<p> The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore what factors active duty military students perceived as having a positive or negative effect on their decision to persist or not continue in post-secondary education. Once the active duty military students&rsquo; perceptions were documented, they were compared to current research on academic persistence to determine if they tended to agree or disagree. The study used a modified version of Fiona MacKinnon-Slaney&rsquo;s 1994 Adult Persistence in Learning (APIL) as a theoretical framework to examine the personal factors, environmental factors, institutional factors of the higher education institution, and institutional factors of the military. The participants in this study were all active duty military students enrolled in post-secondary education while serving on the USS JOHN C. STENNIS. There were 43 total participants in the study. 33 participants answered questionnaires and 10 took part in interviews with the researcher. Of the 43 participants, 5 were officers, 7 were senior enlisted (E-7 to E-9), 30 were enlisted (E-4 to E-6), and 1 was junior enlisted (E-1 to E-3). The research showed that active duty military students&rsquo; perceptions do not agree with current research on their persistence. They do not perceive themselves to be at-risk students (Beausoleil-Holt, 2009; Capps, 2011; Imagine America Foundation, 2009). Additionally, they do not see themselves as non-traditional students. Active duty military students&rsquo; responses provided more positive risk factors than negative risk factors, indicating they are essentially positive about their chances of persisting. In the personal factor, learning ability factor, and university factor categories of the modified APIL, active duty gave more positive risk factors than negative risk factors. However, under the military factor category they gave substantially more negative risk factors than positive risk factors. Active duty military students perceive the greatest negative risk factors to their persistence to be from uniquely military factors, which also disagrees with current research. Therefore, even though current research shows that active duty military students are at-risk and non-traditional students, they instead see themselves as students that face persistence risks that are unique to the military experience.</p>

<p> In the modern age, nationalism has profoundly impacted warfare. While nationalism has helped transform pre-modern societies into nation-states in part arguably to more efficiently wage warfare, it has also lead to a decline in the effectiveness of conventional military power. Warfare in late nineteenth century Cuba and the Philippines demonstrates many of the new features of &ldquo;nationalist warfare,&rdquo; showing increased violence is brought about not just by conventional technological developments, but also by &ldquo;social technology&rdquo; like nationalism. Nationalist ideology makes it nearly impossible for conventional military forces to occupy or control a nationalist society and suppress resistance to foreign rule. Attempts to suppress nationalist resistance can only be achieved by denying the rebellion external support and directly targeting the civilian population. The difficulty of suppressing nationalist resistance ensures increasingly protracted, bloody and destructive wars will be the norm and that within these conflicts targeting non-combatants and civilian infrastructure is virtually unavoidable.</p>

<p> A majority of the nation&rsquo;s military-connected dependents attend civilian public schools, yet there are pervasive inconsistencies in support programs and policies across schools (De Pedro, Astor, Gilreath, Benbenishty, &amp; Esqueda, 2013). High mobility rates present several challenges to children of military Service members, such as learning gaps, social and emotional difficulties, and challenges forming relationships with peers and school personnel (Astor, Jacobson, &amp; Benbenishty, 2012). This study examined how military-connected adolescents bridged their multiple military and civilian worlds in the school context. The theoretical foundations of the study included the Bridging Multiple Worlds (BMW) (Cooper, 2014) model and Social Network theory. The BMW design investigated military-connected adolescents&rsquo; perceived challenges and strengths of belonging to a military cultural community along with how they accessed resources for overcoming those challenges. Social Capital and Social Network theory situated developmental processes in a socialized context highlighting how interpersonal relationships shape development (Bourdieu, 1986; Daly, Moolenaar, Bolivar, &amp; Burke, 2010). Focus groups revealed participants faced many of the typical challenges facing military-connected youth. They also perceived many of those challenges as having promoted positive developmental outcomes: social skills, resilience, and adaptability. Social networks, friendship networks and support networks, played an important role in overcoming the challenges of navigating their military and civilian worlds. Findings indicated differences in academic outcomes (GPA) between military and civilian participants, as well as between enlisted and officer participants. Findings also indicated different social network patterns between enlisted participants and officer participants. The rich history of military support within the local community and school environment may have influenced how military participants integrated into the whole eighth-grade friendship network. This study sought to fill the research gap by accurately representing the social and educational needs and circumstances of military-connected adolescents in a military-dense civilian middle school and to help educators create highly supportive environments for military-connected adolescents in civilian schools.</p>

<p>Media framing analysis has developed in theory and application as a subset of political communication theory for the past several decades. Recent efforts among its scholars have sought to identify and create generalizable frames that can be applied across numerous social and political issues for the purposes of further examining the impact media coverage has on public opinion and policy development. This study utilizes previously established frames to examine media coverage of military spouse employment over the past twenty years, in order to better identify what role media coverage has played in the development of employment policy and support programs for military spouses. </p>

<p> Military stigma is a heavy burden of social stigma internalized by veterans who are diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during post-deployment psychological screening. PTSD is classified as a mental disorder associated with widespread reluctance to seek medical assistance. Among military veterans who suffer from combat-related posttraumatic stress (PTS), military stigma is considered a widespread problem. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore veterans&rsquo; perceptions of various aspects of military stigma, including post-deployment psychological screening, the diagnosis of PTSD, and factors associated with reluctance to seek medical assistance for PTS. In-depth interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 10 veterans of 2 recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. A modified form of labeling theory was applied to address the role of cultural stereotypes in stigma (societal and self-internalized), and the discriminatory factors associated with them. Multiple themes emerged, including a commonly held view that post-deployment health screenings are superficial, inconsistent, and ineffective procedures in which veterans feel the need to lie about their experience for fear of being stigmatized with a mental disorder. The findings confirm that the stigma associated with a diagnosis of PTSD perpetuates veterans&rsquo; reluctance to seek help for PTS, which results in multiple personal and professional problems. Remedies recommended by these veterans included improved post-deployment medical screening procedures, reclassification of PTSD as a war injury instead of a mental disorder, and PTS-related stigma awareness training. </p>

