Civilian employers in Australia gained a rare immersive glimpse into the operational world of their reservist employees during exercise Talisman Sabre 2025 as part of the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF) Boss X program. The initiative underscores growing collaboration between the ADF and industry to bolster national resilience and workforce development.
Boss X highlights reservists’ vital role in Australia’s defense strategy and how their military-acquired leadership and technical skills benefit civilian sectors. Accounting for 33% of ADF personnel, reservists increasingly are key to operational readiness and national security, military leaders say.
“Generating partnerships with industry to access and share talent is crucial,” Commodore Grant O’Loughlan, deputy head of the Reserve and Cadet Support Division, said in a news release. Reservists “are a critical enabler in delivering operational capability, depth and crucial skills” for national defense.
Thirteen civilian employers were embedded with military units during Talisman Sabre, according to the Australian Defence Department. The biennial Australia-United States exercise drew more than 40,000 troops from 19 countries for drills across Australia and Papua New Guinea from mid-July to early August.
Boss X is part of Canberra’s strategy to embed reservists more deeply into Australia’s force structure. A strategic review of the ADF Reserves published in December 2024 issued recommendations to optimize structure and capability, including recruiting 1,000 reservists by 2030.
The Defence Department is collaborating with other government agencies, academia and industry to “optimize the identification of and access to talent,” according to O’Loughlan. “Support from civilian employers enables reserve personnel to complete essential military training, including taking part in multilateral exercises such as exercise Talisman Sabre,” he told FORUM.
Such assistance is formalized through Defence Department programs that help offset business disruptions while reinforcing the national security value of a dual-trained workforce.
“Industrial base collaboration will help Australia build the strategic weight we need to increase our resilience and raise the cost of aggression against Australia and its interests,” the Defence Department told FORUM. “Collaboration allows us to leverage each other’s expertise and resources; scale up industrial capacity; and build resilience into our industrial bases.”
Across the Indo-Pacific, reservists play a key role in supporting humanitarian and disaster response and reinforcing deterrence against adversarial threats. The ADF is integrating reservists into emerging domains such as cyber and space, with the strategic review outlining plans to develop a specialized reserve cyber force.
As Australia responds to intensifying regional security dynamics, programs such as Boss X strengthen a framework of preparedness, resilience and shared responsibility.
“The benefits of better understanding the transferable technical skill set and leadership qualities of reservists … can be applied to their civilian workplaces,” O’Loughlan said.
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