This study treats the character of French nuclear policy since September 11, 2001; as such this work adds the most recent episode to a theme that, since the late-1950s, has concerned alliance statecraft faced with French â exceptionalismâ in trans-Atlantic relations. In the post-Cold War era, the changes in the strategic environment have led to a further evolution in French nuclear deterrent policy which forms the heart of this study. In 2001 and 2006, French President Chirac made policy speeches which specifically discussed nuclear strategy and clarified the shift in French thought and the justification for deterrence. In 2001, the most important element addressed dissuasion of regional powers and â rogueâ states with WMD that may attack France. The 2006 speech incorporated the threat of statesponsored terrorism into the nuclear dissuasion strategy. The thesis investigates past and present developments in French nuclear strategy, with chief emphasis on the period from the end of the Cold War to the beginning of the twenty-first century; it highlights the forces that have shaped French doctrine and analyzes the viability of the nuclear strategy as seen by a U.S. observer. A review of French Cold War doctrine provides the necessary backdrop for an evaluation of new elements in French nuclear strategy and should act as a guide to students of same in U.S. and NATO policy circles.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / In this thesis, we present a Markov-based probability model for a human operated system of aerial hunter-killers attacking time-sensitive targets. We explore the effect of two resources -- time and supply of munitions -- and some cognitive aspects of the human operator on the performance of the system in different operational scenarios. We model the combat mission as a sequence of engagements; each of which includes a classification process, followed by a firing decision, and a shooting process. The model of the classification process addresses possible effects of stress on the operator's behavior and performance. Two shooting tactics are considered. The random shooting tactic, which is memory-less and with no fire control, BDA capability or mission support systems, sets a benchmark for more effective shoot-look-shoot tactic, where resources are utilized more efficiently. The model represents various tactical parameters regarding rules of engagement and various mixes of resources. Applying the model on some real-world scenarios, we identify mixes of resources and tactical engagement rules that enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the combat mission. / Outstanding Thesis

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / The concepts of DoD information operations and network centric warfare are still in their infancy. In order to develop concepts, the right conceptual models need to be developed from which to design and implement these concepts. Information operations and network centric warfare are fundamentally based on trust decisions. However, the key to developing these concepts is for DoD to develop the organizational framework from which trust, inside and outside, of an organization may be achieved and used to its advantage. In this thesis, an organizational model is submitted for review to be applied to DoD information systems and operational organizations. / Outstanding Thesis / Lieutenant, United States Navy

CHDS State/Local / The War on Terror, as the outcome of the al Qaeda attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, promises to be the effort of a generation. If it is to win, the United States must approach it in a manner reminiscent of successes in past wars: with clearly defined and obtainable national objectives, and a unified national strategy to obtain those objectives. In addition, it must establish a clear long-term vision for transforming its efforts and its institutions from the industrial age to the information age as the new domain for waging war. This thesis examines the War on Terror from several perspectives. First, is the strategic context in which the war is being conducted, particularly the issues involved in its prosecution. Second, the Vietnam War and the War on Terror are examined in historical context to determine if the United States is repeating the strategic mistakes that led to its defeat in Vietnam. Third, transformation imperatives are identified which require the Nation to consider what it must do to win the War on Terror while simultaneously preparing for the emergence of greater forms of information age warfare. Finally, an adaptive capabilities-based approach is suggested for the United States to deal with the new strategic reality it faces. / Chief - G3 Military Support Division, First U.S. Army / U.S. Army (USA) author

Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. / This thesis delineates factors affecting the retention decisions of female Surface Warfare Officers. The data were obtained from in-depth interviews conducted with 12 female senior officers and 15 female junior officers. The transcripts from the interviews revealed 19 general themes. Based on the research, the data regarding the decisions that female officers make to either stay in the Navy or leave leads to four broad categories: economic factors, Navy taste factors., leadership factors, and family issues. The most common negative factors influencing female junior officers to leave the Navy are quality of life issues, lack of confidence in senior leadership, and family concerns. The main reasons the female senior officers stayed in the Navy were job satisfaction, their love for being out at sea and ship driving, and their commitment to taking advantage of the opportunities offered to them and forging a path for the women who followed. This thesis concludes with recommendations for further research and policy changes to assist personnel officials in understanding the retention decisions of female Surface Warfare Officers and potentially increasing the retention rate of the female officers. / Lieutenant, United States Navy

