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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Military life & institutions > General
One of the brightest Canadian scientists of his generation, Omond
McKillop Solandt was a physiologist by training, an engineer by
disposition, and a manager by necessity. A protege of insulin's
co-discoverer, Charles Best, Solandt worked as a scientist for the
British government during the Second World War, including as a
pioneer of operational research and a manager of scientific
establishments. Ending the war as a colonel, he served on the
British Mission to Japan, where he studied the effects of the
atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, before returning to Canada
to become chairman of the newly created Defence Research Board.
There he spearheaded Canada's attempt to create a new and
innovative government science infrastructure that served the needs
of the Canadian military at the dawn of the nuclear age and worked
alongside allies in Britain and the United States. In Maestro of
Science, Jason S. Ridler draws on interviews with Solandt and his
colleagues and declassified records from Canada and the United
Kingdom to paint a vivid picture of the influence and achievements
of a Canadian leader in Cold War military research.
For the past decade, suicidal behavior in military and veteran
populations has been a constant feature in the news and in the
media, with suicide rates among active duty American military
personnel reaching their highest level in almost three decades.
Handbook of Military and Veteran Suicide reviews the most advanced
scientific understanding of the phenomenon of active duty and
veteran suicide, while providing a useful, hands-on clinical guide
for those working with this population. This comprehensive Handbook
covers all relevant topics and current research in suicide in
military and veteran populations, including links between suicide
and PTSD, the stigma of mental health treatment in the military,
screening for firearms access in military and veteran populations,
"subintentioned" suicide (e.g. reckless driving and other such
"accidental" deaths), women in combat, and working with families.
Chapters also cover suicide risk assessment, ethical issues in
treating suicidal patients, evidence-based treatments for PTSD,
traumatic brain injury, and managing suicide in older veterans.
Significant issues that may arise in assessing and treating
military and veteran populations who are at risk for suicide are
presented and discussed with evidence-based and practical
recommendations. This Handbook will benefit researchers, policy
makers, and clinicians who work with active duty military and
veteran populations.
Over the past decade, states and international organizations have
shifted a surprising range of foreign policy functions to private
contractors. But who is accountable when the employees of foreign
private firms do violence or create harm? This timely book
describes the services that are now delivered by private
contractors and the threat this trend poses to core public values
of human rights, democratic accountability, and transparency. The
author offers a series of concrete reforms that are necessary to
expand traditional legal accountability, construct better
mechanisms of public participation, and alter the organizational
structure and institutional culture of contractor firms. The result
is a pragmatic, nuanced, and comprehensive set of responses to the
problem of foreign affairs privatization.
Is today's All-Volunteer Force still "This Man's Army"?
In a nation that has seen the rise of feminism, the decline of
blue-collar employment, military defeat in Vietnam, and a general
upheaval of traditional gender norms, what kind of man is today's
military man? What kind does the military want him to be?
In Enlisting Masculinity, Melissa Brown asks whether appeals to and
constructions of masculinity remain the underlying basis of
military recruiting-and if so, what that notion of masculinity
actually is. Are the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines courting
warriors or breadwinners; patriots or pragmatists; dominant masters
of technology, or strong yet compassionate masters of themselves?
Is each military branch recruiting the same model of masculinity?
Based on an analysis of more than 300 print advertisements
published between the early 1970s and 2007, as well as television
commercials, recruiting websites, and media coverage of recruiting,
Enlisting Masculinity argues that masculinity is still a foundation
of the appeals made by the military, but that each branch deploys
various constructions of masculinity that serve its particular
personnel needs and culture, with conventional martial masculinity
being only one among them. The inclusion of a few token women in
recruiting advertisements has become routine, but the
representations of service make it clear that men are the primary
audience and combat their exclusive domain. Each branch constructs
soldiering upon a slightly different foundation of masculine ideals
and Brown delves into why, how, and what that looks like.
The military is an important site for the creation and propagation
of ideas of masculinity in American culture, and it is often not
given the attention that it warrants as a nexus of gender and
citizenship. Although most Americans believe they can ignore the
military in the era of the all-volunteer force, when it comes to
popular culture and ideas about gender, the military is not a thing
apart from society. Building a fighting force, Brown shows, also
means constructing a gender. Enlisting Masculinity gives us a
unique and important perspective on both military service and
prevailing conceptions of masculinity in America.
Based largely on Civil War veterans' own words, this book documents
how many of these men survived the extraordinary horrors and
hardships of war with surprising resilience and went on to become
productive members of their communities in their post-war lives.
