This thesis establishes an analytical framework for identifying and discussing strategic factors considered when developing the Hungarian Special Forces (HUNSF) as a new "niche" capability of the Hungarian Defense Forces (HDF). Although the findings have broad application, focus is on the Hungarian Special Forces unit. Key questions are how will factors such as the strategic environment, changes in the nature of war and characteristics of potential adversaries affect the development of a conceptual framework for the Hungarian Special Forces? Should unconventional warfare (which is a capability gap in the HDF at present) be an official task for the future Hungarian military forces and specifically a primary task for the HUNSF? Central to this study are factors found in the strategic environment, such as Hungary's affiliation with NATO and the EU. The thesis concentrates on defining the tasks for HUNSF, and based on these tasks, develops an organizational framework for the HUNSF capability. This framework includes training and command and control. The constantly changing security environment will also call for adjustments to the concept of HUNSF in the future; therefore, a vision for the HUNSF is incorporated into the thesis to provide flexibility and guidance for capability development in the future. A key finding of the thesis is that HUNSF has the potential to contribute to the fight against the many new security challenges and achieve many of the objectives posited in existing military transformation strategies, most importantly an unconventional warfare capability.

Throughout American history, there has been a tension between conventional and unconventional forces on the field as well as between the commanders; we even see this at the strategic level. Force misperceptions created a gap between U.S. conventional and unconventional forces that reached a peak at the conclusion of the Vietnam War. This gap has slowly been reduced with the creation and efforts of SOCOM; however, inefficiencies in the conduct of major combat campaigns still remain as a result of poor integration. The Burma Campaign and the Liberation of the Philippines 1942-1945 provide two unique case studies in which unconventional forces worked under the overall guidance and command of a conventional leader. Throughout the Burma Campaign and the struggle for the Liberation of the Philippines, conventional forces relied heavily on the ability of unconventional forces to support and contribute to the overall campaign strategy. Direct and indirect communication, coordination, and autonomy of operations between these forces resulted in strategic successes enroute to victory in World War II. The coordination and roles of these forces throughout the campaigns provide valuable insights and lessons learned that can be applied to today's forces, who find themselves working together - and needing to work together - in conflicts abroad. / US Navy (USN) author.

The first independent air force, the Royal Air Force, was formed on 1 April 1918 during the First World War. It was a merger of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. Its leaders and personnel brought cultural predispositions with them from their former services. Unsurprisingly, many aspects of the new independent Service that they created were similar to those in the Royal Navy and British Army. Despite that, a distinctive RAF culture emerged within a short time frame. Many elements of that culture have subsequently been emulated by other nations as they formed their own independent air forces. Those who serve or have served in the RAF intuitively know the power of its culture. RAF life is an immersive experience that evokes a range of assumptions, beliefs and emotions that can deeply affect combat performance. Despite this, little academic study of RAF culture has been conducted. This thesis will examine the history of the RAF from a new social angle. It will establish why its culture is so important and why RAF culture became so distinctive given its very traditional foundations.

This is a study of the British 8th Infantry Division on the Western Front between 1914 and 1918. It is set in the context of the dominant historiography of the last thirty years – that the BEF’s experiences on the Western Front between 1914 and 1918 were subject to a ‘learning curve’, that it learnt in a progressive fashion how to fight a skilled enemy. This process meant that the organisation was more effective by its end. The questions asked about operational effectiveness are informed by this debate. It also seeks to illuminate and carry the debate forward by an examination of the Division at various phases of its wartime experiences. The study utilises official documentation, including war diaries and after –action reports, the private papers of individuals who served with the Division and correspondence with the Official Historian. The study suggests that 8th Division underwent a learning process, progressively improving. However, this process was not constant being affected by casualties, terrain, changes in personnel and command style and the tasks faced. The study argues that by the end of the war, 8th Division, using devolved initiative, was able to employ the sophisticated use of all arms to overcome the enemy.

This thesis examines the strategic leadership, and the high level direction, of the Royal Air Force’s contribution to the strategic air offensive against Germany. It takes the conceptual thinking, the organisational aspects and the leadership required to bring it into being, from its inception in the First World War through to 1945. The thesis uses modern understanding of strategic (or senior) leadership as an analytical tool. The realm of strategic leadership is complex, and ambiguous, and the senior leaders required high levels of intellectual capacity to cope with the survival of the force and its subsequent rapid to meet the rising threat from Germany. The senior leaders, political and military, acknowledged that their methods of warfare must be just, and the thesis examines the legality and morality of the planning and conduct of the offensive. A key facet of strategic leadership is the setting of the vision and purpose of the enterprise and the thesis examines the challenges that arose from the competing views on how the offensive should be waged. Genuine strategic leadership requires dexterity in working at the interfaces with other organisations, or Allies, and the thesis examines the complexities of the Combined Bomber Offensive and Overlord.

