftermath. September 11, 2001… Read more »

By Andy Robertson In   Issue Volume 10 No. 3

Editorial

EIGHTY YEARS ON – EL ALAMEIN For Australians serving in the Second World War, 1942 proved to be a turning point in many theatres. In North Africa, the first and second Battles of El Alamein between July and November 1942 prevented the Axis forces from advancing further into Egypt. The victory was the  beginning of… Read more »

In   Issue Volume 30 No. 4

Editorial

Fellow readers of JMVH, I would like to welcome you back to the face-to-face fold. It was great to see so many of you at our recent AMMA 2021 in Melbourne in early April 2022. This long-awaited event allowed many old and some new friendships to be renewed or brokered. We hope to see many… Read more »

In   Issue Volume 30 No. 2

Editorial

The Four Horsemen In the Editorial that I wrote in January 2021, I was speculating what the imminent roll-out of the COVID vaccines would mean for Australia and the world. Over the last 12 months, we have seen the successful roll-out of 4 vaccines and vaccination rates reaching unprecedented levels, with rates of over 95%… Read more »

In   Issue Volume 30 No. 1

Editorial

Congratulations to the Journal of Military and Veteran Health reaching its 30 year milestone. In this auspicious year, the Royal Australian Air Force celebrates its 100th birthday and it is my pleasure to pen a short editorial for your next edition. In the year of the centenary of the Royal Australian Air Force we celebrate… Read more »

In   Issue Volume 29 No. 4