James Brien is military historian with the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre. His Phd thesis examines the Beachhead Operations in Papua during 1942-1943 with a specifc focus on how Australian and American forces learned and adapted during the battles. His thesis adopted a thematic approach to explore the unique character of the battles, analysing key themes of command and control, coalition warfare, logistics, and combined and joint warfare. James has extensive experience teaching military and modern history, military theory, and security studies, and has been a teaching fellow in the affiliated Military and Defence Studies Program at the Australian War College. His research interests build from his thesis and continue to include military learning and adaptation, military theory, and modern military history. He is currently working with the Australian Army in educational and curriculum design.