<p> Civil-military relations theory stresses the importance of civilian control of the military and clearly defined roles for the military in democratic societies. There are two distinct perspectives regarding military roles. Traditionalist thinkers argue that the military should be restricted solely to its traditional role of national defense. On the other hand, some scholars propose additional, diverse, non-traditional roles for the military such as humanitarian assistance, law enforcement activities, peace-keeping operations, and disaster management, as "new military roles." Guatemala serves as a case study where a military institution has received much criticism for past political involvement and lack of respect for civil authority. The 1996 Peace Accords stipulated a reduction and new mission for the Guatemalan military, which put new emphasis on disaster management, and serves as the research starting point. This study describes Guatemalan military involvement in disaster management during 1997-2002. In order to determine the nature of Guatemalan military involvement in disaster management, three indicators are examined: 1) organization, 2) training, and 3) participation in disaster response. Analysis of military compliance with Peace Accord directives, and the three indicators, is conducted to assess how well the Guatemalan military respected civil authority during the study period. This dissertation argues that the post-1996 Guatemalan military was involved in disaster management yet stayed within the bounds of civilian control of the military. The implications of these findings will add to the existing literature concerning civil-military relations, disaster management, and the controversial topic of non-traditional roles for the military. </p>

<p> The high prevalence and high costs of overweight or obesity in the United States, especially among veterans, presents a need for implementation of an effective weight loss program. Currently, Veteran Affairs hospitals use a weight loss and health promotion program called MOVE!, which has had problems with implementation and attendance. A new program called Aspiring to Lifelong Health in VA (ASPIRE) uses the Stop Light Diet (SLD) and the small change approach, and has been associated with significant weight loss and attainable implementation practices. This study reviews a 7 day food journal and weight change for 73 participants from both the MOVE! and ASPIRE programs within a three month time span. Particularly, change in consumption of foods based on the SLD categories and weight change were analyzed among participants in the two programs. Both programs resulted in significant weight loss (baseline to 3 months). The ASPIRE program was associated with an increase in "green foods," or fruits and vegetables, whereas the MOVE! program was not. When implementing a weight loss and health promotion program for the veteran population, a program using the concept of the SLD as well as providing a coach for the participants to set small and attainable dietary goals, using the small change approach, may help the participants increase their intake of fruits and vegetables, and decrease their intake of high calorie high fat foods in order to ultimately improve health and increase the chance for weight loss.</p>

<p> An employee&rsquo;s intent to leave an organization is the most common predictor of employee turnover. Employee turnover can cost an organization 150% to 250% of a worker&rsquo;s annual compensation to replace and train an employee. Understanding employee intent to leave is vital for federal agency leaders to help reduce turnover. Grounded in Herzberg&rsquo;s 2-factor model, the purpose of this correlational study was to examine the likelihood of employee perceptions regarding work experience, leadership practices, and supervisor relationships with employees predicting employee intent to leave. Archival data were analyzed for 297 employees who completed the 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. The results of the binary logistic regression analysis indicated the full model, containing the 3 predictor variables (employee perceptions regarding work experience, leadership practices, and supervisor relationships with employees), was useful in distinguishing between respondents who reported and did not report they intended to take another job outside the federal government within the next year, with <i>X</i>² (3, <i> N</i> = 297) = 111.27 and <i>p</i> &lt; .001. Two of the predictor variables--employee perceptions of work experience and leadership practices--made a statistically significant contribution to the model. Employee perceptions of supervisor relationships with employees were not significant. The implications of this study for positive social change include the opportunity for human resources professionals and organizational leaders to gain an understanding of employee intent to leave, its impact on the workplace, and the potential to contribute to higher employment levels.</p><p>

<p> Escalating health care costs in the military health system are not sustainable long term. Regular physical activity has been shown to improve health and reduce health care costs. Military members serving in the United States Air Force (USAF) are encouraged to maintain physical fitness year-round and undergo mandatory physical fitness assessments (PFAs) annually. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine the nature of the relationship between the timing of the PFA and health care utilization (HU) by active duty service members assigned to the United Kingdom's USAF military treatment facility. Donabedian's framework and the logic process model were used to design the study. Archived fitness and health care utilization data were obtained on 361 military members. Findings indicated a strong, positive correlation between the timing of the PFA and HU, which was strongest during the PFA month. Monthly HU 6 months prior to PFA was compared using a 1-way repeated measures ANOVA. Findings indicated a significant difference between T-1 (PFA month), T-2 (1 month prior to PFA), and T-5 (5 months prior to PFA). Paired-samples t tests demonstrated a statistically significant increase in HU from T-5 to T-2. Although findings are not generalizable, they signal a need for further study to evaluate HU variability between populations, to identify at-risk groups, and to inform health and fitness policies that affect the readiness and retention of military members. The DNP project may promote interdisciplinary collaboration between health care providers and senior military leadership, innovation in health care delivery, and evidence-based and cost-conscious policies.</p><p>

