Military science is the study of military processes, institutions, and behavior, along with the study of warfare, and the theory and application of organized coercive force.[1] It is mainly focused ontheory, method, and practice of producingmilitary capability in a manner consistent withnational defense policy. Military science serves to identify thestrategic,political,economic,psychological,social,operational,technological, andtactical elements necessary to sustain relative advantage ofmilitary force; and to increase the likelihood and favorable outcomes ofvictory in peace or during a war. Military scientists include theorists, researchers, experimental scientists, applied scientists, designers, engineers, test technicians, and othermilitary personnel.
In military history, military science had been used during the period ofIndustrial Revolution as a general term to refer to all matters of military theory and technology application as a singleacademic discipline, including that of the deployment and employment of troops in peacetime or in battle.
Class in telephony: enlisted men, U. S. Army. The telephone in modern warfare has robbed battle of much of its picturesqueness, romance, and glamor; as the dashingdispatch rider on his foam-flecked steed is antiquated. A message sent by telephone annihilates space and time, whereas the dispatch rider would, in most cases, be annihilated byshrapnel. Published 1917.
Even until the Second World War, military science was written in English starting with capital letters, and was thought of as an academic discipline alongside physics, philosophy and the medical sciences. In part this was due to the general mystique that accompanied education in a world where, as late as the 1880s, 75% of the European population was illiterate.[citation needed] The ability by the officers to make complex calculations required for the equally complex "evolutions" of the troop movements in linear warfare that increasingly dominated theRenaissance and later history, and the introduction of the gunpowder weapons into the equation of warfare only added to the veritable arcana of building fortifications as it seemed to the average individual.
Until the early 19th century, one observer, a British veteran of theNapoleonic Wars, Major John Mitchell, thought that it seemed nothing much had changed from the application of force on a battlefield since the days of the Greeks.[2] He suggested that this was primarily so because asClausewitz suggested, "unlike in any other science or art, in war the object reacts".[2]
Until this time, and even after theFranco-Prussian War, military science continued to be divided between the formal thinking of officers brought up in the "shadow" of the Napoleonic Wars and younger officers likeArdant du Picq who tended to view fighting performance as rooted in the individual's andgroup psychology[3] and suggested detailed analysis of this. This set in motion the eventual fascination of the military organisations with application of quantitative and qualitative research to their theories of combat; the attempt to translate military thinking as philosophic concepts into concrete methods of combat.
Military implements, the supply of an army, its organization, tactics, and discipline, have constituted the elements of military science in all ages; but improvement in weapons and accoutrements appears to lead and control all the rest.[4]
The military science on which the model of German combat operations was built for the First World War remained largely unaltered from the Napoleonic model, but took into the consideration the vast improvements in thefirepower and the ability to conduct "great battles of annihilation" through rapidconcentration of force,strategic mobility, and the maintenance of thestrategic offensive[8] better known as theCult of the offensive. The key to this, and other modes of thinking about war, remained analysis ofmilitary history and attempts to derive tangible lessons that could be replicated again with equal success on another battlefield as a sort of bloody laboratory of military science. Few were bloodier than the fields of theWestern Front between 1914 and 1918. The person who probably understood Clausewitz better than most,Marshal Foch, initially participated in events that nearly destroyed theFrench Army.[9]
It is not, however, true to say that military theorists and commanders were suffering from some collective case of stupidity. Their analysis of military history convinced them that decisive and aggressive strategic offensive was the onlydoctrine of victory, and feared that overemphasis of firepower, and the resultant dependence onentrenchment would make this all but impossible, and leading to the battlefield stagnant in advantages of the defensive position, destroying troopmorale and willingness to fight.[10] Because only the offensive could bring victory, lack of it, and not the firepower, was blamed for the defeat of theImperial Russian Army in theRusso-Japanese War. Foch thought that "In strategy as well as in tactics one attacks".[11]
In many ways military science was born as a result of the experiences of the Great War. "Military implements" had changed armies beyond recognition withcavalry to virtually disappear in the next 20 years. The "supply of an army" would become a science oflogistics in the wake of massive armies, operations and troops that could fire ammunition faster than it could be produced, for the first time using vehicles that used thecombustion engine, a watershed of change.[12] Military "organisation" would no longer be that of the linear warfare, but assault teams, and battalions that were becoming multi-skilled with the introduction ofmachine guns andmortars and, for the first time, forcing military commanders to think not only in terms of rank and file, butforce structure.
