This thesis investigates several key aspects of warfare and its participants in the Viking Age insular world via a comparison of the image which warriors occupy in heroic literature to their concomitant depiction in sources which are primarily nonliterary in character, such as histories, annalistic records, and law codes. Through this method, the thesis seeks to add to the scholarship regarding organized violence in this era in two principle manners. First, this study will depart from nearly all previous studies of warriors by moving beyond a single cultural milieu and treating them in a ‘pan-insular’ context. Second and perhaps more importantly, in choosing to address the heroic literature as a genre distinct from other contemporary texts, this thesis will allow progress beyond the bulk of pre-existing ‘warfare scholarship’ for this era, which tends to utilize any and all manner of sources as a reflection of historical reality. In considering the context of heroic poetry and sagas, the thesis will allow one to make conclusion regarding its likely authorship and intended audience, as well as the goals of the former and expectations of the latter. Studies of warfare are always of particular relevance, due to their intersection with many areas of history long studied, such as constitutional and legal history, as well as those which have only recently received their due attention, such as questions of group cohesion, violence, and community. This thesis was largely inspired by the attempt by Stephen S. Evans to study the institution of the war-band in a crosscultural reference in his 1997 book Lords of Battle. Evans provided a good analysis of this body in its fifth- through eighth-century Anglo-Saxon and British manifestation but failed to achieve his primary stated goal – a comparison of the image and reality of the war-band. His decision to limit his research to the Anglo- Saxon and Welsh cultural spheres in the era predating the first Viking invasions led him to omit much relevant Irish and Insular Norse material, as well as a great deal of later heroic literature. It was with these two shortcomings in mind that I set out to write a more thorough treatment of the war-band. Yet, what began initially as an attempt to remedy the shortcomings of Lords of Battle soon grew into a slightly more wide-ranging study that has moved beyond focussing solely upon the war-band to look at attitudes about warfare and its participants amongst contemporary audiences and authors during the Viking age insular world.

Cicero‘s value as a military commentator has traditionally been obscured by his reputation as an unmilitary figure. This focus ignores the considerable quantity – and quality – of references to military matters in his writings, as well as the engagement demanded by his public profile as a senior senator and advocate during the war-torn final decades of the Republic. As a participant-witness writing as events unfolded, he provides unrivalled insight into developing contemporary issues from an equally unrivalled civilian/domestic perspective. Far from precluding meaningful discussion, this perspective draws attention to the wider consequences of the activities of the army, from their symbolic representation of Rome‘s might to their impact on domestic stability and role in imperial expansion. This thesis explores Cicero‘s contribution to the militarized culture of the late Republic, bringing together his military-themed comments in the first major study of its kind. Chapter 1 sets the scene with an examination of his military service, demonstrating that it met the standards of the day and identifying characteristics of his outlook that can be linked directly to his experience. Chapter 2 investigates his engagement with Rome‘s military heritage by way of his use of military exempla, specifically the priorities indicated by his choice and description of these figures. Chapter 3 presents a similar assessment of his relationships with contemporary military figures, noting the effect of their political influence on the interest he took in their military responsibilities. Chapters 4 and 5 assess his theory concerning military matters in the domestic and foreign spheres, respectively. Both highlight the focus on ethics which sets Cicero‘s theory apart from that of his contemporaries. Finally,chapter 6 addresses the tension between civic and military values in the previous chapters, contextualizing his pro-civic bias as a reaction to military despotism rather than anti-militarism for its own sake. The analysis of these themes confirms Cicero‘s awareness of military matters as well as his contemporary authority as a commentator. It moreover highlights the historical value of his remarks as the rhetorical product of a civilian context and an alternative discourse about the relationship between the army and the state. Although his views are broadly comparable to those of contemporary authors, his coverage of associated domestic concerns is not. The end result is an account of military matters which complements conventional military histories and manuals of military science, and deserves to be taken seriously as military commentary.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / Since the country has moved into the Information Age, the military forces have been moving towards network based operations. The rapid expansion of the internet and information technology (IT) has led to the emerging theory of Network- Centric Warfare (NCW). The Naval Services instantiation of NCW is FORCEnet. "FORCEnet is the "glue" that binds together Sea Strike, Sea Shield, and Sea Basing. It is the operational construct and architectural framework for naval warfare in the Information Age, integrating warriors, sensors, command and control, platforms, and weapons into a networked, distributed combat force. FORCEnet will provide the architecture to increase substantially combat capabilities through aligned and integrated systems, functions, and missions. Sea Power 21 is a comprehensive attempt to address the ramifications of the Information Age revolution. The framework of the Sea Power 21 vision is composed of the following elements: Sea Basing, Sea Shield and Sea Strike. The enabler of this vision or the "glue" that holds it all together is FORCEnet. FORCEnet is "the operational construct and architectural framework of naval warfare in the information age that integrates Warriors, sensors, networks, command and control, platforms, and weapons into a networked, distributed combat force that is scaleable across all levels of conflict from seabed to space and sea to land." The Trident Warrior 03 exercise was then developed as a means to measure its success and to acquire data from which future exercises can be measured against. FORCEnet is still in its infancy and many people have different views on what exactly it is and how it should be implemented to achieve those goals. The intent of this thesis was not to answer those questions per se, but provide a realistic analysis of what worked during the TW03 exercise and what did not. This should provide a baseline for further Trident Warrior exercises so as to avoid the same mistakes in the future. The military has a ways to go before it can fully realize a truly networked-centric armed forces, but TW03 was the beginning and the lessons learned from it will pay dividends in realizing that fully networked goal. / Major, United States Marine Corps