This paper examines the evolution of government policy through Congressional debate and citizen involvement on the topic of Agent Orange. Use of primary sources from newspaper and journal articles, Congressional records, scientific studies, and press releases and some secondary literature by scholars from multiple disciplines builds a picture of the ongoing debate of Agent Orange and its two component herbicides from circa 1940 to 1991. Within this paper are four primary focuses, divided into three parts. First, the Congressional discussions prior to 1970 of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, the two herbicides that comprise Agent Orange. Second and third, discussed in the same section, the involvement of the scientific community and the ratification of the Geneva Protocol. Lastly, the movement after the Vietnam War for veteran benefits due to Agent Orange exposure.

In this dissertation, I study a critical transition in the urban development of Tell es-Sweyhat, a large site in Syria occupied from c. 3000-1900 BCE. In the middle of the third millennium, Sweyhat was an open town centered on a fortress. It was ringed with cemeteries and had a ceremonial public building in its outskirts (Sweyhat Period 3). Around 2150 BCE, the settlement experienced a sudden expansion from 15HA to 35-40HA. Sweyhat became a fortified city with a high central ceremonial platform and no formal cemetery (Sweyhat Period 4). The new fortifications combined with increased population density signifies Sweyhat's transition from a town to a regional urban center. In this dissertation, I identify the changes in land use during this transition and examine the accompanying social changes. I focus on several domestic structures excavated along the edge of the Sweyhat 4 Inner City wall, along with the associated artifact inventories, including spinning and weaving equipment, grinding and cooking equipment, and whole ceramic vessels. One adult burial and several infant burials were also uncovered here. Additional soundings reached down into the Sweyhat 3 layers of this neighborhood. I synthesize the data from these excavations alongside architectural remains and artifact assemblages from other excavated areas of the site, to create a narrative of the changes in the site's occupational history and the possible meanings inherent in those changes. The results reveal that the character and location of certain daily and special activities changed, including mourning the dead, grain storage, grinding and cooking activities, and ceremonial activities. The outer town cemeteries were abandoned, possibly in favor of individual household burials. Grain storage, grinding, and cooking activities that had been located in the central storage area moved to the home. The locus of ceremonial activities shifted from the public building in the outer town to a new structure located in the city center. Access to this new structure was limited: it sat atop a high terrace that was accessible only by particular ramps or stairways, in a district at the center of the city's two fortifications. These shifts suggest increased control of formerly accessible public activities and greater attention to individual privacy. These changes were an integral part of Tell es-Sweyhat's transition from open town to walled city.

Desde a década de 1960, a violência entre os Yanomami tem sido um dos mais polêmicos temas de pesquisa para etnologia americanista, inaugurando um debate que abrangeu discussões no âmbito da antropologia ecológica, da sociobiologia e da genética, passando pela arqueologia, os estudos de gênero e a filosofia política. Por meio da análise de dados coletados entre os Yanomami habitantes da Serra das Surucucus (RR/Brasil), pretendo mostrar como seu sistema de agressões relaciona-se às relações de parentesco, à ocupação do espaço e à definição de unidades sociais. As relações entre essas unidades, por sua vez, são enfocadas mediante sua interface com o com os funerais e o universo cosmológico, elementos fundamentais para a delimitação do fenômeno e para a compreensão da dinâmica de aproximação e distanciamento que caracteriza o sistema. / Since the 1960s, violence among the Yanomami has been one of the most polemical research topics in South American Ethnology, giving rise to a debate that has drawn contributions from the areas of ecological anthropology, sociobiology and genetics as well as archaeology, gender studies and political philosophy. Through an analysis of ethnographic data collected among the Yanomami of the Serra das Surucucus (Roraima, Brazil), this thesis demonstrates the ways in which the Yanomami’s system of aggressions relates to their kinship system, their settlement patterns and their definition of social units. The relations between these units, for their part, are analysed through their interface with Yanomami funeral practices and cosmology, fundamental elements in the investigation of the phenomenon of Yanomami aggression and for the understanding of the dynamic of approach and withdrawal that characterizes this system.

