Fifty years after the Tange reforms created the modern Australian Defence Force, Australia faces a structural problem that few are willing to confront: steady erosion of the service chiefs’ authority.

On the afternoon of April 17, 2003, the Thursday before the Easter long weekend, Nicholas Martin was on a train pulling out of Milsons Point, Sydney, when his phone rang.

Welcome to The Australian’s rolling coverage of the conflict in the Middle East, as the war continues for a sixth day. Israel ...