The Assessment and Investment Model (AIM) introduced in 2003 a fiscally constrained The New Enemy hides in the shadows of anonymity. As of September 11, 2001, combat in today's world is much more challenging and requires a better understanding of the enemy and his support infrastructure. There is a renewed interest in human intelligence (HUMINT) as expressed by the US Department of Defense and Intelligence Agencies. But HUMINT is only data collected by human sources about an individual or group of individuals and their activities. Cultural Immersion is a step above mere data collectionâ µit allows its practitioners to understand the thought processes and/or the routines of questionable individuals or groups. Cultural immersion is a skill set that allows missions to develop and execute with smooth transitions. It does not guarantee mission success but certainly assures greater mission success than can be achieved operating without it. Cultural immersion "equalizes the playing field" when US/Coalition forces are operating in foreign lands against otherwise invisible or immersed enemies. This thesis examines various aspects of cultural immersion, how they relate to warfare, and proposes recommendations for cultural immersion supporting present day Naval Special Warfare (NSW) missions. The intent is to provide decision makers a viable option for actionable intelligence during the Global War on Terrorism.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / Influencing one's adversary has always been an objective in warfare. However, to date the majority of influence operations have been geared toward the masses or to very small numbers of individuals. Although marginally effective, this approach is inadequate with respect to larger numbers of high value targets and to specific subsets of the population. Limited human resources have prevented a more tailored approach, which would focus on segmentation, because individual targeting demands significant time from psychological analysts. This research examined whether or not Information Technology (IT) tools, specializing in text mining, are robust enough to automate the categorization/segmentation of individual profiles for the purpose of psychological operations (PSYOP). Research indicated that only a handful of software applications claimed to provide adequate functionality to perform these tasks. Text mining via neural networks was determined to be the best approach given the constraints of the profile data and the desired output. Five software applications were tested and evaluated for their ability to reproduce the results of a social psychologist. Through statistical analysis, it was concluded that the tested applications are not currently mature enough to produce accurate results that would enable automated segmentation of individual profiles based on supervised linguistic processing. / Captain, United States Marine Corps / Lieutenant, United States Navy

Approved for release; distribution is unlimited / Computer network operations (CNO) can be considered a relatively new phenomenon being encount modern warfare. Computer network operation is comprised of three components, computer network attack computer network exploitation (CNE), and computer network defense (CND). Computer network attack is def operations to disrupt, deny, degrade, or destroy information resident in computer networks, or the computers and ne themselves. Computer network exploitation is the intelligence collection and enabling operations to gather data from adversary automated information systems (AIS) or networks. Finally, computer network defense are those me internal to the protected entity, taken to protect and defend information, computers, and networks from disruption, degradation, or destruction. No longer is warfare limited to the use of kinetic weapons and conventional methods of war. Computer network operations have become an integral part of our adversary's arsenal and more attention must be paid to the effects of CNO activities, particularly CNA and CNE being conducted by our adversaries. Of the many states suspected of conducting active CNO activities against the United States and other nations, none warrants more attention than North Korea. This thesis presents the development of methodology using information available from open sources. This work is intended to prove that a useful methodology for assessing the CNO capabilities and limitations of North Korea can be developed using only open source information. / Lieutenant, United States Navy

