Fragmented forces: The development of the Gambian military

This article provides a detailed look at the history of the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF), a military that has received very little academic attention within the study of African state security forces. It identifies key turning points in the GAF’s history, and highlights the vastly different roles the military played in the state under President Jawara (1965–94) and President Jammeh (1994–2017). Yet, it also highlights important similarities regarding internal patterns within the armed forces and shows the ways in which these continuities may challenge attempts to restructure the security sector. The article draws on archival research and interviews conducted with retired and active duty Gambian military personnel, government officials, and Gambian scholars.     

The US NATO and military burden sharing: post-Cold War accomplishments and future prospects

NATO burden sharing has become an especially timely issue in the past several years as a result of a number of factors, including Russian annexation of Crimea and destabilization of eastern Ukraine in 2014. This article argues that alliance unity among the great democracies of Europe and North America is indispensable to peace and stability on the Eurasian continent. A fractured NATO, and especially, a large divide in purposes or commitments as between the United States and its European security partners, invites aggression and the possibility of inadvertent escalation. Past successes and failures in US-involved multinational peace and stability operations, within and outside of Europe, show that mission accomplishment requires give and take, including the occasional acceptance of unequal costs and benefits among the members, in order to achieve peace and security objectives.     

防空兵确定被保卫目标重要性的一种方法

防空兵正确确定被保卫目标的重要性,是正确构建防空火力配系的基础.首先全面梳理了确定被保卫重点的六条依据,然后,在分析目标选定因素的基础上,给出了利用层次分析法确定各个指标权重的方法,同时,建立了防空兵评价被保卫重点目标重要性的数学模型,并结合一个实例验证了方法的应用.     

The structural origins of social cohesion: the dynamics of micro-solidarity in 1991–1995 Wars of Yugoslav Succession

This article explores the dynamics of social cohesion on the frontline. It attempts to show how micro-level solidarities largely depend on macro level organisational processes. I argue that frontline social cohesion is often the product of social development linked with the organisational structure. This general argument is applied to the case studies of two armed forces involved in the 1991–1995 Wars of Yugoslav Succession – the Croatian Army (HV) and the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS). Drawing on in-depth interviews with the former combatants I show how HV social cohesion played an important role in winning the war and how these networks of micro-level solidarity were shaped by long term organisational development.     

谈公安边防部队处置边境地区暴（骚）乱事件中的组织指挥

针对当前边境地区日趋复杂的暴（骚）乱事件的特点,就公安边防部队处置边境暴（骚）乱事件的有效方式、组织指挥进行研究探讨,提出建立警民一体联合指挥机构、运用信息手段、正确运用战法等相应对策。     

谈提高消防部队会计人员素质

当前,随着消防部队财务工作的不断改革发展,会计人员素质已成为制约消防部队财务管理水平提高的一个＂瓶颈＂。在分析消防部队会计人员素质现状的基础上,从消防部队会计人员知识层次、职业技能、职业道德三个方面提出了提高消防部队会计人员素质的措施。     

战备储备方案的Flexsim仿真构建

以某战役方向的战时物资保障为背景,充分考虑“三线”仓库的地理位置和储存能力、运输能力、运输线路、仓库和运输工具遭受打击破坏等因素对储备数量和布局的影响,建立Flexsim仿真模型。对模型进行仿真实验并分析实验报告的数据,找出平时战备储备方案中存在的问题和改进的方向。将改进后的模型再次进行仿真实验,如此循环直到得出满意的结果,为战备储备计划的制定和储备方案的改进提供定量参考。     

适应性兵力组织设计方法与应用研究

在建立兵力组织分层定量描述的基础上,研究了设计适应性兵力组织的关键技术,提出了一种适应性兵力组织设计建模框架.建立定量模型和优化算法,可以辅助不同层次的指挥员快速完成使命计划生成、兵力裁剪和组织结构的设计与适应环境变化,设计高效的兵力组织完成使命.最后,讨论了适应性兵力组织设计工具AAOD-Tools的设计与开发.     

Sharing the load: factors in supporting local armed groups in insurgencies

Most counterinsurgency campaigns have featured the use of some form of local defense forces. Such forces have had a somewhat mixed record, both in their usefulness in actually countering insurgents and in their longer-term impact on internal security. This article focuses on historical cases that provide lessons for the best operational and strategic uses of local defense forces and measures to control their activities.     

Revisiting the rise and fall of the Somali Armed Forces, 1960–2012

The history of the Somali Armed Forces, principally the army, forms an important part of studying the Somali civil war. Two key themes are evident from 1960: the pursuit of an irredentist agenda beyond reasonable limits, which led to the downfall of Siad Barre’s regime, and the clan divisions and agendas that Barre used to shore up his rule in the 1980s and that have bedeviled the rebirth of the Somali Army in the twenty-first century. With the twentieth-century context covered, and in some places reinterpreted, this article then focuses on the uncertain rebirth of the Somali Armed Forces since 2008, using a host of primary and United Nations official sources. Assistance efforts have been focused on Mogadishu, but limited success has been made in forming truly national armed forces. Future prospects are uncertain, but there are some signs of hope.