Small footprint,small payoff: The military effectiveness of security force assistance

After 15 years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, many now see ‘small-footprint’ security force assistance (SFA) – training, advising and equipping allied militaries – as an alternative to large US ground-force commitments. Yet, its actual military efficacy has been little studied. This paper seeks to fill this gap. We find important limitations on SFA’s military utility, stemming from agency problems arising from systematic interest misalignment between the US and its typical partners. SFA’s achievable upper bound is modest and attainable only if US policy is intrusive and conditional, which it rarely is. For SFA, small footprints will usually mean small payoffs.     

面向军事定向越野训练的数据挖掘思路

军事地形学是军队院校本科必修课程。按图行进的军事定向越野,是军事地形学野外教学的重点和难点。本文借鉴了当前流行的"大数据"思想,针对当前军事定向越野教学训练的特点,研究提出了若干数据挖掘思路,能够从大量训练数据中提取可辅助教员组织教学、制定训练计划的有价值知识,而且具有较好的实用价值和军队院校推广价值。     

科技军民融合政策制度

科技军民融合政策制度是推动军民科技协同创新向纵深发展的基本保障和环境条件。分析了我国科技军民融合政策与管理制度的内涵、分类和组成,调研了我国科技领域军民融合有关政策现状及最新试点情况,分析了当前我国科技军民融合政策制度的缺陷点、薄弱环节,研究了国外科技有关的军民融合政策体系构建的规律及启示,提出了我国科技军民融合政策制度建设的基本思路、组织框架、建设重点和推进措施,以为我国科技军民融合政策的制定提供理论保障和决策依据。     

Moral Aspects of “Moral Injury”: Analyzing Conceptualizations on the Role of Morality in Military Trauma

In clinical circles, the concept of “moral injury” has rapidly gained traction. Yet, from a moral philosophical point of view the concept is less clear than is suggested. That is, in current conceptualizations of moral injury, trauma’s moral dimension seems to be understood in a rather mechanistic and individualized manner. This article makes a start in developing an adequately founded conceptualization of the role of morality in deployment-related distress. It does so by reviewing and synthesizing insights from different disciplines into morality and trauma. This discussion will lead to three positions: (1) values and norms are by definition characterized by conflict, (2) moral conflict may entail important social dimensions, and (3) moral conflict may lead to altered beliefs about previously held values. These insights provide important steps in further developing conceptions of the role of morality in deployment-related suffering.     

军队高层次创新型科技人才研修班经验与改革

科学技术是军事发展中最活跃、最具革命性的因素,每一次重大科技进步和创新都会引起战争形态和作战方式的深刻变革。在新的时代背景下,着眼建设世界一流军队,习主席明确要求,要下更大力气推动科技兴军,坚持向科技创新要战斗力,为我军建设提供强大科技支撑。科技兴军的核心要义是因靠科技创新推动军队建设,关键是要造就一批瞄准科技前沿、勇于善于创新的排头兵和突击队。本文以全军高层次创新性科技人才研修班为例,系统总结了研修班在组织模式、培训内容、教学方法和平台手段建设方面的有效做法和成功经验,并提出组训模式、培训方式、内容体系、师资力量等方面的建设发展提出建议,进而为我军着力培养科技创新领军人才和拔尖人才,强力推进科技兴军伟大实践提供经验启示和发展思路。     

The Hungarian experience with Gripen fighter aircraft

The post-communist countries transition from the Warsaw Pact style of platforms and systems to Western-compatible capabilities has never been an easy task or a process without conflicts. This was no different for the Visegrád countries either, in which case the Hungarian Gripen procurement stands out. After much debate, Budapest decided to modernize its fighter fleet with the not battle tested Swedish-made Gripen fighter aircraft. This decision received several critiques due to the lack of transparency in the selection process and the initial lack of NATO-required systems. Subsequently, the fleet has had to operate in a financially demanding environment. Moreover, the air force has lost two aircrafts in accidents. Now that the jets are in the middle of their envisaged life cycle, it is more than appropriate to answer the question if the Gripens can utilize their full combat potential or will they fail the test of time?     

The crisis of American military assistance: strategic dithering and Fabergé Egg armies

ABSTRACT

The United States has provided substantial amounts of military assistance and aid since the end of World War Two. During the Cold War, it proved vital in protecting numerous regimes from communist takeovers. Successful outcomes occurred when American leaders made large initial aid commitments, and the states had the capacity and political willpower to use it effectively. However, Vietnam was an example of how U.S. support lagged, as leaders in Saigon preferred political survival instead of creating regime legitimacy. Following 9/11, American security aid focused on making weak countries develop stronger security forces. Unfortunately, this created Fabergé egg militaries: expensive and easily broken by insurgents. This article suggests long-term strategic commitments need to be made alongside more resources for the American State Department and similar organizations to focus on the politics of state-building. Finally, this article suggests strategies, such as “whole-of-government” approaches, to improve long-term security and political institution building.     

Effective in battle: conceptualizing soldiers’ combat effectiveness*

How do we understand combat effectiveness – soldiers’ performance in battle? Despite the broad consensus that understanding combat effectiveness is important both for scholars and policymakers, there is widespread disagreement about what combat effectiveness is. More specifically, studies of effectiveness tend to focus on either the skill of soldiers in battle, or their will to fight. Yet both skill and will are essential components of an effective fighting force. This article argues that understanding combat effectiveness requires understanding both of these key components of effectiveness. In other words, combat effectiveness requires both the skill and will to engage the enemy in an organized manner. It then demonstrates the usefulness of this conceptualization by applying it to the cases of British, Indian, and Australian forces fighting the Japanese during the Second World War. Only when scholars are talking about the same concept will our understanding of the conditions under which militaries are effective in battle progress. By comparing different units fighting the same opponent under the same material conditions, I demonstrate that units vary both in their combat skill and their will to fight, and that understanding their effectiveness in battle requires analyzing both of these key factors.     

积极探索训练规律,加强学员军事基础素质的培养

通过研究“4+1”人才培养模式下学员军事基础素质培养过程,改革军事基础课程教学体系和学员队管理模式,实现军事基础教学与学员队管理的有机衔接,强化学员旅的教学管理职能,形成“三位一体”的学员军事基础素质培养模式,建立学员军事基础素质评价的指标体系。     

军队高等工程院校教师的人文修养

大学教师本身的人文修养所体现出来的师德水平、学识水平、人格魅力以及教学艺术水平,是新时期教师素质的重要组成部分。要在军队高等工程院校中全面推进素质教育,全体教师必须首先提高自身的人文修养水平。