Thirty-five years ago, 1872 Australians, including Australian Defence Force (ADF) health personnel, served in the Persian Gulf between August 1990 and the ceasefire in February 1991. While primarily a Royal Australian Navy task group, involving HMAS Adelaide, HMAS Darwin, HMAS Sydney, HMAS Brisbane, HMAS Success and HMAS Westralia in maritime interdiction, sanctions enforcement and replenishment roles, other ADF air and land elements were involved, with ADF personnel also serving as part of exchanges with British and United States forces In the aftermath, ADF health personnel continued to serve in humanitarian aid roles, as part of Operation Habitat in northern Iraq, and with the United Nations Security Commission (UNSCOM), as party of the biological and chemical weapons monitoring and inspection teams between 1991 – 1998. In 2026, we are again faced with conflict in the Persian Gulf, with the potential for this conflict to further develop in coming weeks. While the ADF has not been drawn directly into this conflict at this stage, there remains the potential for escalation, for which we all need to continue to prepare both our militaries and broader societies. The consequences on international trade and supply lines are now being felt, and longer-term consequences will impact far beyond the Persian Gulf.
Our second issue of 2026 contains a range of articles on diverse topics spanning strategic aeromedical evacuation, effects of sport and volunteering, military healthcare ethics, transition out of the military, mass casualty management, pertussis, and suicide prevention. We continue to attract an increasing number and range of articles, including from overseas, as demonstrated by several of the articles in this issue. Other military and veterans’ health articles, however, are always very welcome, and we would encourage all our readers to consider writing on their areas of military or veterans’ health interest. We would particularly welcome papers based on presentations given at the Adelaide 2025 AMMA conference, or in preparation for the Sydney 2026 conference, but welcome any articles across the broader spectrum of military health.
Dr Andy Robertson, CSC, PSM
Commodore, RAN
Editor-in-Chief
