Problem Investigated. This dissertation is a study of the political effects of low-intensity warfare in Indonesia since 1945. In particular, it examines the interaction between general principles and contextual variables in guerrilla conflict, to determine whether such conflict causes the diffusion of political power. Analysis of insurgent movements indicates that power structures within a guerrilla group tend to be regionalised, diffuse and based on multiple centres of roughly equal authority. Conversely, studies of counter-insurgency (COIN) techniques indicate that successful COIN depends on effective political control over the local population. This tends to be exercised by regional or local military commanders rather than by central authority. Based on this, the author???s initial analysis indicated that one should expect to see a diffusion of political authority from central leaders (whether civilian or military) to regional military leaders, when a society is engaged in the conduct of either COIN or guerrilla warfare. The problem investigated in this dissertation can therefore be stated thus: To what extent, at which levels of analysis and subject to what influencing factors does low-intensity warfare in Indonesia between 1945 and 1999 demonstrate a political power-diffusion effect? Procedures Followed. The procedure followed was a diachronic, qualitative, fieldwork-based analysis of two principle case studies: the Darul Islam insurgency in West Java 1948-1962 and the campaign in East Timor 1974-1999. Principle research tools were: ??? Semi-structured, formal, informal and group interviews. ??? Analysis of official and private archives in Australia, Indonesia, the Netherlands and the UK. ??? Participant observation using anthropological fieldwork techniques. ??? Geographical analysis using transects, basemapping and overhead imagery. ??? Demographic analysis using historical data, cartographic records and surveys. Research was conducted in Australia, Indonesia (Jakarta and Bandung), the Netherlands (The Hague and Amsterdam) and the United Kingdom (London, Winchester, Salisbury and Warminster). Fieldwork was conducted over three periods in West Java (1994, 1995 and 1996) and one period in East Timor (1999-2000). General Results Obtained. The two principal case studies were the Darul Islam insurgency in West Java 1948-62 and the campaign in East Timor since 1974. The fieldwork data showed that low-intensity warfare in Indonesia between 1945 and 1999 did indeed demonstrate the political power-diffusion effect posited by the author. This effect was triggered by the outbreak of guerrilla warfare, which itself flowed from crises generated by processes of modernisation and change within Indonesian society from traditional hierarchies to modern forms of social organisation. These crises were also affected by events at the systemic and regional levels of analysis ??? the invasion of the Netherlands East Indies by Japan, the Cold War, the Asian financial crisis and increasing economic and media globalisation. They resulted in a breakdown or weakening of formal power structures, allowing informal power structures to dominate. This in turn allowed local elites with economic, social or religious influence and with coercive power over the population, to develop political and military power at the local level while being subject to little control from higher levels. This process, then, represented a power diffusion from central and civilian leadership levels to local leaders with coercive means ??? most often military or insurgent leaders. Having been triggered by guerrilla operations, however, the direction and process by which such power diffusion operated was heavily influenced by contextual variables, of which the most important were geographical factors, political culture, traditional authority structures and the interaction of external variables at different levels of analysis. Topographical isolation, poor infrastructure, severe terrain, scattered population groupings and strong influence by traditional hierarchies tend to accelerate and exacerbate the loss of central control. Conversely good infrastructure, large population centres, good communications and a high degree of influence by nation-state and systemic levels of analysis ??? particularly through economic and governmental institutionalisation ??? tend to slow such diffusion. Moreover, while power may be diffusing at one level of analysis (e.g. nation-state) it may be centralising at another (e.g. into the hands of military leaders at local level). Analysis of the Malayan Emergency indicates that, in a comparable non-Indonesian historical example, the same general tendency to political power diffusion was evident and that the same broad contextual variables mediated it. However, it would be premature to conclude that the process observed in Indonesia is generally applicable. The nature and relative importance of contextual factors is likely to vary between examples and hence additional research on non-Indonesian examples would be necessary before such a conclusion could be drawn. Further research on a current instance of guerrilla operations in Indonesia is also essential before the broader contemporary applicability of these findings can be reliably demonstrated. Major Conclusions Reached. Based on the above, the theses developed to answer the initial problem can be stated thus: The command and control (C2) structures inherent in traditional, dispersed rural guerrilla movements that lack access to mass media or electronic communications tend to lessen the degree of control by central (military or political) leaders over regional leaders. If COIN or Internal Security Operations are conducted, two factors will operate. First, there will be an increase in the degree of control over the civil population by local military leaders, at the expense of local or central political leaders. Second, where military command structures are pyramidal or segmentary, there will be an increase in control by local commanders at the expense of central military leaders. Where the central government is civilian or has interests divergent from the military???s, the first of these factors will dominate. Where the government is military or has interests largely identical to those of the military, the second factor will be dominant. The process of power diffusion can thus be summarised as follows: A crisis driven by processes of societal change or by external causes, leads to the outbreak of violence, one facet of which may include guerrilla operations. If guerrilla operations do occur, the C2 structures inherent in such operations give a high degree of autonomy and independence to local military leaders. The same (or a contemporaneous) crisis produces a breakdown of formal power structures, causing organisations to fall back upon informal power structures. The nature of these informal power structures is determined by geography, political culture, patterns of traditional authority within the society and the degree of interaction of systemic/regional factors with local events. Thus the guerrilla operations and the concomitant breakdown in formal power structures form the trigger for political power diffusion. The precise nature and progress of this diffusion is then determined by contextual variables.