Tactics changed, too, with infantry for the first time segregated from the horse-mounted troops, and required to cooperate withtanks,aircraft and newartillery tactics. Perception ofmilitary discipline, too, had changed. Morale, despite strict disciplinarian attitudes, had cracked in all armies during the war, but the best-performing troops were found to be those where emphasis on discipline had been replaced with display of personal initiative and group cohesiveness such as that found in theAustralian Corps during theHundred Days Offensive. The military sciences' analysis of military history that had failed European commanders was about to give way to a new military science, less conspicuous in appearance, but more aligned to the processes ofscience of testing and experimentation, thescientific method, and forever "wed" to the idea of the superiority of technology on the battlefield.
Currently military science still means many things to different organisations. In the United Kingdom and much of the European Union the approach is to relate it closely to the civilian application and understanding. For example, in Belgium'sRoyal Military Academy, military science remains an academic discipline, and is studied alongside social sciences, including such subjects ashumanitarian law. The United States Department of Defense defines military science in terms of specific systems and operational requirements, and include among other areascivil defense and force structure.
In the first instance military science is concerned with who will participate in military operations, and what sets of skills and knowledge they will require to do so effectively and somewhat ingeniously.
Develops optimal methods for the administration and organization of military units, as well as the military as a whole. In addition, this area studies other associated aspects as mobilization/demobilization, and military government for areas recently conquered (or liberated) from enemy control.
Force structuring is the method by which personnel and the weapons and equipment they use are organized and trained for military operations, including combat. Development of force structure in any country is based on strategic, operational, and tactical needs of thenational defense policy, the identified threats to the country, and the technological capabilities of the threats and the armed forces.
Force structure development is guided by doctrinal considerations of strategic, operational and tactical deployment and employment of formations and units to territories, areas and zones where they are expected to perform their missions and tasks. Force structuring applies to allarmed services, but not to their supporting organisations such as those used for defense science research activities.
In the United States force structure is guided by thetable of organization and equipment (TOE or TO&E). The TOE is a document published by the U.S. Department of Defense which prescribes the organization, manning, and equipage of units from divisional size and down, but also including the headquarters of corps and armies.
Force structuring also provides information on the mission and capabilities of specific units, as well as the unit's current status in terms of posture and readiness. A general TOE is applicable to a type of unit (for instance, infantry) rather than a specific unit (the 3rd Infantry Division). In this way, all units of the same branch (such as infantry) follow the same structural guidelines which allows for more efficient financing, training, and employment of like units operationally.
Studies themethodology and practices involved in training soldiers, NCOs (non-commissioned officers, i.e. sergeants and corporals), and officers. It also extends this to training small and large units, both individually and in concert with one another for both the regular and reserve organizations. Military training, especially for officers, also concerns itself with general education and political indoctrination of the armed forces.
Much of capability development depends on the concepts which guideuse of the armed forces and their weapons and equipment, and the methods employed in any giventheatre of war or combat environment.
Military activity has been a constant process over thousands of years, and the essential tactics, strategy, and goals of military operations have been unchanging throughout history. As an example, one notable maneuver is thedouble envelopment, considered to be the consummate military maneuver, notably executed byHannibal at theBattle of Cannae in 216 BCE, and later byKhalid ibn al-Walid at theBattle of Walaja in 633 CE.
