Dr Robert (Bob) A. Hall graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1968 and served as an infantry platoon commander in the 8th Battalion the Royal Australian Regiment, during its 1969-1970 tour of duty in Vietnam. He is a military historian and is currently an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of New South Wales Canberra where he leads the Military Operations Analysis Team in studies relating to Australia’s involvement in post-1945 counterinsurgency operations. Bob’s publications include Combat Battalion: The eighth battalion in Vietnam and, with Andrew Ross, ‘Kinetics in counterinsurgency: Some influences on soldier combat performance in the 1st Australian Task Force in the Vietnam War’, Small Wars and Insurgencies. A more complete list of Bob’s publications can be seen here.

Publications

  • Robert A. Hall, Combat Battalion: The eighth battalion in Vietnam, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, 2000.
  • Hall and Ross, ‘‘Landmark’ battles and the myths of Vietnam’ in Craig Stockings (ed.), Anzac’s Dirty Dozen: Twelve myths and misconceptions of Australian military history, New South, Sydney, 2012
  • Robert A. Hall and Andrew Ross, ‘The political and military effectiveness of Commonwealth forces in Confrontation 1963-1966’, Small Wars & Insurgencies, London, Routledge, 2008 vol 19, iss. 2, pp. 238-255.
  • Robert A. Hall and Andrew Ross, ‘Bang on Target: Infantry marksmanship and combat effectiveness in Vietnam’, Australian Army Journal, vol. vi, no. 1, 2009, pp. 139-156.
  • Bob Hall and Andrew Ross, ‘Kinetics in counterinsurgency: Some influences on soldier combat performance in the 1st Australian Task Force in the Vietnam War’, Small Wars and Insurgencies, London, Routledge, vol. 21, No. 3, September 2010, pp. 498-518.
  • Robert A. Hall, The Black Diggers: Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in the Second World War, Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1989, xv + 228 pp.
  • Robert A. Hall, Fighters from the fringe: Aborigines and Islanders recall their war service in the Second World War, AIATSIS press, Canberra, 1995, viii + 218 pp.
  • Robert A. Hall ‘Accidental Discharges – The Soldier’s Industrial Accident in Vietnam and East Timor’, Australian Defence Force Journal, no. 149, July/August 2001, pp. 27-34.
  • Robert A. Hall and Andrew Ross, ‘Lessons From Vietnam – Combined Arms Assault Against Prepared Defences’, in Michael Evans and Alan Ryan (eds.), From Breitenfeld to Baghdad: Perspectives on Combined Arms Warfare, Land Warfare Studies Centre, working paper no. 122, July 2003, pp. 27-52.