Thesis (MScEng (Mathematical Sciences. Applied Mathematics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / Tracking manoeuvring military airborne targets with radar is problematic due to the low scan rates and the high levels of measurement noise. Surveillance systems using multiple radars have the benefit of an increased rate of observation and noise reduction but also have the problem of correlating observations from multiple sensors. Mehtods are discussed to correlate single observations from multiple radar sensors as well as assigning observations to existing tracks. Filtering methods to reduce measurement noise of the target tracks and methods to extrapolate the predicted position of targets are also explored.

This thesis is about the children of former Far East prisoners of war (FEPOWs): their memories of childhood, how they fashioned those memories in adulthood, and the relationship between the two. The FEPOW experience reverberated through postwar family life, and continued to shape the lives of participants across the intervening decades. Although a great deal is now known about the hardships suffered by the men, captivity had a deep and enduring impact on their children, but their history is rarely heard, and poorly understood. In Roots of Remembrance I investigate the lives of these children through in-depth interviews, using a psychosocial approach to both interviews and analysis. By tracing intergenerational transmission through the life course, I show that the memory practices of the children of Far East POWs had psychosocial roots in the captivity experiences of their fathers. For some, childhood was coloured by overt physical or psychological trauma; for others, what passed as a ‘normal’ upbringing led later to a pressing desire to discover more about their fathers’ wartime histories. My research demonstrates the need for a more nuanced and holistic approach to understanding intergenerational trauma transmission within this particular group. I argue that participants made creative use of memory practices across the course of their lives to revisit, review and reconstruct their relationships with their fathers, in order to reach an accommodation with their childhood memories. Findings include the value of attachment theory in understanding the associations between childhood experience and later memory practices, the role of the body and other implicit means of transmitting trauma, and the need for a greater awareness of the impact of cumulative and complex trauma within these families. Finally, I conclude that the psychosocial methodology enabled me to access areas of subjectivity and intersubjectivity that might otherwise have remained in the shadows.

