This thesis examines developments in American military thought, organisation and practice in response to the conditions of Digital Age conflict – the contemporaneous rise of Web 2.0 and of forms of conflict (counterinsurgency and counter-terrorism) associated with the ‘Global War on Terror’ (GWOT). The research focuses on areas of military activity under the categories of special operations, information operations and intelligence. These are identified as those most effected by new Web technology and GWOT-era warfare, and significant developments of interest are identified and examined. I explore how Digital Age conflict is conceived of as a ‘problem field’ from the military perspective; and then examine how developments in areas from discourse to practice cohere to form an ‘apparatus’ through which this ‘problem’ is addressed. The research area is one in which access is a challenge, as such the research relies primarily on open source documentary data, collated and analysed in a way which provides significant insight to an opaque area of military practice. The thesis includes an analysis of military doctrine, propaganda websites, psychological operations practice, and cutting-edge R&D programmes. It is demonstrated that as well as being challenged by Digital Age conflict, the US military is empowered in the areas of strategy, intelligence and communication to develop new practices which enhance their ability to operate in the contemporary environment. Ultimately, the thesis argues, developments in the US military response to Web 2.0 mean that traditional understanding of military communication in terms of linear ‘propaganda’ messages must be augmented with an approach which understands military communication power through a holistic examination of the multiplicity of practices which collect, process, and distribute information within the Web 2.0 information environment. This form of emerging “CY-OPS” activity has wide-ranging consequences for our understanding of the Web as a social space.

This thesis focuses on the attempt by the post-war British Labour and Conservative administrations to use the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) as a tool to improve relations with the German civilian population during the early stages of the Cold War. The original contribution to knowledge lies in the evaluation of the efforts made by both the British and the German administrations to transform the BAOR from an occupation army to a protecting force and utilise its presence to strengthen German integration into the Western defence against communism. Although historians have evaluated the BAOR’s role in Germany from a strategic and military perspective, the political and social contexts resulting from the presence of nearly 80,000 British troops and their families during the early period of post-war German sovereignty have so far been largely neglected. This study considers not only the official contacts between the Services and the Germans, but also the more individual levels of contact, including living conditions of troops, social interaction and points of friction between soldiers and civilians. The thesis argues that the success of the transformation of the BAOR from a force of occupation to a tool of integration depended on two factors: the receptiveness of the German population to the new role of the BAOR and the attitudes of the British Services in conducting their new relationships with German civilians. It examines the German perceptions of the British Services by analysing hostile incidents between troops and civilians as well as comparing the popularity of the British Services with that of the other occupying powers in the young Federal Republic. Furthermore, it seeks to establish to what extent the widespread unwillingness of the Services to engage with Germans, which was evident in 1948, was transformed by the mid-1950s. This entails the analysis of the representation of Germany in British media and popular culture as an influence on troops in the BAOR as well as initiatives taken by the Services themselves to improve relations. ii The main findings of the thesis are that, although significant changes were implemented by the British administration to improve relations, the BAOR was not an effective tool to strengthen the Anglo-German partnership. This was partly due to the organisational structure of the Services but also due to a widespread reluctance by British troops to engage with the German population. Despite some local successes, the main achievement of the British and German administrations throughout the period in question was not an improvement but rather the prevention of a deterioration of relations between British Servicemen and German civilians in a crucial period of German integration into the Western defence against Communism.

