Defence awareness

Indo-Afghan relations

Abstract not available.

Abstract not available.

<p> Homelessness is a form of detachment from society, characterized by a lack of policy and deficiency of managed programs and community awareness that provides enough housing. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate situational homelessness from the perspective of 20 situationally homeless military veterans in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. Interviews of 20 homeless veterans living in the Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training (MCVET) transitional housing facility revealed 4 themes that represented homeless veterans&rsquo; perceptions of homeless prevention programs. The emerging themes consisted of the lack of effective veteran education, oppressiveness of system, the lack of effective transitional housing facilities for homeless veterans with families, and a need for compassion. After serving in the military, veterans returning to civilian life who find themselves in a situationally homeless condition felt they should be guaranteed access to effective homelessness services, effective community of care and support systems, and on the job training programs that link to professional jobs that provide benefits to enable economic sustainability. The effect of returning to civilian life after serving in the military represented a unique perspective in how homeless veterans react to homelessness services and the lack of support systems. The study findings add insight to homelessness from the viewpoint of those affected, offer prevention strategies in addressing veteran homelessness, and suggest the need for changes in policy.</p>

<p> Recent changes in written Army leader doctrine have reaffirmed the informal practice of mentorship as a component of subordinate leader development. At the same time, the use of Professional Forums in the Army has the potential to alter commonly accepted norms, policies, and practices of mentoring. This dissertation conducted a phenomenological study of how lived experience in the Forums complemented or detracted from the practice of Army mentoring. The study found that the lived experience closely corresponded to Kram&rsquo;s mentoring functions, with additional documented experiences in the areas of peer and computer-mediated communications mentoring. The participants&rsquo; practices of mentoring within the chain of command and cross-gender mentoring were significantly impacted by unique aspects of Army culture. The researcher found that the Professional Forums were supportive of mentoring practice, but were not mentoring spaces themselves. Participants credited the Forums with helping them identify viable mentoring partners and refining their own mentoring practices. Forum participants believed that their engagement in those spaces gave them a positive outlook on Army mentoring. The study&rsquo;s findings suggest best practices for informal Army mentoring while illuminating new directions for quantitative research in cross-gender and CMC-based mentoring. </p>

<p> Smartphones, now so ubiquitous that almost every American adult carries one, bring major changes not just to the way people gather and exchange information but also to the way in which they interact with one another and with the organizations to which they belong. A variety of research indicates that while it unleashes remarkable creativity and productivity, this complex, entangled phenomenon also has subtle, worrying implications. This study focused on those dynamics in one unit of the United States Army. Scharmer's Theory U as well as the systems theory espoused by Gharajedaghi and Ackoff guided this research. The research question asked, <i>What are the most important aspects of the holistic smartphone user experience in an Army work environment? </i> This phenomenological study was based on interviews with 28 military personnel of a variety of ages, ranks, and duty positions. While the findings were generally consistent with other research into smartphone use in society, it is clear that smartphone use is inextricably linked to a number of complex challenges for the leaders of the military unit studied. In particular, the paradoxical aspects of smartphone use which, while clearly beneficial, also foster tension, complexity, stress, and anxiety. More concerning is the finding that smartphone use jeopardizes the development of the traditional interactive and collaborative culture of the unit. Finally, current policies related to the use of smartphones inadequately address the issues and concerns expressed by respondents. The results of the study, therefore, serve as a call to action for unit leaders. They offer a compelling case for transformative change and leader attention and intention so that smartphone use can continue to enhance creativity and productivity while optimizing organizational development in the emerging future.</p>

<p> This paper discusses applying cyber warfare techniques to small war environments. Small wars do not carry the prestige of larger, more traditional campaigns; additionally, most small wars involve non-state actors whose technological means are limited, thus reducing the impact of cyber operations against them. Yet, small wars are very common throughout the history of the United States, and the traditionally-postured military struggled with them in the high-profile examples of Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Furthermore, the ease of entry into modern computing allows irregular forces equipped with an off-the-shelf laptop to perform cyberspace operations of one form or another. Not examining cyber war in the context of small wars needlessly blinds friendly forces to the threat posed by technologically inferior opponents and restricts what could otherwise be a potent tool. This paper covers several commonalities between small wars and cyber war; after they are established, it recommends methods to push cyber warfare to the tactical level and enhance the understanding of cyber operations in focused environments.</p>

<p>The purpose of writing The Effectiveness of the Chaplaincy Pocket Guide, ?Airmen?s Guide to Grief Recovery? on Members of the Community at Aviano Air Force Base, Italy is to discover the effectiveness of a grief recovery program in the Air Force context at Aviano Air Base. A pocket guide was designed specifically to reach out to the Airmen at Aviano, in such a way as to encourage, strengthen, and educate them in their individual grief journeys. There are ten embedded units at Aviano Air Base and the present researcher selected one participant from each unit to use the AGGR pocket guide in addressing their grief issues as part of this study. Although the AGGR pocket guide was written for airmen, not all ten participants were airmen. The three who were not?a spouse, a civilian employee and a member of an army tenant unit?nevertheless, are residents of Aviano AB and are immersed in Air Force culture and familiar with the common sources of grief associated with life on an air base. The grief issues were varied, some due to deaths (though not necessarily combat related), and some due to divorce. The researcher employed a Grief Recovery Survey as the instrument to measure the degree of grief recovery and interviewed all ten participants about their experience of grief recovery. The findings were generally positive and the researcher is inclined to believe pocket guides like the AGGR can be useful tools for the chaplain?s office.

<p> This study examines the <i>Feres</i> doctrine, the judicial policy that immunizes service members from civil liability when causing harm to each other. Created by the Supreme Court nearly 70 years ago, the insulation from judicial review is practically absolute, applying to nearly every variety of intra-military harm, from a negligent delivery that leads to the mother&rsquo;s death to intentional, abhorrent wrongdoing such as sexual assault. The doctrine bars service member suits across the board. The study traces the doctrine&rsquo;s theoretical and philosophical roots, assessing its historical development and documenting its current state. A comprehensive legal analysis, not only is every Supreme Court decision in the <i>Feres</i> context considered, account is taken of most lower court decisions as well as the academic scholarship. Significant findings include the fact that the doctrine, while receiving near universal criticism, has been dramatically expanded by lower courts. Today, immunity applies to wrongdoing where the &ldquo;military aspect&rdquo; of the activity is remote, such as malfeasance during off-duty recreational activities. It was also found that the judges applying the doctrine likely sustain moral injury as a consequence. Viewing the policy as unjust, judges violate deeply held beliefs when dismissing service members&rsquo; claims, claims civilians in similar situations are allowed to bring. Finally, the study found that most courts also dismiss ancillary suits stemming from intra-military harm, including state-level claims filed against wrongdoers personally. The result is that military survivors of non-duty-related misconduct, such as survivors of sexual assault, are &ldquo;effectively denied any civil remedy against a wrongdoer who was <i>not</i> acting within the scope of his military employment&rdquo; (<i>Day v. Massachusetts</i>, 1999, p. 684 [italics in original]). The study concludes with a recommendation for curing the doctrine of its most objectionable aspects, a proposal intended to bring the policy into better alignment with traditional notions of justice and fair play.</p><p>