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / This thesis argues that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia- Peopleâ s Army (FARC-EP), Latin Americaâ s oldest and most powerful guerrilla organization, has not abandoned its ideological beliefs and devolved into a criminal enterprise as a result of its immersion in the drug trade and participation in other illicit activities. Rather, the movement remains an ideologically committed, guerrilla insurgency whose strategic objectives include the defeat of the Colombian military, the toppling of the central government, and the establishment of a regime founded on Marxist-Leninist and â Bolivarianâ principles. While recognizing the important role that resources earned from criminal activities have played in strengthening the FARC-EPâ s challenge to the government, this thesis argues that the guerrilla organizationâ s involvement in the drug trade serves exclusively as a means to an end. However, numerous factors including recent changes in leadership, the recruitment of non-ideologically motivated and poorly educated fighters, and the increased operations tempo have led to the weakening of the ideological commitment of the base. Consequently, many of the FARC-EPâ s newer recruits are poorly educated in the political goals of the insurgency. This, combined with the weakening of the organizationâ s leadership could result in the devolution of the FARC-EP into several criminal enterprises. / Outstanding Thesis

This thesis discusses two emerging technologies and how their integration with UAVs can improve the situational awareness capability of the Expeditionary Strike Group. Shotspotter is an acoustic gunshot detection system and Cursor on Target is an XML based schema to enhance information exchanges. When integrated with UAVs, these two technologies will drastically improve an ESG's efficiency and lethality in combat.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the issue of political violence expressed via mass destruction has raised security concerns to an unprecedented degree not seen since the end of the Cold War. As a principal adversary, the Soviet Union has been replaced by terror networks applying asymmetric warfare to achieve politically charged or ideologically driven objectives. A scenario whereby non-state actors would acquire a nuclear capability not only threatens the security of the United States, but would destabilize the Westphalian notion of the primacy of nation-states within the international system. Despite U.S. expenditures of over $86 million to help nearly 30 countries worldwide in preventing the smuggling of weapons-useable radiological materials, over 20 known cases of such activity were reported between 1992 and 2001. Previous research has concentrated on a singularly defined threat: The Rogue State. Today's challenges are characterized by more defused, decentralized networks, to include transnational actors with the potential to proliferate and supply terrorists with a nuclear weapon or weapons-grade radiological material. This thesis examines the applicability of traditional Cold War strategies such as deterrence, pre-emption, prevention, and coercive diplomacy in the present context, to deny extremist groups and associated networks the means to buy, steal, or make nuclear and radiological weapons. This thesis proposes a multi-dimensional approach in support of mixed-strategies for winning the race against nuclear terror. The author contends that terrorist groups cannot acquire nuclear or radiological technology without the witting or unwitting support of state actors.

Current U.S. Navy Special Warfare and submarine concepts of operations (CONOPS) dictate that in-situ environmental data collection is limited or not possible. Therefore, predicted data from operational models, such as the Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS), are essential to estimate the impacts of environmental conditions on the detection of enemy targets and counter-detection by radar and optical sensors. This study compares the use of high-resolution COAMPS data and in-situ shipboard and rawinsonde measurements for detection prediction purposes. The evaluation is based on data from Fleet Exercise SILENT HAMMER conducted off the Southern California coast near San Clemente Island in October 2004. An instrumented vessel was used for continuous surface layer data collection and frequent rawinsonde launches. COAMPS meteorological predictions were obtained at 3- and 9-km resolutions. The shipboard and COAMPS data provided refractivity profiles that were then used with propagation models within the BUILDER and AREPS graphical user interfaces to obtain signal-to-noise and propagation loss versus range diagrams. An increase in the horizontal resolution of COAMPS from 9 to 3 km did not significantly improve the prediction of meteorological variables within the lower marine boundary layer. However, counter-intuitively, the higher resolution did slightly improve detection range estimates.