Nothing transforms "dry, boring history" into fascinating and
engaging stories like learning about long-ago events through the
words of those who lived them. What was it like to witness-and
participate in-the horrors of a war that lasted four years and
claimed over half a million lives, and then emerge as a survivor
into a drastically changed world? Veterans North and South: The
Transition from Soldier to Civilian after the American Civil War
takes readers back to this unimaginable time through the words of
Civil War soldiers who fought on both sides, illuminating their
profound, life-changing experiences during the war and in the
postbellum period. The book covers the period from the surrender of
the armies of the Confederacy to the return of the veterans to
their homes. It follows them through their readjustment to civilian
life and to family life while addressing their ability-and in some
cases, inability-to become productive members of society. By
surveying Civil War veterans' individual stories, readers will gain
an in-depth understanding of these soldiers' sacrifices and
comprehend how these discrete experiences coalesced to form
America's memory of this war as a nation. Documents how Civil War
veterans' combat experience changed them in ways that allowed them
to become productive members of their communities and leaders in
their sections-a largely overlooked "benefit" to the war Identifies
overarching trends among veterans' experiences while also
underscoring how varied Civil War soldiers' experiences were,
depending on which side they fought for, where they fought, and
their socioeconomic status
The period 1902-1914 was one of great change for the British army.
The experience of the South African War (1899-1902) had been a
profound shock and it led to a period of intense introspection in
order to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the force. As a
result of a series of investigations and government-led
reorganisation, the army embarked on a series of reforms to improve
its recruitment, standards of professionalism, training, and
preparation for war. Until now many of the studies covering this
period have tended to look at the army in a top-down manner, and
have often concluded that the reform process was extremely
beneficial to the army leading it to be the most efficient force in
Europe by the outbreak of war in 1914. Bowman and Connelly take a
different approach. The Edwardian Army takes a bottom-up
perspective and examines the many difficulties the army experienced
trying to incorporate the reforms demanded by government and the
army's high command. It reveals that although many good ideas were
devised, the severely overstretched army was never in a position to
act on them and that few regimental officers had the opportunity,
or even the desire, to change their approach. Unable to shake-off
the feeling that the army's primary purpose was to garrison and
police the British Empire, it was by no means as well prepared for
European continental warfare as many have presumed.
Drawing upon a survey of former police officers in the six British
colonies of Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, and Malawi,
Clayton and Killingray examine the work of colonial law enforcement
during the last years of British supremacy. In addition to such
basic institutional information as the development of police forces
from local militia, the training of African recruits, and the
africanization of the police forces, the authors examine the
typical activities of the colonial police. From investigations of
stabbings and theft, to deportation of prostitutes and concern with
smuggling, to enforcement of unpopular policies, the authors offer
a profile not only of the institution of colonial law enforcement
but also of the daily life of the village and the business
activities which brought people into contact with the police.
The belief that crime declines at the beginning of major wars, as
young men are drawn into the armed forces, and increases with the
restoration of peace, as brutalised veterans are released on to a
labour market reorganising for peace, has a long pedigree in
Britain. But it has rarely been examined critically and scarcely at
all for the period of the two world wars of the twentieth century.
This is the first serious investigation of criminal offending by
members of the British armed forces both during and immediately
after these wars. Its particular focus is the two world wars but,
recognising the concerns and the problems voiced in recent years
about veterans of the Falklands, the Gulf wars, and the campaign in
Afghanistan, Clive Emsley concludes his narrative in the present.
From the initial enlistment and recruitment of men for the opposing
armies, through their demobilization during the spring, summer, and
fall of 1865, Paul A. Cimbala always places the solider at the
center of the story. This book shows how the men who signed up with
the Union and the Confederacy fought their way through the bloody
U.S. fields, how they adjusted to peace (often badly wounded and
scarred), and how they remembered their experiences. How did they
cope with wounds and disease in the 1860s? What was the role of
black soldiers on both the Union and Confederate sides? In wartime
politics, why and how did soldiers continue to participate in the
electoral process and what did they think about their politicians?
Relying on his primary research on such topics as invalid soldiers
and postwar experiences, Cimbala presents a vivid picture of the
Civil War soldier's life. Highlights include: Motivations for men
to enlist, and why blacks and other ethnic groups joined up; the
mental and physical consequences to soldier survivors; drug and
alcohol addiction in the Civil War; women's contributions on both
sides of the war; daily life in the camp, letter writing crazes to
newspapers, camp followers and sex; prisoners' and guards' lives;
the Freedmen's Bureau; veterans, including black veterans; and
organizations, including the Ku Klux Klan. The book also includes a
timeline to put dates and events in better perspective; a
comprehensive, topically arranged bibliography of primary and
secondary sources; and a comprehensive index.
Many extraordinary women traveled west with their Army officer
husbands between 1865 and 1890 and discovered a world that was
completely controlled by the United States Army. The Army as a
public institution colored virtually every aspect of their domestic
lives. Army directives, customs, and traditions imposed social
obligations on these women, and the world of the frontier Army
garrison continually challenged their sense of what it meant to be
"true women." Remarkably, they flourished and established a defined
role for themselves that went beyond the conventional definition of
true womanhood. The shared values, loyalties, and patriotism within
the institutional environment of the frontier garrison transcended
gender. As distinctly masculine as the Army garrison was perceived
to be, the officers' wives shared with their "comrades in arms" an
unequivocal commitment to the Regiment. Because of their presence,
the frontier garrison became a much different place to live, as
they subtly and slowly changed the very nature of the institution
through their efforts to bring some notion of proper society to
these rugged circumstances. Unlike most studies, which focus only
on farm and frontier women, this volume details the experiences of
the women who viewed the world from within garrison walls.