Text in Afrikaans / Hierdie studie is onderneem met die doel om 'n model te ontwikkel waarmee die wenner in 'n konvensionele landgeveg voorspel kan word. Gegewe die omvang van die vakgebied oorlog, is die studie beperk tot die taktiese vlak en fokus op landgevegte tydens konvensionele oorlogvoering. As eerste stap in die ontwikkelingpsproses, is die faktore wat wen kan bepaal krygskundig nagevors. Die sogenaamde honderdgevegte-datastel is saamgestel uit data van 100 gevegte uit die twintigste eeu en net vroeer, met die klem op gevegte waarin Suid-Afrikaanse magte betrokke was. Verskeie statistiese tegnieke is ondersoek om 'n geskikte tegniek vir die ontleding van die data te vind. Die ondersoek het aangetoon dat logistiese regressie die beste tegniek is vir die data. 'n Ontwikkelingsproses met drie voorspellers is ook saamgestel. Verskeie modelle is ondersoek, naamlik 1 'n Voorspellingsmodel met eensydige sub-modelle sonder gevegshouding, met en sonder opponentdata. I 2 'n Voorspellingsmodel met eensydige sub-modelle met gevegshouding, met en sonder opponentdata. 3 'n Voorspellingsmodel met tweesydige sub-modelle met opponentdata.. Die ontwikkelingsproses lewer verskeie modelle wat baie goed presteer sensitiwiteit > 80%). 'n Finale keuse lewer die volgende resultaat: 1 Vir die geval waar opponentdata nie beskikbaar is nie, is 'n eensydige submode! sonder gevegshouding ontwikkel waarvan die resultaat teen 'n skeidingsgrens gemeet word om die uitslag te bepaal. Die model het 'n sensitiwiteit van 85%, maar kan net 'n wen of gelykop, of, verloor of gelykop voorspel. 2 Vir die geval waar opponentdata beskikbaar is, is 'n eensydige sub-model ivsonder gevegshouding ontwikkel wat in staat is om, deur die opponente se uitslag met mekaar te vergelyk, die wenner aan te wys. Hierdie model het 'n sensitiwiteit van 83,8% Verskeie statistiese en krygskundige gevolgtrekkings word gemaak, die belangrikste waarvan dat die gekose modelle wel daartoe in staat is om gevegsvoorspellings akkuraat te kan uitvoer. Die modelle kan ook aangewend word om gevegte te ontleed en tendense te verklaar. Krygskundig bevestig die resultaat die noodsaaklikheid van die maneuvreringsbenadering en goeie leierskap. Die resultaat van die studie het wye aanwendingspotensiaal op die gebied van die krygskunde, krygsfilosofie, krygspele en militere operasionele navorsing en laat ruimte vir interessante en noodsaaklike verdere navorsing in operasionele navorsing sowel as in die krygskunde. / The aim of this study is to develop models for the efficient prediction of the outcome of a land battle. The study is confined to conventional warfare at the tactical level. The first step was to identify the variables that may determine victory. Thirty such variables enjoying the support of various military historians and philosophers were selected. The hundred-battle data set, consisting of coded data for a hundred twentieth-century battles, was compiled. The thirty variables were encoded for each combatant. Since the outcome and most of the prediction variables are binary but a few are continuous, ordinary linear regression could not be used and several statistical and other techniques were evaluated. Logistic regression was found to be the best. A formalized development and selection process was applied to a number of broad model classes. These were 1 prediction models with one-sided sub-models without combat posture and with (without) opponent data 2 prediction models with one-sided sub-models with combat posture and with (without) opponent data 3 prediction models with two-sided sub-models without combat posture and with opponent data. The process provided several very good models and the following were selected. Without opponent data. A one-sided sub-model without combat posture, utilizing a discriminator was selected. It determines the outcome with a sensitivity of 85%. However, it only predicts victory or a draw, defeat or a draw. With opponent data. A one-sided sub-model without combat posture was selected. It predicts the outcome of battle by comparing the results of the two opponents. This model vishowed a sensitivity of 83,8%. Several statistical and military scientific conclusions followed, the most important being that the chosen models can accurately predict battle outcome or post facto determine the outcome. The models can also be used to analyze battles. In this role they confirm the importance of maneuver warfare and good leadership. The results of this study can be applied in military science, military philosophy and war gaming. The work fuses military philosophy with statistical analysis, is a first in the field and offers the possibility of breaking out of the mind-set of personal views and biases prevalent in military science. The method as such can be applied to different data bases representing war at other levels or with other technologies. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D.Phil. (Philosophy)