Via the study of history, the military seeks to avoid past mistakes, and improve upon its current performance by instilling an ability in commanders to perceive historical parallels during battle, so as to capitalize on the lessons learned. The main areas military history includes are the history of wars, battles, and combats, history of the military art, and history of each specific military service.
Military strategy is in many ways the centerpiece of military science. It studies the specifics of planning for, and engaging in combat, and attempts to reduce the many factors to a set of principles that govern all interactions of the field of battle. In Europe these principles were first defined by Clausewitz in hisPrinciples of War. As such, it directs the planning and execution of battles, operations, and wars as a whole. Two major systems prevail on the planet today. Broadly speaking, these may be described as the "Western" system, and the "Russian" system. Each system reflects and supports strengths and weakness in the underlying society.
Modern Western military art is composed primarily of an amalgam of French, German, British, and American systems. The Russian system borrows from these systems as well, either through study, or personal observation in the form of invasion (Napoleon's War of 1812, andThe Great Patriotic War), and form a unique product suited for the conditions practitioners of this system will encounter. The system that is produced by the analysis provided by military art is known as doctrine.
Western military doctrine relies heavily on technology, the use of a well-trained and empowered NCO cadre, and superior information processing and dissemination to provide a level of battlefield awareness that opponents cannot match. Its advantages are extreme flexibility, extreme lethality, and a focus on removing an opponent'sC3I (command, communications, control, and intelligence) to paralyze and incapacitate rather than destroying their combat power directly (hopefully saving lives in the process). Its drawbacks are high expense, a reliance on difficult-to-replace personnel, an enormous logistic train, and a difficulty in operating without high technology assets if depleted or destroyed.
Soviet military doctrine (and its descendants, inCIS countries) relies heavily on masses of machinery and troops, a highly educated (albeit very small) officer corps, and pre-planned missions. Its advantages are that it does not require well educated troops, does not require a large logistic train, is under tight central control, and does not rely on a sophisticated C3I system after the initiation of a course of action. Its disadvantages are inflexibility, a reliance on the shock effect of mass (with a resulting high cost in lives and material), and overall inability to exploit unexpected success or respond to unexpected loss.
Chinese military doctrine is currently in a state of flux as thePeople's Liberation Army is evaluating military trends of relevance to China. Chinese military doctrine is influenced by a number of sources including an indigenous classical military tradition characterized by strategists such asSun Tzu, Western and Soviet influences, as well as indigenous modern strategists such asMao Zedong. One distinctive characteristic of Chinese military science is that it places emphasis on the relationship between the military and society as well as viewing military force as merely one part of an overarchinggrand strategy.
Each system trains its officer corps in its philosophy regarding military art. The differences in content and emphasis are illustrative. TheUnited States Army principles of war are defined in the U.S. ArmyField Manual FM 100–5. TheCanadian Forces principles of war/military science are defined by Land Forces Doctrine and Training System (LFDTS) to focus onprinciples of command,principles of war,operational art and campaign planning, andscientific principles.
Russian Federation armed forces derive theirprinciples of war predominantly from those developed during the existence of the Soviet Union. These, although based significantly on theSecond World War experience in conventional war fighting, have been substantially modified since the introduction of the nuclear arms into strategic considerations. TheSoviet–Afghan War and theFirst andSecond Chechen Wars further modified the principles that Soviet theorists had divided into the operational art and tactics. The very scientific approach to military science thinking in the Soviet union had been perceived as overly rigid at thetactical level, and had affected the training in the Russian Federation's much reduced forces to instil greater professionalism and initiative in the forces.
The militaryprinciples of war of the People's Liberation Army were loosely based on those of the Soviet Union until the 1980s when a significant shift begun to be seen in a more regionally-aware, and geographically-specific strategic, operational and tactical thinking in all services. The PLA is currently influenced by three doctrinal schools which both conflict and complement each other: the People's war, the Regional war, and the Revolution in military affairs that led to substantial increase in the defense spending and rate of technological modernisation of the forces.
