I first met Des Ball in 1986 when I was on the Directing Staff of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Staff College and he delivered several lectures on strategic and defence topics. That relationship continued for a couple of years but was substantially reinforced in 1990 when I became the RAAF's first visiting fellow to the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (SDSC), where I was privileged to work closely with Des. He already had a substantial list of publications to his name, including a major air power contribution from 1988 in which he outlined global developments and Australian perspectives on air power, and he was also Head of SDSC at the time I joined the Centre.

So, one can imagine my excitement at having someone like Des around to provide the direction, mentoring, and other support as I settled down to research and write on air power. There was also a sense of trepidation as he was the Head of the Centre and my respect for authority had been ingrained in me through some two decades of military service. I was to learn a lot during my 18 months with Des — and not just about how to put together a compelling argument in a book.

The contrast between us was striking. Here was Des Ball — something of a radical — renowned for climbing on a statue of George V1 to demonstrate against the Vietnam War and well known for his many exploits in exposing signals intelligence; and here was I, the very first RAAF officer — by definition not a radical — entrusted to his care. And from there, a lifelong friendship and professional relationship grew. While I was at SDSC, the Gulf War broke out in 1991 and Des encouraged me to focus on how the air war played out, which led to a book published in 1992 that analysed Australian air power doctrine in the context of how allied air power contributed to the liberation of Kuwait, while Des concentrated on the intelligence war in the Gulf that resulted in his monograph in 1991.2 I learnt from Des that when the opportunity presents itself to write, you need to get on with it and write. So, my time with Des was very productive and he guided me through getting three books published. I could not have done that without him.