The Australian Defence Force (ADF) comprises all of the country's armed forces, including the Royal Australian Navy, Australian Army, and Royal Australian Air Force. With a strength of just under 80,000 full-time personnel and active reservists, it is supported by the Department of Defence and other civilian agencies. During the first decades of the 20th century, the Australian Government established the armed services as separate organisations, each with an independent chain of command. In 1976, the government made a strategic change and established the ADF to place the three services under a single headquarters. The degree of integration has increased over time, and tri-service headquarters, logistics and training institutions have supplanted many single-service establishments. Technologically sophisticated, the ADF is the largest military in Oceania, with approximately 58,000 full-time active-duty personnel and 22,000 active reservists. It is smaller than many Asian militaries, but is supported by a significant budget by worldwide standards and can deploy forces in multiple locations outside Australia.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Defence_Force

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

661:

The Rashidun Caliphate was effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last Rashidun caliph. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Ali

1700:

The Cascadia earthquake, with an estimated magnitude of 9.0, took place off the Pacific coast of the American Northwest, as evidenced by Japanese records of tsunamis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1700_Cascadia_earthquake

1841:

Commodore James Bremer took formal possession of Hong Kong Island for Great Britain at Possession Point. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bremer

1952:

Spontaneous anti-British riots erupted in Cairo following the killings of 50 Egyptian auxiliary police the day before. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo_fire

1998:

In a nationally televised press conference (video featured), U.S. President Bill Clinton denied having "sexual relations" with intern Monica Lewinsky. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton%E2%80%93Lewinsky_scandal

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

drop bear: (cryptozoology) A fictional Australian marsupial in the form of a large, carnivorous koala said to fall upon its prey from treetops. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/drop_bear

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Men since the beginning of time have sought peace. Various methods through the ages have been attempted to devise an international process to prevent or settle disputes between nations. From the very start workable methods were found in so far as individual citizens were concerned, but the mechanics of an instrumentality of larger international scope have never been successful. Military alliances, balances of power, Leagues of Nations, all in turn failed, leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war. The utter destructiveness of war now blocks out this alternative. We have had our last chance. If we will not devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door.   --Douglas MacArthur https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Douglas_MacArthur