The differences in the specifics of military art notwithstanding, military science strives to provide an integrated picture of the chaos of battle, and illuminate basic insights that apply to all combatants, not just those who agree with your formulation of the principles.
Military geography encompasses much more than simple protestations to take the high ground. Military geography studies the obvious, the geography of theatres of war, but also the additional characteristics of politics, economics, and other natural features of locations of likely conflict (the political "landscape", for example). As an example, theSoviet–Afghan War was predicated on the ability of the Soviet Union to not only successfully invade Afghanistan, but also to militarily and politically flank theIslamic Republic of Iran simultaneously.
How effectively and efficiently militaries accomplish their operations, missions and tasks is closely related not only to the methods they use, but the equipment and weapons they use.
Military intelligence supports thecombat commanders'decision making process by providingintelligence analysis ofavailable data from a wide range of sources. To provide that informed analysis the commanders information requirements are identified and input to a process of gathering, analysis, protection, and dissemination of information about the operational environment, hostile, friendly and neutral forces and the civilian population in an area of combat operations, and broader area of interest. Intelligence activities are conducted at all levels from tactical to strategic, in peacetime, the period of transition to war, and during the war.
Most militaries maintain a military intelligence capability to provide analytical and information collection personnel in both specialist units and from other arms and services. Personnel selected for intelligence duties, whether specialistintelligence officers and enlisted soldiers or non-specialist assigned to intelligence may be selected for their analytical abilities and intelligence before receiving formal training.
Military intelligence serves to identify the threat, and provide information on understanding best methods and weapons to use in deterring or defeating it.
The art and science of planning and carrying out the movement and maintenance of military forces. In its most comprehensive sense, it is those aspects or military operations that deal with the design, development, acquisition, storage, distribution, maintenance, evacuation, and disposition of material; the movement, evacuation, and hospitalization of personnel; the acquisition or construction, maintenance, operation, and disposition of facilities; and the acquisition or furnishing of services.
Military technology is not just the study of various technologies and applicable physical sciences used to increase military power. It may also extend to the study of production methods of military equipment, and ways to improve performance and reduce material and/or technological requirements for its production. An example is the effort expended byNazi Germany to produce artificial rubbers and fuels to reduce or eliminate their dependence on imported POL (petroleum, oil, and lubricants) and rubber supplies.
Military technology is unique only in its application, not in its use of basic scientific and technological achievements. Because of the uniqueness of use, military technological studies strive to incorporate evolutionary, as well as the rare revolutionary technologies, into their proper place of military application.
This speciality examines the ways that military and society interact and shape each other. The dynamic intersection where military and society meet is influenced by trends in society and the security environment.[13] This field of study can be linked to works by Clausewitz ("War is the continuation of politics by other means"[14]) and Sun Tzu ("If not in the interest of the state, do not act"[15]). The contemporary multi and interdisciplinary field traces its origin to World War II and works by sociologists and political scientists.[13] This field of study includes "all aspects of relations between armed forces, as a political, social and economic institution, and the society, state or political ethnic movement of which they are a part".[16] Topics often included within the purview of military and society include: veterans, women in the military, military families, enlistment and retention, reserve forces, military and religion,[17] military privatization,civil-military relations,[18] civil-military cooperation, military and popular culture, military and the media, military and disaster assistance, military and the environment and the blurring of military and police functions.