Contemporary debates about military technologies have tended to overlook important interjections from feminist security scholars. These interjections have drawn attention to the myriad ways in which gender functions in the development and deployment of technologies in warfare, so that the technology is perceived as either having 'feminizing' or 'masculinizing' effects. However, the accounts offered in support of these arguments include data which does not ‘fit’ with the narrative of either/or masculinization/feminization. This thesis is that 'Haunting' provides an important lens through which the interaction between, and co-constitution of, gender and military technologies can be more adequately explored. Supplementing the 'ghost hunt' with 'queer logic' to draw the concerns of Haunting (the complexity of personhood, in/(hyper)visibility, disturbed temporality and power) in conversation with feminist scholarship, the thesis reveal military technologies as simultaneously destabilizing and (re)inscribing dominant discourses of military masculinity. At its core this thesis argues that Haunting as a theoretical framework and methodology gives us access to, and a means of understanding, data that centres nuance, details and specificity which is fundamental to social research.

Periods of operational deployment contain unique experiences for military servicemen and servicewomen. Previous research has focused on the experiences of regular personnel and their families. Given the increased presence of reservists in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the proposals to include military servicewomen in frontline combat roles, further exploration of the needs of these populations is required. This thesis increases understanding of military identity and culture at a time when the number of servicewomen and reservists requiring care from the National Health Service is likely to increase significantly. Chapter one is a critical review of the qualitative research exploring military servicewomen’s experiences of deployment. Database and manual searches resulted in 13 studies being included in the review. Military servicewomen described experiencing widespread gender-based discrimination implicitly supported by a patriarchal military culture that eroded their military and feminine identities. The findings revealed that this has significant implications for their long-term wellbeing. The review highlights the need for radical culture change in the military that continues to view women as counter to the revered masculinity viewed as a requirement for combat. Suggestions for future research are discussed. Chapter two is a qualitative research study that explored reservists’ lived experiences of deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, the study provides an in-depth account of the shifting identities of the reservists as they transition from civilian to soldier and back to civilian following deployment. The study reveals how their military identities are formed and crystallised by the deployment experience, leaving them detached from their former civilian selves. Implications for clinical practice and suggestions for future research are discussed. Chapter three is a reflective account exploring the integration of contextual identities within diverse roles. It explores the parallels between the research subject and the multiple roles of the clinical psychologist.

The Roman ability to project their power and defend their empire was based on the empire having the capability to maintain a standing army. This thesis is an examination of the commissariat that supplied this army since without logistical support such an army could not survive. The basic question under consideration is how well the commissariat functioned in late antiquity, the period when it was in its most developed and best documented state. When considering the commissariat of late antiquity it is important to understand what came before and how this system came into being. Of particular importance is the office of praetorian prefect, which went from being an imperial deputy with both military and judicial functions during the Principate to the chief administrative office in the late Roman state. Once this question has been addressed it is possible to look at the late Roman commissariat. The process of supply had several different stages, from raising supplies to their storage, transport, and distribution. All of these elements must be addressed separately. The system of supply in late antiquity was not static and there were several modifications to the system over the three centuries covered, most notably the creation of new positions at the top of the supply system. Determining the quality of the commissariat from this requires contrasting the twin considerations of effectiveness and efficiency – the ability to reliably provide supplies for the army and the expenditure of the minimum amount of resources necessary towards that goal. The detailed analysis provided in this thesis supports the conclusion that the late Roman army was, in general, effectively supplied. The issue of efficiency is more difficult to assess, but it is clear that there were many areas of great inefficiency within the Roman system. This in turn implies that the emperors prioritized effectiveness over efficiency – a conclusion consistent with the importance of the army to the emperors’ position.

Thesis (M.S. in Joint Campaign Planning and Strategy)--Joint Forces Staff College, Joint Advanced Warfighting School, 2006. / "April 14, 2006." Electronic version of original print document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 64-65).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 196-211).