<p> Military leaders play central roles in responding to sexual assault in the military social ecology, yet their impacts on victims&rsquo; post-assault and reporting experiences remain understudied. Using standpoint epistemology and a military-specific social ecological approach, this two-stage project investigated how military leaders impacted survivors&rsquo; post-assault and reporting experiences, as well as their experiences with military peers, community resources, and justice and separation processes. Data were gathered through an initial focus group with eight subject matter experts in advocacy, legal work, and policy reform, followed by subsequent in-depth individual interviews with eight female survivors of military sexual assault, seven of whom filed unrestricted reports between 2006 and 2014 and all of whom were separated from service between 2007 and 2015. Analysis was performed with grounded theory. </p><p> Findings provide in-depth understanding of the extensive impact of military leaders on survivors&rsquo; experiences across the military social ecology. Data indicate that when leaders themselves perpetrated, were affiliated with perpetrators, or became otherwise compromised, they damaged victims&rsquo; reporting experiences, recoveries, and support systems. These negative-destructive leaders capitalized on the close-knit, transitory, and male-dominated military environment to recruit other leaders and supports into an escalating process of defamation of and retaliation against survivors&mdash;a process described as forming ranks. As this destructive process escalated, it potentiated the harms caused by the initial assault(s) and compromised the support and protection available to victims from peers, positive-constructive leadership, and military community resources. In three cases, it contributed to survivors&rsquo; attempting to take their own lives. This destructive process also interacted with structural power dynamics to compound barriers to leader-perpetrator accountability in the command-directed justice system. By forming ranks against survivors, negative-destructive leaders ultimately deprived them of the ability to recover while they remained in service and contributed to their separations from the military&mdash;the very purpose of this retaliatory process. All participants provided actionable recommendations to increase leadership accountability and improve the military system, in order to better protect future survivors from the victimization and retraumatization that they or those they knew had endured.</p><p>

<p> This dissertation, Transformational Innovation (TI) in the U.S. Department of Defense (U.S. DoD) Acquisitions, is a qualitative case study. The topic is viewed through a social constructivist lens and designed to understand the contemporary real-life experiences of U.S. DoD acquisition professionals in meeting the challenge of the Better Buying Power initiative. This initiative, Better Buying Power, asks U.S. DoD acquisition professionals to create innovative business processes designed to increase the effectiveness and best value of U.S. DoD acquisition activities. The researcher examined observed illustrations of TI and the accompanying instances of transformational or transactional leadership. Transformational leadership (TL) can be characterized by idealized influence/charisma, inspirational motivation, intellectual consideration and stimulation, and individualized consideration. In contrast, transactional leadership is a method whereby goals and tasks are assigned to employees who are motivated by rewards and punishments and must do as the manager says or face the consequences. The data gathered from this research effort are centered on two areas, transformational leadership in the U.S. DoD acquisitions workforce, and transformational innovation within the U.S. DoD acquisitions workforce. Several themes emerged from the study: there were few examples of transformational leadership; there were few examples of transformational innovation; there were many examples of transactional leadership, the U.S. DoD is still primarily transactional; and change in the U.S. DoD is directive. The results of the study add to the literature surrounding TL and TI and offer insight into the effects of transformational leadership on transformational innovation. </p><p>

Abstract not available.

Abstract not available.

Cette recherche porte sur les différences de traitement entre les principaux réseaux nationaux de télévision canadiens anglais et québécois francophones (CBC, CTV, Radio- et TVA). Nous cherchons à déterminer comment chacun a couvert la prise de commandement par le Canada des troupes à Kandahar, en Afghanistan, le 28 février 2006. Le cadre théorique fait référence à l' agenda-setting et à l'économie des médias. La première approche permet, entre autres, de définir certains concepts-clés de la couverture médiatique (newsworthiness et framing). L'économie des médias conçoit quant à elle la production journalistique comme une activité économique tributaire à la loi du marché. Sur le plan méthodologique, nous avons analysé les reportages diffusés le 28 février 2006. Ensuite, des entrevues semi-dirigées ont été effectuées, plus d'un an après l'évènement, avec les journalistes, leurs affectateurs et des officiers de la Défense nationale, afin de mieux cerner le processus décisionnel au sein des réseaux. Les résultats de cette recherche confirment qu'il y a des différences de traitement entre les réseaux nationaux de télévision anglophones et francophones au Canada, dans un cadre autre que les élections où les enjeux constitutionnels. Ces différences sont principalement liées aux mandats des réseaux ainsi qu'à leurs intérêts et à ceux du public.

<p>The removal of Saddam Hussein&rsquo;s Ba&rsquo;athist regime in Iraq gave rise to a plethora of non-state actors, sub-state political factions, warring ethnic groups, and terrorist organizations all seeking to fill the political power vacuum. Using theories from academic literature on coalition building, neorealism, behavioral science, sociology, as well as complexity theory, this research project will use the U.S. and coalition intervention in Iraq to frame a within-case comparative historical analysis of how power was distributed within Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion and the complex interplay between shifting alignments and alliances between political factions, militant groups and occupation forces. This study argues that political factions will make alignments and alliances based on agent-based considerations in their formative stages and will quickly gravitate toward the authority of a charismatic leader. Over time, these political factions become institutionalized and behave in accordance with what neorealist political theory would predict. </p>