In an all-volunteer military, the armed forces relies on market forces and careful recruiting to fill its ranks. It is thus, very important to understand factors that motivate enlistment and reenlistment. Service members must have the mental and physical ability to meet the challenges of military service and adapt to the military's values and culture.[13] Studies show that enlistment motivation generally incorporates both self-interest (pay) and non-market values like adventure, patriotism, and comradeship.[19][20][21]
The study of veterans or members of the military who leave and return to the society is one of the most important subfields of the military and society field of study. Veterans and their issues represent a microcosm of the field. Military recruits represent inputs that flow from the community into the armed forces, veterans are outputs that leave the military and reenter society changed by their time as soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen. Both society and veteran face multiple layers of adaptation and adjustment upon their reentry.[22][23]
The definition of veteran is surprisingly fluid across countries. In the US, veteran's status is established after a service member has completed a minimum period of service. Australia requires deployment to a combat zone.[24] In the UK "Everyone who has performed military service for at least one day and drawn a day's pay is termed a veteran."[25] The study of veterans focuses much attention on their, sometimes, uneasy transition back to civilian society. "Veterans must navigate a complex cultural transition when moving between environments," and they can expect positive and negative transition outcomes.[26] Finding a good job and reestablishing a fulfilling family life is high on their resettlement agenda.[27]
Military life is often violent and dangerous. The trauma of combat often results in post-traumatic stress disorder as well as painful physical health challenges[28] which often lead tohomelessness,suicide,substance, andexcessive alcohol use, and family dysfunction.[29][30] Society recognizes its responsibilities to veterans by offering programs and policies designed to redress these problems. Veterans also exert an influence on society often through the political process.[31][32] For example, how do veterans vote and establish party affiliation? During the 2004 presidential election veterans were basically bipartisan.[33] Veterans who fought in Croatia's war of independence voted for the nationalist parties in greater numbers.[34]
Reserve forces are service members who serve the armed forces on a part-time basis. These men and women constitute a "reserve" force that countries rely on for their defense, disaster support, and some day-to-day operations etc. In the United States an active reservist spends a weekend a month and two weeks a year in training. The size of a county's reserve force often depends on the type of recruitment method. Nations with a volunteer force tend to have a lower reserve percentage.[35]
Recently the role of the reserves has changed. In many countries it has gone from a strategic force, largely static, to an operational force, largely dynamic.[35] After WWII, relatively large standing forces took care of most operational needs. Reserves were held back strategically and deployed in times of emergency for example during the Cuban missile crisis.[36] Subsequently, the strategic and budget situation changed and as a result the active duty military began to rely on reserve force, particularly for combat support and combat service support.[37] Further large-scale military operation, routinely mobilize and deploy reservists[38]
Lomsky-Feder et al (2008p. 594) introduced the metaphor of reserve forces astransmigrants who live "betwixt and between the civilian and military worlds".[39] This metaphor captures "their structural duality" and suggests dynamic nature of reservist experience as they navigate commitments to their often conflicting civilian and military worlds.[40][41] Given their greater likelihood of lengthy deployment, reservists face many of the same stresses as active duty but often with fewer support services.[42]
There are many international associations with the core purpose of bringing scholars in the field of Military Science together. Some are inter-disciplinary and have a broad scope, whilst others are confined and specialized focusing on more specific disciplines or subjects. Some are integrated in larger scientific communities like theInternational Sociological Association (ISA) and theAmerican Psychological Association (APA) where others have grown out of military institutions or individuals who have had a particular interest in areas of military science and are military, defense or armed forces oriented. Some of these associations are:
^abcShields, Patricia M. (2020), Sookermany, Anders (ed.), "Dynamic Intersection of Military and Society",Handbook of Military Sciences, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–23,doi:10.1007/978-3-030-02866-4_31-1,ISBN978-3-030-02866-4
^Clausewitz, C. V. (1984).On War (trans. and ed.: Howard, M., & Paret, P.). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
^Forster, A. (2005). Armed forces and society in Europe. p. 9. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
^Levy Y. (2020) Military and Religion. In: Sookermany A. (eds) Handbook of Military Sciences. Springer, Chamdoi:10.1007/978-3-030-02866-4_32-1
^Pion-Berlin D., Dudley D. (2020) Civil-Military Relations: What Is the State of the Field. In: Sookermany A. (eds) Handbook of Military Sciences. Springer, Chamdoi:10.1007/978-3-030-02866-4_37-1
^Eighmey, J. (2006). Why do youth enlist?: Identification of underlying themes. Armed Forces & Society, 32(2), 307–328.
