Late Medieval Lance Use: Mounted Combat and Martial Arts in Western Europe from the 14th to the 16th Century

Despite the lance’s status and the amount of attention the couched lance has received in historiography, study of its martial art has been neglected. The various lance types and techniques used by western European cavalry have only recently begun to receive scholarly attention. Additionally, Medieval European lance use has too often been studied in isolation, without an adequate understanding of the idiosyncratic and asymmetrical dynamics of mounted combat. Although the charge with the couched lance was a valid tactic, it was only one of many. Light and heavy lances were used in one hand or two to trip, block, unhorse, and wrestle. These techniques were governed by the harsh laws of distance, speed, impact, iron, and asymmetry. By utilizing the surviving Fechtbücher and several Peninsular and Near Eastern sources, a brief foray into the diverse techniques of lance use and their purposes has been attempted here.     

Tripwires and free-riders: Do forward-deployed U.S. troops reduce the willingness of host-country citizens to fight for their country?

This article investigates the relationship between U.S. overseas troops and the willingness of the citizens of host states to fight for their country. The study joins the long-running debate about burden-sharing and free-riding among U.S. allies. Unlike most previous empirical studies, we focus on non-material or intangible measures of the underlying concepts. Our dependent variable estimates the proportion of citizens expressing a willingness to fight for their country. Scores at the aggregate-national as well as the individual level are shaped by the presence of U.S. military forces, which act as a “tripwire” signaling credible security commitments. This increases opportunities of (non-material) free-riding. We present both bivariate and multivariate analyses covering the period 1981–2014 to test this supposition. Findings indicate that once U.S. troop levels reach a certain threshold (between 100 and 500 troops), citizens’ willingness to fight drops significantly. This likely reflects non-material free-riding.     

Mirror,mirror on the wall,who is the most offensive of them all? – Explaining the offensive bias in military tactical thinking

This article explores why the offensive predominates military tactical thinking. With survey results showing an offensive bias among 60 per cent of senior Swedish officers and as many as 80 per cent in the case of the army, it is clear that this is not just a problem of the past but is equally relevant today. The article asks why there is a tendency to perceive and understand offensive tactics as the preferred choice and the way to conduct battle that should be encouraged and preferred. Drawing on existing research and the findings of a pilot study, ten propositions for why the offensive bias exists are tested using a mixed-method approach. Based on the findings, the article develops a model to understand why the offensive dominates military tactical thinking. It is found that the two key constitutive factors behind the offensive bias are military culture and education. These factors most directly and profoundly influence an officer’s identity, perceptions, and thinking. Military culture and education, in turn, work as a prism for four other factors: military history, the theory and principles of war, doctrine and TTPs, and psychological factors.     

Moving the techno-science gap in Security Force Assistance

This paper looks at the impact of military technology diffusion on military assistance operations (MAO), in the United States known as Security Force Assistance or SFA. The discussion looks conceptually at the role of technological change and how it interacts with martial cultures in military assistant operations. I argue that growing trends in science and technology suggest potential conflicts between culture and technology. Relying on a culture-technology model drawn from anthropology, the paper contends that new technologies will present increasing challenges for the emerging MAO landscape. The paper will illustrate that the techno-science gap will continue to grow as innovations such as robotics, sensors, and networks continue to develop. Finally, the paper will look at ways to overcome this conflict between culture and technology.     

重塑军队作战力量体系的几点思考

作战力量体系是一个国家军事力量体系的核心组成部分。近些年通过深化国防和军队改革,我军军事力量体系宏观上发生了脱胎换骨的变化,接下来到了对作战力量体系进行重塑的攻坚阶段,本文结合当前作战力量体系发展的一些特点和建设存在的短板,提出了重塑我军作战力量体系的决策建议。      

Path optimization for the resource‐constrained searcher

We formulate and solve a discrete‐time path‐optimization problem where a single searcher, operating in a discretized three‐dimensional airspace, looks for a moving target in a finite set of cells. The searcher is constrained by maximum limits on the consumption of one or more resources such as time, fuel, and risk along any path. We develop a specialized branch‐and‐bound algorithm for this problem that uses several network reduction procedures as well as a new bounding technique based on Lagrangian relaxation and network expansion. The resulting algorithm outperforms a state‐of‐the‐art algorithm for solving time‐constrained problems and also is the first algorithm to solve multi‐constrained problems. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2010     

浅析唐朝军事行政法的借鉴价值

唐朝进行了大规模的军事立法活动,形成了较为完备的军事法律制度,其中军事行政法律制度在整个军事法律体系中占有相当重要的位置。虽然它没有现代军事行政法律制度完善,但作为当时世界上国力强大的王朝,在军事行政法制上仍然有值得借鉴的地方。     

军队院校人才培养质量保证体系运行研究

基于ISO9000族质量标准的军队院校人才培养质量保证体系,是提高军队院校人才培养质量的重要保证。军队院校人才培养质量保证体系的运行准备、运行机制、运行评价是军队院校人才培养质量保证体系高效运行的关键环节,也是军队院校人才培养质量保证体系发挥作用的重要依托。     

“前进一步自然宽”——也谈军事战略思维“转型”

军事战略思维转型是推进中国特色军事变革的内在要求和重要组成部分,也是信息化条件下加强军队建设的一项重要内容。中国特色军事变革,不仅需要器物层面变革的支撑,更需要以军事战略思维转型为核心的精神层面变革的引领。     

《星星之火，可以燎原》的语言特色

在我军的革命初期,曾经历过一些挫败,当时部分红军指战员对中国革命的前景感到很悲观。在这紧要关头,毛泽东提出了“星星之火,可以燎原”的鲜明观点,对中国革命的未来做出了准确的判断。从军事语言角度来看,《星星之火,可以燎原》也很具有特色。