This thesis examines the lives of women in Classical Greece in the context of war. War is often regarded as the domain of men but actually it is a social phenomenon where everybody is involved. Scholarship has begun to be interested in issues of women and war in Classical Greece, while they are insightful and demonstrate portions of women’s experience, studies to date have not attempted to create a holistic view. In such studies, women are generally depicted as a single homogeneous group, their involvement in war is viewed as limited and exceptional, and they are only seen as the marginal victims of war. This thesis, by contrast, strongly argues for diversity in women’s experiences during war. It demonstrates the centrality of war to women’s lives in Classical Greece, as well as how women’s experience might vary according to (for example) their social and economic circumstances. By analysing both written sources and archaeological material across the Classical period, this thesis intends to produce a broader perspective. By providing the first full-length study on the subject, this thesis, thus, contributes to the disciplines of both gender studies and warfare studies. This thesis begins by investigating the way in which ancient sources outlined wartime boundaries for women. While there were no formal ‘rules of war’, ancient writers nonetheless suggest that there were certain social conventions particular to the treatment of women in Classical Greece at times of war. As chapter 1 shows, perhaps surprisingly, women were not always evacuated from their communities as is commonly thought, they were not supposed to be maltreated, nor killed in Classical Greek warfare. Chapter 2 then examines ancient authors’ positive and negative evaluations on the behaviour of women in war. By analysing the way in which different sources rationalized women’s wartime behaviour, this thesis shows that there existed boundaries for women in war. Having established women’s potential involvement in war, an exploration follows of their contributions to the war effort, both in the city and abroad. Two observations emerge from chapter 3. First, women were heavily involved in crucial wartime activities such as defending the city, distribution of food and missiles, giving military advice, among others. However, they also participated in negative and traitorous wartime behaviour such as facilitating enemy soldiers to escape a city under conflict. Second, their wartime contributions were not perceived to be ‘breaking social norms’ as is commonly maintained in much scholarly discussion. In chapter 4, the analyses of the different social and economic impacts of war on women reveals that war affected them directly through their experience of evacuations and their necessity to find employment due to wartime poverty, but war also affected women in more insidious ways, especially in their family life and relationships. Finally, chapter 5 then analyses the impact of war with special reference to women’s experiences in post-war contexts such as captivity, slavery, and rape and sexual violence. By showing the variety of experiences and how there existed selection processes with regards to women, this chapter demonstrates that not all women were going to experience the same fates after war. The result is the emergence of a rounded picture of the wartime lives of women in Classical Greece.

System dynamics is based on principles borrowed from engineering—especially feedback concepts. It makes possible a representation of decision policies and information flow. The systems approach is a mixture of scientific approaches to conceptualizing problems and solving them through research, design and analysis. In system dynamics, differential equations are represented in the form of difference equations. There is no limit to the number that can be employed to represent the complex details of any system. The models developed here help in determining the superiority or inferiority of the Advanced Tactical Aircraft (ATA) over the baseline aircraft. The advanced tactical aircraft is a proposed replacement aircraft that can undertake any of the three missions—air superiority, fleet defense and attack/interdiction. The baseline aircraft for air superiority and fleet defense is the Tomcat Fighter, F-14 and for attack/interdiction it is Intruder, A-6. Several measures of effectiveness are presented to evaluate the superiority or inferiority of the replacement aircraft over the baseline aircraft. / Master of Science / incomplete_metadata

Thesis (MMil (Military Sciences. School for Security and Africa Studies))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis explores the feasibility of the concept Developmental Peace Missions (DPMs). It seeks to answer the question whether DPMs is an ambitious construct or a feasible ideal and whether DPMs could be effectively applied during peace missions. The study takes the form of a descriptive analysis of the theoretical underpinnings of the concept of DPMs, and includes the analysis of various relevant case studies in terms of the application of the concept of DPMs. The study further explores the evolution that has taken place in terms of United Nations peace missions, in that most modern peace missions include both peacekeeping and peacebuilding initiatives. The study also illustrates the modern approach to peace missions, based on an integrated systems-thinking approach by means of which the activities of all relevant role-players are integrated and fused towards a common end state: that of sustained security and development. In order to analyse the concept of DPMs, the theoretical underpinnings of the concept human security, the security-development nexus and peacebuilding were researched in depth. These concepts were then coupled to the concept of DPMs in terms of their utility during current