Military Media Machine is an investigation into the media management structure, and the increasingly dynamic communication processes, developed and implemented by the UK military. It explores – rather than explains – the proliferation in military media facilitation within defence, at a time when the British armed forces are concluding their nearly 13-year campaign in Afghanistan. During this extraordinary period of strategic pressure, telling a story of success has become a key factor in the military’s understanding of their own communication function. So this thesis suggests. It does so by demonstrating how strategic narratives are constructed to distance the soldier and the military institution from the war itself. It shows how the military shift from a combat to a ‘train and advice’ role has challenged the ways in which this distinction is upheld and communicated. This has a wider applicability too, as it testifies to the increasing conflation of military goals and political objectives. Using access to UK and NATO field settings and doctrinal discussions, the study documents a growing presence of media theory at the heart of military doctrine. It demonstrates how the British military have engaged large (and not necessarily efficient) resources to managing the story as part of their Afghanistan exit strategy. This includes new communication initiatives, online engagement procedures, information doctrine and media training facilitation. Thesis findings indicate that the purpose of these initiatives is to influence target audiences through the ‘means’ of the media. They paint a picture of an organisation that is increasingly engaged in catering to, and producing material for, the media. Media studies have generally not engaged in military communication research. Similarly, the military have shown little interest in involving external partners in their communication function. The thesis positions itself at the heart of this discussion. It recognises that new frameworks of understanding are needed; frameworks that do not attempt to improve the effectiveness of military messaging but which examine it and consider the practice. Unlike most work carried out in military academies the purpose of the study has not been to develop doctrine. Rather, by taking on an inside-out approach (as opposed to an outside-in approach) the thesis examines a fast-growing aspect of communication research that has so far been poorly documented within media and communications studies.

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In 1815, the British Army's officer promotion process, comprising the functions of entry, promotion and after-care, had two parallel methods of operating. One was the purchase system, whose basic principle asserted that an officer's military career was dependent upon his ability to pay the specified sums for his successive regimental promotions. As private capital financed this arrangement, it had a largely self-governing and diffuse administration. --The other avenue of advancement was the non-purchase system, which rested on the assumption that professional entry, promotion and after-care were given free by the State to officers selected by the Commander in Chief. Since the public paid for this programme, it was subject to a greater degree of central control and regulation. -- Although the two systems were interdependent, they developed very differently after the Napoleonic wars. Those great conflicts exposed the purchase system's inherent weaknesses and compelled some fundamental revisions. The overwhelming post-war demand for retrenchment both confirmed these alterations and initiated others within the non-purchase system. -- Such changes were achieved through two broad means. First, the external pressure of political and social influence exerted by Right and Left - sometimes in uneasy combination - produced decisive effects. Second, the more unobtrusive method of administration development, with its pattern of rationalisation, codification, co-ordination, innovation and consolidation, created both new institutions and fresh battles over them. -- Sweeping progress in this aspect of military affairs was retarded by the genuine constitutional and social difficulties in loosening the connections between the army and the governing class. These problems, together with the perennial conundrum of individual freedom versus collective authority, confined the most significant achievements to the non-purchase system.

The three studies presented in this thesis explore the issue of identity change amongst loyalist paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland. Social and political psychology has yet to examine how these organisations have managed to retain their identity despite the main condition that justified their existence, armed conflict, no longer being in place. Study one involved 15 semi-structured interviews with former members of loyalist paramilitary organisations. Study two provided an analysis of magazine articles produced by the UVF and the UDA. Study three involved six focus groups with ‘ordinary’ (not paramilitary affiliated) members of the Protestant working-class community. Taken together, this research found that collective nostalgia was used by loyalist paramilitary organisations as they negotiated their change in function/context and attempted to forge collective continuity with the past. Interviewees spoke nostalgically about the past and magazine articles used this collective nostalgia to advocate a prototypical loyalist identity. Magazines also constructed collective continuity by presenting various new out­groups, thus maintaining an oppositional identity. Contradictory discourse was common throughout focus groups in study three. At times, community members felt that these organisations prevented them from “getting on with their lives”. However, participants also expressed a desire for some paramilitary activity to remain, highlighting the complexity of identity change. Drawing on insights from rhetorical psychology and the new psychology of leadership, this research found that the ways in which the past is used to inform an identity impacts on the extent to which groups are supported. When implementing change, the identity of followers/in-group members needs to be understood in new contexts. These findings highlight the strategic function of collective nostalgia and collective continuity for loyalist paramilitary organisations, which is indicative of their dissatisfaction with the present context. More broadly, this research emphasises how organisational members draw on their collective past to understand who they are, who their enemies are and how they should act. I argue throughout the thesis that these findings have important peace-building implications.