In Greek and Latin historical narratives, Roman armies are repeatedly said to destroy enemy communities, both their physical urban spaces and inhabitant populations. Some ancient authors claim that this conduct was characteristic of the Roman way of war, particularly during the period of the Middle Republic. However, this seemingly prevalent feature of Roman warfare remains poorly understood. Ancient descriptions of urban destruction and mass killing are often vague or formulaic, and rarely indicate how or why this violence took place. Although a few modern studies have examined mass violence in antiquity, the destruction of communities is seldom treated as a distinct category of Roman military action, with its own methods and motives. Furthermore, there has been little effort to explore how ancient armies actually destroyed cities or peoples using pre-modern tools. To redress these gaps in the scholarship, this dissertation aims to demonstrate how and why Roman armies destroyed urban spaces and populations. The project first examines descriptions of urban destruction and mass killing in ancient texts, archaeological and art historical evidence of mass violence, and comparative evidence from other historical periods. The second half of the project investigates individual cases in which Roman commanders attacked and destroyed enemy cities or populations. Case studies allow in-depth examinations of individual events, making it possible to situate episodes of mass violence within a larger set of historical circumstances; this approach highlights the specific causal factors that encouraged Roman military leaders to target enemy communities. Using these methods, this dissertation argues that ancient armies employed demolition and mass arson to destroy urban spaces, and killed populations using cold-blooded mass executions or hot-blooded indiscriminate massacres. Although ancient military forces rarely, if ever, razed entire towns or exterminated whole peoples, even partial destruction required an expenditure of time, labor, and resources. Thus the destruction of communities was not the result of haphazard outburst or violent frenzy, but stemmed from the calculated decisions of military and political leaders. This study further argues that Roman commanders destroyed enemy communities instrumentally, to accomplish a range of goals and objectives. While many Roman commanders employed mass violence strategically, as a response to specific military problems, their political, economic, and personal goals could also motivate destruction and mass killing in war.

This dissertation presents the design of a unique prototype chemical agent detector which utilizes an array of polymer coated SAW resonators as the sensor elements. The design's particular embodiment is that of a testing platform for evaluating the utility of constructing a portable chemical agent detector, utilizing commercially available SAW resonators. It involves the consolidation of the sub-systems comprising a large laboratory development system, into a portable enclosure. A combination of design techniques, utilized to achieve an overall balance between the physical dimensions of the system and its detection performance, comprises the unique nature of the overall design of this detection system. Such techniques include; sensor power cycling, individually phase-tunable sensor oscillators, single step down conversion and the locality of the sensor's driving circuitry and sensing chamber. A frequency shift model is developed to characterize the device's response to target analytes. Reported here are the results of the preliminary tests of the detector system and the verifications of the device's operation as per the design requirements. Further, an assay of the system noise is undertaken, and the detector's limit of detection (LOD) is reported. The analytes used in this investigation were simulants of nerve and mustard gas as well as the interferent compound diesel. Among others, the following conclusions are reported: 1) that a mass loading model can adequately describe the frequency shifts of the SAW resonators utilized for sorption sensing; 2) that the quality factor of a polymer coated SAW resonator ultimately determines the noise performance of the driving oscillator; 3) that the lowest usable quality factor for the designed oscillator is 2500; 4) that the implementation of individual phase-tuning networks for each sensor in the sensor array can adequately compensate for phase variations among these sensors, and 5) that commercially available SAW resonators coated with chemo-selective polymers provide a reasonably inexpensive and reliable solution to the detection of chemical warfare agents when incorporated into a miniaturized sensing platform.