Contractors are big business and a big part of war, with
businesses taking upon themselves many tasks previously designated
to the armed forces. By 2007, there were over 100,000 individuals
working on U.S. contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan-versus about
160,000 U.S. combat troops. By some estimates, contractors account
for some 40 percent of the costs of running operations.
This important work examines how that came to be, as well as
answering a number of critical questions: How have Congress, public
interest groups, and other parties dealt with the issue? How is the
marketplace affecting the American way of war? What impact will
this have on force structure? How will the growing involvement of
the private sector influence such matters as the all-volunteer
force and the procurement and maintenance of advanced warfighting
systems?
The emergent role of contractors on the battlefield reflects a
deeply significant transition in the nature of armed conflict, a
significant rebalancing between the roles of the private and public
sectors. This change is the most significant upheaval in the nature
of warfare since the rise of the nation-state in the 17th century.
It represents a transformation started long before the invasion of
Iraq and, absent a dramatic change in the evolution of the global
marketplace, it will continue to increase, regardless of the course
of American domestic politics. Government will have to change to
keep up.
Understanding why the private sector has come to play such a
prominent role in public wars requires tracing a story as torturous
and, at times, mysterious as the search for the Holy Grail, a tale
filled with deceit, greed, courage, selflessness, stupidity,
misdirection, and myth. It includes following a winding path from
Medieval Tuscan hills, to England, to colonial America, to the
sands of Iwo Jima and of Iraq, the mountains of Afghanistan, the
corridors of Wall Street, and the halls of the Pentagon. It demands
walking through the cross sections of military, political, social,
cultural, economic, intellectual, and business history. At the end
of the journey lies the unvarnished truth about contractors in
combat. That is the story "Private Sector, Public Wars" means to
tell.
"Chaplain Slomovitz has opened the door to a previously
undocumented, untold chapter of the history of the Jews in America.
The Fighting Rabbis should be read with great pride by the Jewish
American community, and with admiration by all others."
--"Vice Admiral Bernard M. Kauderer(Ret.)"
"The Fighting Rabbis surges with true and exciting storeis of
faith and fortitude little known to the American public. How I wish
it were required reading for all military chaplains, and for all
clergy and military leaders who care about God's ministry among our
men and women in the armed services. Rabbi Slomovitz has granted us
a record of great significance."
--"Rear Admiral Donald K. Muchow"
"More than simply the story of Jewish military chaplains in
America, The Fighting Rabbis offers broad contextual material on
the entire scope of Jewish American history. It also shatters two
significant myths about Jews and the American military: that they
did not serve, and that the U.S. Armed Services have always been a
bastion of anti-semitism. A seminal contribution to American
history."
--"John Sherwood, author of Officers in Flight Suits: The Story of
American Air Force Pilots in the Korean War"
"Rabbi Slomovitz, himself a 'Fighting Rabbi, ' honors a
dedicated group of religious military leaders whose accomplishments
have remained untold for too long. The American Jewish community at
large does not fully recognize the sacrifices and services of
Jewish Americans who have gallantly served our country and our
faith. This book should be in every military and synagogue
library."
--"Colonel Jack B. Zimmermann, USMCR (Ret.)"
"Illuminates the significant role that rabbi-chaplains inuniform
have played in promoting the spiritual welfare of members of the
Armed Forces--both Jewish and non-Jewish--ever since the Civil
War."
--"Rabbi David Lapp, Director of Jewish Chaplains Council"
Rabbi Elkan Voorsanger received the Purple Heart for his actions
during the Battle of Argonne. Chaplain Edgar Siskin, serving with
the Marines on Pelilu Island, conducted Yom Kippur services in the
midst of a barrage of artillery fire. Rabbi Alexander Goode and
three fellow chaplains gave their own lifejackets to panicked
soldiers aboard a sinking transport torpedoed by a German
submarine, and then went down with the ship.
American Jews are not usually associated with warfare. Nor, for
that matter, are their rabbis. And yet, Jewish chaplains have
played a significant and sometimes heroic role in our nation's
defense.
The Fighting Rabbis presents the compelling history of Jewish
military chaplains from their first service during the Civil War to
the first female Jewish chaplain and the rabbinic role in Korea,
Vietnam, and Desert Storm. Rabbi Slomovitz, himself a Navy
chaplain, opens a window onto the fieldwork, religious services,
counseling, and dramatic battlefield experiences of Jewish military
chaplains throughout our nation's history.
From George Washington's early support for a religiously
tolerant military to a Seder held in the desert sands of Kuwait,
these rabbis have had a profound impact on Jewish life in America.
Also striking are original documents which chronicle the ongoing
care and concern by the Jewish community over the last 140 years
for their follow Jews, including many new immigrants who entered
the armed forces. Slomovitz refutes the common belief thatthe U.S.
military itself has been a hostile place for Jews, in the process
providing a unique perspective on American religious history.
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