complex peace missions, both internationally and on the African continent. The concept of DPMs was studied in the context of contemporary peacekeeping in terms of three case studies, namely the peace missions in Kosovo, Sierra Leone and the DRC. The DPMs concept was applied to these case studies and analysed in terms of the extent to which the peace interventions in these countries were conducted in accordance with the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of DPMs. The study concludes that DPMs, in terms of its theoretical basis, is indeed a feasible ideal for peace missions, as it is based on and in line with the approved current UN- and AU-integrated planning processes. However, in terms of its practical utility in Africa, it currently remains an ambitious construct, given the limited capacity and resources of the AU and regional organisations. Therefore, DPMs should not be viewed as a short-term solution to, or panacea for, all intra-state wars. The study proposes that the UN, the AU, as well as relevant regional organisations will have to adjust and make changes in terms of their institutions, structures, funding and the provision of resources in order to operationalise the concept of DPMs successfully. This is especially true as far as the AU is concerned, as the AU currently experiences severe limitations in both material and human resources. However, the fact that both the UN and the AU have adopted the Integrated Mission Planning Process concept as planning tool for their respective missions is an indication that progress is being made towards the achievement of establishing a more holistic and integrated approach to finding sustainable solutions to global conflict. Ultimately, the success of DPMs will be determined by the will and commitment of all the relevant role-players involved in finding a lasting solution to intra-state conflicts. The concept itself cannot provide sustainable peace and development. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dié tesis verken die lewensvatbaarheid van die begrip Ontwikkelingsvredesendings. Daar sal gepoog word om ‘n antwoord te kry op die vraag of Ontwikkelingsvredesendings ‘n ambisieuse konstruk of ‘n haalbare ideal is. Verder sal gepoog word om te bepaal of dit effektief tydens vredesoperasies toegepas kan word. Die studie neem die vorm aan van ‘n beskrywende analise van die teoretiese grondbeginsels van die begrip Ontwikkelingsvredesendings en sluit die analise van verskeie relevante gevallestudies ten opsigte van die begrip in. Die studie ondersoek die evolusie wat plaasgevind het ten opsigte van vredesendings wat deur die Verenigde Nasies (VN) onderneem word, naamlik dat die meeste moderne vredesendings, vredesbewarings, sowel as vredesbou (nasiebou) inisiatiewe insluit. Die studie illustreer ook die moderne benadering wat ten opsigte van vredesendings toegepas word, naamlik dat die aktiwiteite van al die betrokke rolspelers geïntegreer word en op ‘n gedeelde einddoel gefokus word. Die teoretiese grondstelllings van die begrippe veiligheid en ontwikkeling, die veiligheid-ensekuriteit- neksus, sowel as die begrip van vredesbou (nasiebou) is in diepte ondersoek ten einde die begrip Ontwikkelingsvredesendings te analiseer. Hierdie begrippe is daarna in verband gebring met die begrip Ontwikkelingsvredesendings soos wat dit tans tydens moderne komplekse vredesendings toegepas word – beide internasionaal sowel as op die Afrika kontinent. Die begrip Ontwikkelingsvredesendings is bestudeer teen die agtergrond van eietydse vredesbewaring ten opsigte van drie gevallestudies, naamlik die intervensies in Kosovo, Sierra Leone en die Demokratiese Republiek van die Kongo. Hierdie drie gevallestudies is gekies aangesien dit die eerste sendings was waartydens die VN die nuwe geïntegreerde benadering tot vredesendings, soos in die Brahimi-verslag aanbeveel, toegepas is. Die studie het bevind dat Ontwikkelingsvredesendings, wat betref die teoretiese grondstellings inderdaad uitvoerbaar is, aangesien dit gebaseer is op en in ooreenstemming is met die huidige aanvaarde beplanninsprosesse van die VN en die AU. Maar, wat betref die praktiese bruikbaarheid van die begrip in Afrika, bly dit tans ‘n ambisieuse konstruk, gegewe die beperkte vermoë en hulpbronne van die AU en streeksorganisasies. Die begrip Ontwikkelingsvredesendings moet dus nie as ‘n korttermynoplossing vir alle interne oorloë beskou word nie. Die studie het bevind dat die VN, die AU, sowel as die betrokke streeksorganisasies, ingrypende veranderings sal moet ondergaan ten einde die begrip Ontwikkelingsvredesendings suksesvol te kan toepas, veral ten opsigte van strukture, befondsing en die voorsiening van hulpbronne. Dit is veral waar in die geval van die AU, aangesien die AU tans geweldige uitdagings in die gesig staar wat betref menslike sowel as materiële hulpbronne. Ten spyte van laasgenoemde uitdagings dui die aanvaarding van die Geïntegreerde Sendingbeplanningsproses as besluitnemings-meganisme deur beide die VN en die AU op die vordering wat gemaak word ten opsigte van die daarstelling van ‘n meer holistiese en geïntegreerde benadering vir volhoubare oplossings vir konflik. Die sukses van Ontwikkelingsvredesendings sal uiteindelik bepaal word deur die wil en toewyding van alle betrokkenes by die soeke na langdurige vrede – die begrip op sigself kan nie volhoubare vrede en ontwikkeling bewerkstellig nie.