This thesis examines the Irish amateur military tradition in the British Army from 1854 until 1945, as separate to the amateur military tradition in Great Britain. The work argues that such a difference did exist but, also, within this, two further traditions emerged. Firstly, the re-emergence of the Protestant volunteering tradition, witnessed in Ulster as early as the seventeenth century, and, secondly, a Catholic amateur military tradition largely present in the Irish militia. Importantly, these two traditions, although not directly competing, also reflected Irish, and later Northern Irish, society up until the end of the Second World War. It will assess these traditions by looking at a variety of different aspects: the political and strategic considerations of the use of Irish auxiliaries at a time when there was a degree of upheaval in Ireland; the officer corps of the amateur forces, and how this developed over time; likewise, for the rank and file, its changing nature is evaluated; the discipline and morale of these forces is assessed, with special attention given to how religious composition affected this; their use on active service is considered; and, finally, the contemporary image, both inside and outside of Ireland is considered in order to build a picture of the auxiliary forces cultural impact on society as a whole. In' essence, this approach has previously been used to assess the British Army as a whole, especially during the Victorian and Edwardian periods, and also the amateur forces of Great Britain. However, this work builds upon this concept to evaluate the Irish position in detail, within the British context, for the first time. In so doing, the thesis also disproves some of the assumptions made about the Irish position and how its amateur forces were placed within its unique political, social, and cultural environment.

This thesis investigates the moral permissibility of military privatization. My analysis focuses on two distinct concepts: the authorization of war and the supply of war. Entities that authorize war decide that military force will be used and by whom; entities that supply war then execute the various tasks that have been authorized for performance. Part I argues that private actors may not justifiably authorize war. The reason is that, in so doing, they would impose considerable risks on individuals who lack a say in authorization—particularly fellow countrymen who may suffer from retaliatory military action—and we ought not to impose considerable risks on individuals who lack such a say. Public actors have a right, and indeed a duty, to prevent private actors from authorizing military force. Moreover, public actors have a further duty to authorize military force when their constituents are threatened. Part II then seeks to show that public actors who authorize military force may rely upon private contractors to an extent in military supply. Public actors may not rely upon private contractors to exercise command. The reason is that commanders must be able to punish their subordinates in intrusive ways (e.g. imprisonment) to ensure the prosecution of just wars. Such intrusive forms of punishment should only be dispensed by public actors. In addition, public actors may not rely upon private contractors to serve above commanders on the chain of command. Such high-ranking military officers exercise substantial political power over civilian decisions of military authorization and supply; moreover, these officers make weighty decisions in battle that substantially affect the well-being of others. Public actors, however, should be permitted to rely upon private contractors to serve below military commanders on the chain of command in rank-and-file military roles so long as these contractors are properly constrained and regulated.

Army wives throughout the United States participated in a study to evaluate the application of the triadic hypothesis of social support (Sarason, I.G., Sarason, & Pierce, 1992). The concept of social support consisted of the interaction among personality, interpersonal and situational factors with situation conceptualized as the event of relocation. The three factors were hypothesized to contribute independently to the prediction of well-being. Regression analyses revealed significant contribution from personality and interpersonal factors.

Optimal management of British military personnel injured in Afghanistan is best achieved in the United Kingdom; therefore aeromedical evacuation (AE) is arranged, often within the first 24 hours for the most severely injured casualties. However, early aeromedical evacuation carries its own risks, which must be considered prior to emplaning any casualty. The study aim was to investigate whether changes in tissue oxygenation occur in military casualties during aeromedical evacuation. Near infra-red spectroscopy was used in a series of studies designed to test the sensitivity of the tissue oxygen saturation monitoring technique in volunteers exposed to simulated altitude and simulated hypovolaemia. Changes in tissue oxygen saturation readings were detected in the volunteers, so an observational study was undertaken to determine whether changes in tissue oxygen saturation occur in military trauma casualties during aeromedical evacuation. Whilst the majority of casualties did not demonstrate any significant change in readings, some casualties did demonstrate reduced tissue oxygen saturation readings during their flights, although these changes were not reflected in systemic physiological monitoring techniques. Having identified that changes do occur, further work is required to investigate the cause, significance and outcome of these changes in order to fully appreciate the findings of the current study.