<p> This mixed methods study examined the proactive personalities of cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Survey responses from first- and third-year cadets were analyzed to examine the influence of a cadet&rsquo;s proactive personality on several factors, to include perceived organizational support, leader-member exchange, affective commitment, job performance, job satisfaction, and intention to quit. Findings indicated that cadets&rsquo; proactive personalities significantly predicted their levels of perceived organizational support, the quality of their leader-member exchanges, their emotional commitment to the Academy, their job satisfaction, and their job performance as measured by their Military Performance Average. In addition, social desirability moderated the relationship between the cadets&rsquo; proactive personalities and their intention to quit. Furthermore, experiences and perspectives of cadets were captured using open-ended survey questions which addressed how cadets define proactivity, how cadets engage in proactive behavior, how naturally proactive cadets are perceived, how being proactive is important to leader development, and how being proactive benefitted the cadets. The collective responses contributed to the overall essence of what it means to be proactive at the Academy from the perspectives of cadets. Overall, findings supported the notion that encouraging cadets to be proactive and helping them gain access to being proactive may contribute to their leadership development. As such, the proactive personality construct should be considered as part of the CCLD&rsquo;s (2011) Conceptual Framework for Developing Leaders of Character, specifically within the area of cadets owning their development, the first step in the deliberate process of leader development at the Academy.</p>

<p> Early into the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, reports revealed that less than half of individuals displaying symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder sought help from the mental health community. As a means to cope with the stresses of war, many soldiers turned to animals for emotional support, and anecdotal reports identified reduction in the severity of distress among soldiers. However, no study was found that investigates this phenomenon. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of service members with combat-related posttraumatic stress symptoms and the human-animal bond. The study applied a blend of constructivism and phenomenology to address how the construction of knowledge and perception interacts with trauma exposure to develop distress--the diathesis-stress theory of posttraumatic stress disorder. The single research question inquired into the lived experiences of Operational Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom military personnel with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms who have a companion animal. Data collection consisted of 12 in-depth, participant interviews, which were analyzed using the phenomenological techniques created by Moustakas. The analysis revealed 4 themes: (a) rich descriptions of deployment events, (b) the experiences of returning from a deployment, (c) participants' perceptions on their pets' influence on posttraumatic stress symptoms, and (d) other personal comments and opinions related to participants' experiences. These findings illuminate the experiences of combat-related posttraumatic stress and the importance of animals in the therapeutic process. These detailed descriptions may help develop alternative treatment options and help policy makers assess the current management of posttraumatic stress in the military and Veteran's Administration systems.</p>

<p> This thesis uses articles from Chinese and Indian defense publications to analyze how the Chinese People&rsquo;s Liberation Army-Navy and the Indian Navy view each other&rsquo;s modernization. This thesis argues that the Chinese and Indian Navies view each other&rsquo;s development through defensive realism and will take steps in accordance to their view of development. This thesis predicts that the Indians will focus on developing a navy that can defeat the PLA-N in Indian dominated waters, while the PLA-N will develop anti-submarine assets and refueling assets to counter the Indian nuclear triad, which according my analysis of the Chinese defense press, is the part of the Indian Navy that the Chinese Navy views as the biggest menace of the Indian Navy to Chinese survival.</p>

<p>The Global War on Terror has routinely exposed military personnel to PTSD qualifying traumatic events. Scant research has included a military training and occupational context among combat Veteran populations who leave military service. This retrospective cohort study explored the influence of pre-exposure training on the relationship between combat exposure, posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and functioning impairments after discharge from military service. The results confirmed an occupational associated exposure risk for approximately 15% of the US military. Despite the combative specialty Veteran experiencing more combat in frequency and intensity, there were no differences in PTSS or functioning impairment any time after discharge or within the last thirty days between occupational cohorts. The study concluded that combative occupational training is protective against the effects of battle exposure experiences, but not post battle experiences. The study results suggest that military organizational resilience training is not effective in bolstering hardiness after discharge and transitioning into the civilian population. These findings support the creation of a military occupational mental health model for future PTSD diagnosis and treatment for combat Veteran populations.

<p> This dissertation is presented in a three-article format. Article 1, &ldquo;The impact of disability on body esteem: A review of the literature,&rdquo; is a review that examines the existing literature regarding body esteem in individuals with various disabilities. The purpose of the article was to highlight principal findings and identify areas that require further research.</p><p> Article 2 is entitled, &ldquo;Qualitative research contributions to military post combat transition and reintegration: A review of the literature.&rdquo; The purpose of this review was to examine the existing qualitative literature regarding military postcombat transition and reintegration. Four categories were identified, which included (1) psychosocial adjustment and coping; (2) physical disability adjustment; (3) protective factors; and (4) transition challenges. Several themes were also distinguished within each category. </p><p> Article 3, &ldquo;A qualitative study of military veterans&rsquo; resilience and body esteem following combat-related limb amputation,&rdquo; included semistructured interviews with six former service members who had sustained a military combat-related limb amputation, and their spouses. Semistructured interviews provided an opportunity to explore the resilience and body esteem of each amputee, as well as the views of the respective spouses. The Metatheory of Resilience and Resiliency was utilized to guide content analysis of the interviews. Open, axial, and selective coding were used to analyze the data. </p>