Thesis (MMil)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Sidi Rezegh and Tobruk are the largest disasters suffered by South Africa in its military history. Yet, despite their enormity, Sidi Rezegh and Tobruk are little understood and hardly remembered. South Africa declared war on Germany on the 6 September 1939, after a bitter internal debate, amounting to a conflict between Afrikaner nationalists and those who supported the British Empire. South Africa’s political ambivalence and disunity ran parallel to her unpreparedness for war in every important department from the lack of vital coastal defences to the miniscule size of her army and air force and complete lack of a navy. The first six months of 1941 saw the South Africans play a significant part in completely defeating the Italian colonial forces in East Africa. However, the campaign was poor preparation for what the South Africans were to encounter in the North African Desert months later. South African troops spent their time rebuilding fortifications in Egypt rather than in essential training to acclimatise this “bush war” army to harsh desert conditions. In a reluctant political decision, the unprepared South Africans were committed to Operation Crusader. The inexperienced South Africans met up with the battle hardened Afrika Korps at Sidi Rezegh on 23 November 1941 and were annihilated in the face of overwhelming odds. In revisiting this forgotten battle, it has been found, using primary and secondary sources, that the South Africans extracted an enormous price on the German armour in what may have been the true turning point of Operation Crusader. In May 1942, Rommel’s Afrika Korps sallied forth in a series of lightning moves that demonstrated the Axis grip on combined operations and managed to isolate the vital port of Tobruk commanded by an inexperienced South African, Major General H. B. Klopper. His surrender in one day is often compared to the previous siege endured under similar circumstances, where the Australians managed to hold Rommel at bay for 244 days until the siege was lifted. Klopper’s surrender of Tobruk resulted in a political crisis for Winston Churchill and for Jan Smuts, as the fiasco caused considerable tension within the Allied camp and within South Africa. On re-examination, interesting facts have emerged from the primary source material, as to the state of the Tobruk defences and of its unfortunate commander and how the United Kingdom, acting in concert with South Africa, sought to suppress the true facts. Immediate post-war memory has been shaped and distorted by sensitive political considerations that affected relations between South Africa and the United Kingdom. Thereafter, the memory of Sidi Rezegh and Tobruk was relegated first by a nationalistic Afrikaner government and then since by a democratically elected government, both of which have seen very little use in incorporating these two milestones into the national memory. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Sidi Rezegh en Tobruk is die grootste nederlae wat Suid-Afrika in sy militêre geskiedenis ervaar het. Ten spyte van hul omvang, word daar min van Sidi Rezegh en Tobruk verstaan of onthou. Na ‘n hewige interne debat wat tot konflik tussen Afrikanernasionaliste en pro-Britse Suid-Afrikaners gelei het, het Suid-Afrika op 6 September 1939 oorlog teen Duitsland verklaar. Suid-Afrika se politieke verdeeldheid het saamgeval met die Unie se totale onvoorbereidheid vir oorlog, wat gestrek het van kritieke tekortkominge in kusverdediging, tot die ontoereikende grootte van die leër en lugmag en die totale afwesigheid van ‘n vloot. Gedurende die eerste ses maande van 1941 het Suid-Afrika ‘n beduidende rol gespeel om die Italiaanse koloniale magte in Oos-Afrika te verslaan. Dié veldtog was egter nie effektiewe voorbereiding vir die uitdagings waarteen die Suid-Afrikaners kort daarna in Noord-Afrika te staan sou kom nie. Die Suid-Afrikaanse troepe het daarby hul tyd daaraan bestee om vestings in Egipte te herbou in plaas daarvan om noodsaaklike opleiding te ondergaan om hul “bosoorlog”-leër vir ruwe woestynoorlogvoering voor te berei. ‘n Huiwerige, teensinnige politieke besluit het die onvoorbereide Suid-Afrikaners tot Operasie Crusader verbind. Die onervare Suid-Afrikaners het op 23 November 1941 by Sidi Rezegh teen die geharde Afrika Korps te staan gekom, waar oorweldigende magte hulle verpletter het. ‘n Heroorweging van hierdie vergete veldslag aan die hand van primêre en sekondêre bronne het aan die lig gebring dat die Suid-Afrikaners ‘n hoë tol van die Duitse pantser geëis het, wat besmoontlik die ware keerpunt in Operasie Crusader gebring het. In Mei 1942 het Rommel se Afrika Korps deur ‘n reeks blitsige bewegings wat die greep van die