^Bury, P. (2017). Recruitment and retention in British Army reserve logistics units.Armed Forces & Society, 43(4), 608–631.
^Griffith, J. (2008). Institutional motives for serving in the U.S. Army National Guard: Implications for recruitment, retention, and readiness.Armed Forces & Society, 34(2), 230–258.
^Kohen, A. I., & Shields, P. M. (1980). Reaping the spoils of defeat: Labor market experiences of Vietnam-era veterans.Strangers at home: Vietnam veterans since the War, 181-211.
^Burdett, H., Woodhead, C., Iversen, A. C., Wessely, S., Dandeker, C., & Fear, N. T. (2013). "Are you a veteran?" understanding of the term "veteran" among UK ex-service personnel: A research note.Armed Forces & Society, 39(4), 751–759.
^Dandeker, C., Wessely, S., Iversen, A., & Ross, J. (2006). What's in a name? Defining and caring for "veterans": The United Kingdom in international perspective.Armed Forces & Society, 32(2), p. 163.
^Cooper, L., Caddick, N., Godier, L., Cooper, A., & Fossey, M. (2018). Transition from the military into civilian life: An exploration of cultural competence. Armed Forces & Society, 44(1), p. 156
^Hinojosa, R., Hinojosa, M. S., & Nguyen, J. (2019). Military service and physical capital: Framing musculoskeletal disorders among American military veterans usingPierre Bourdieu's theory ofcultural capital.Armed Forces & Society, 45(2), 268–290
^Wolfe-Clark, A. L., & Bryan, C. J. (2017). Integrating two theoretical models to understand and prevent military and veteran suicide. Armed Forces & Society, 43(3), 478–499.
^Griffith, J. (2010). Citizens coping as soldiers: A review of postdeployment stress symptoms among deployed reservists.Military Psychology, 22, 176–206
^Griffith, J. (2020). Community service and voting among veterans and nonveterans using a national sample of college undergraduates.Armed Forces and Society, 46(2), 323–341.
^Inbody, D. S. (2016). The soldier vote: War, politics, and the ballot in America. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
^Teigen, J. M. (2007). Veterans' party identification, candidate affect, and vote choice in the 2004 U.S. presidential election.Armed Forces & Society, 33(3), 414–437.
^abGriffith, James; Connelly, Vince; Catignani, Sergio; Johansson, Eva (2020), Sookermany, Anders (ed.), "Reservists and Veterans: Viewed from Within and Without",Handbook of Military Sciences, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–26,doi:10.1007/978-3-030-02866-4_34-1,ISBN978-3-030-02866-4
^Drew, N. S. (1999). NSC-68: Forging the strategy of containment. Washington, DC: National Defense University Press, NSC-20/4, Sec. 21 (a), 31.
^Carafano, J. J. (2005). Total Force and the Abrams doctrine: Unfulfilled promise, uncertain future. Philadelphia: Foreign Policy Research Institute.
^Whitlock, J. E. (2006). How to make army force generation work for the Army Reserve component. Carlisle Barracks: Strategic Studies Institute, Army War College
^Lomsky-Feder, E., Gazit, N., & Ben-Ari, E. (2008). Reserve soldiers as transmigrants: Moving between the civilian and military worlds.Armed Forces & Society, 34(4), p. 594.
^Lomsky-Feder, E., Gazit, N., & Ben-Ari, E. (2008). Reserve soldiers as transmigrants: Moving between the civilian and military worlds.Armed Forces & Society, 34(4), 593–614.
^Griffith, J. (2019). Family readiness groups: Helping deployed Army National Guard soldiers and their families.Journal of Community Psychology, 48(3), 804–817.
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Muehlbauer, Matthew S., and David J. Ulbrich, eds.The Routledge History of Global War and Society (2018)[1]
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