Spilmagte op gekombineerde operasies gedemonstreer het, daarin geslaag om die kritiese hawe van Tobruk, waar die onervare Suid Afrikaanse generaal-majoor H.B. Klopper in bevel was, te isoleer. Sy oorgawe binne ‘n enkele dag word dikwels vergelyk met die vorige beleg van Tobruk toe die Australianers Rommel onder vergelykbare omstandighede vir 244 dae teruggehou het totdat die beleg opgehef is. Klopper se oorgawe het ‘n politieke krisis vir Winston Churchill en Jan Smuts geskep, deurdat dit aansienlike spanning binne sowel die Gealieerde kamp as Suid-Afrika veroorsaak het. Die herevaluering van die gebeure het interessante feite uit die primêre bronne na vore gebring ten opsigte van die toestand van Tobruk se verdedigingstellings, die ongelukkige bevelvoerder, en hoe die Verenigde Koninkryk in samewerking met Suid-Afrika die ware feite wou toesmeer. Die onmiddellike naoorlogse geheuebeeld van die gebeure by Sidi Rezegh en Tobruk is geskep en verwring deur sensitiewe politieke oorwegings wat die verhouding tussen Suid-Afrika en die Verenigde Koninkryk beïnvloed het. Sedertdien het ‘n nasionalistiese Afrikaner-regering en daarna ook die demokraties-verkose, post-apartheid-regering die herinneringe aan Sidi Rezegh en Tobruk tot die vergetelheid verdoem; nie een van die twee het die nut daarvan gesien om dié twee mylpale in die nasionale geheue te verewig nie. Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za

Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. / In a world in which the use of violence continues to be viewed as an acceptable method to pursue political goals, the use of terrorism as a political method will also continue. And within that world, in the coming years, hostage rescues and other direct actions to combat terrorism are likely to be the most frequent type of missions conducted by state special operations forces, including those of Romania. This thesis explores the importance of integrating three types of decisions-informational, structural, and operational-for the successful outcome of special operations. The thesis analyzes four operations, conducted by American, Belgian, and Israeli forces, and the circumstances of their positive or negative outcomes. The historical cases show that, if any one of the three types of decisions was not integrated with the other two, the operation was doomed. The analysis also reveals that the integration of decision-making can best be realized by using interagency coordination mechanisms and a collocation of decision-makers, especially for situations in which command arrangements are highly complicated or unclear. In light of the findings in the four case studies, an analysis of the Romanian Special Operations Forces reveals that its overall structure does not favor either immediate-response or high-complexity missions. The thesis concludes with a number of recommendations for short- and long-term mitigation of current command and control problems faced by Romanian Special Operations Forces. / Captain, Romanian Army

Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. / Since World War II, the Philippines has confronted threats from communist insurgents, Muslim secessionists, and a few other agitators. Recently, however, a new threat has emerged-- this time coming from a terrorist organization known as the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). Although the ASG is a relatively small group, it has wrought great injury to the Philippine image as of late. Common among the groups presenting a threat to internal security are that their strategies and tactics tend to be unconventional and asymmetric. This thesis seeks to determine how special operations can improve the AFP's capability to address internal security threats. The study begins by examining the security environments in which the AFP currently operates, and then proceeds to study emerging security environments in which it will likely operate. The current special operations capability of the AFP is explored and assessed, while inquiring whether it needs enhancing. Case studies of past AFP special operations against groups which posed major internal threats are analyzed to determine whether or not the doctrine and strategy of the AFP was correct, especially regarding its use of Special Operations Forces (SOF). Furthermore, this study considers the United States (U.S.) model for special operations, namely the U.S. Special Operations Forces, in proposing a special operations strategy for the AFP that is feasible, suitable, and sustainable. It is suggested that such an examination will produce a strategy that is relevant, adaptable, and responsive to dealing with the internal security environments likely to be encountered by the Philippine government. / Major, Philippine Army