American Military Research Articles

Begun, the Drone Wars Have

Abstract Uncrewed aerial systems have been used by the American military for decades, but those have been relatively large and expensive vehicles, often operated by pilots hundreds or thousands of miles away. The war in Ukraine has taken drone warfare to new levels of sophistication and immediacy, with a small military power more than holding its own against a major and supposedly far superior opponent, and with troops in the theater of operation using the UASs to spot for artillery or engage nearby enemy formations directly.

"With a Stroke of a Pen": Executive Order 9981 in American Memory

Abstract: On July 26, 2017, President Donald Trump banned transgender personnel from serving in the military via Twitter. This blow to civil rights did not happen on a random date. Sixty-nine years earlier, President Harry Truman had issued Executive Order 9981 which, according to public memory, ended racial segregation in the American military "with a stroke of a pen." This article takes a closer look at how Truman's federal directive has been remembered and commemorated since its passage. By analyzing newspaper articles and speeches, it reveals the exclusion of Black activism as well as the overemphasis on presidential leadership and resolve.

"With a Stroke of a Pen": Executive Order 9981 in American Memory

Abstract: On July 26, 2017, President Donald Trump banned transgender personnel from serving in the military via Twitter. This blow to civil rights did not happen on a random date. Sixty-nine years earlier, President Harry Truman had issued Executive Order 9981 which, according to public memory, ended racial segregation in the American military "with a stroke of a pen." This article takes a closer look at how Truman's federal directive has been remembered and commemorated since its passage. By analyzing newspaper articles and speeches, it reveals the exclusion of Black activism as well as the overemphasis on presidential leadership and resolve.

Pengendalian Kualitas Untuk Meminimumkan kecacatan Produk Sprocket

PT. XYZ is a company engaged in the manufacturing sector (manufacturing automotive spare parts) with a production process using fine blanking machines and international standard press machines. Based on the data obtained, related to product quality, there are problems that occur during the production process and product results. These problems are related to the level of defects in the production process. From historical production data from July to November 2022, sprocket products contribute the most defective products, both congenital physical defects of the material itself and during the production process such as dakon, scratch, crack/hadan, and burry, which can affect the quality specifications that have been set with a tolerance limit of 0.4%. In general, defective sprocket products can still be reworked, but it takes a long time, so the company will be greatly disadvantaged because production costs will soar. Therefore, based on these problems, the researcher uses the American Military Standard (Mill STD 105D) and American Military Standard (Mill STD 414) methods, which aim to look at aspects of the causes of defects, the level of defects on sprockets, and provide advice to companies on how to minimize sprocket product failure. Based on the results of research conducted on quality control planning using this method, it is known that the results of inspection can be accepted as passing when the number of variable defects is less than 6 pcs in 13 pcs for major defects, while minor defects can be accepted as passing when the number of attribute defects is less than 15 pcs in 200 pcs.

“To Ensure that these Emotions are Passed to the Next Generation”: The Netherlands American Military Cemetery in Margraten as a site of Transatlantic Memory Diplomacy during George W. Bush’s ‘War on Terror’

“To Ensure that these Emotions are Passed to the Next Generation”: The Netherlands American Military Cemetery in Margraten as a site of Transatlantic Memory Diplomacy during George W. Bush’s ‘War on Terror’

The Role of Operational Law in the Development of Military Doctrine

Abstract This article is focused on studying the emergence and evolution of operational law as a support for the planning and conducting of military operations in times of peace and war. Issues regarding its curricular area, differences with international humanitarian law, how it can support the evolution of military doctrine and science are addressed. In this context, I analyse the case of the implementation of operational law in the USA, following the military failure in Vietnam, and its role in the reformation of American military doctrine. Finally, I analyse the new reform of the American military law system, the transition from operational law to national security law, triggered by the multiplication of armed threats and the emergence of new types of military actions and battle spaces (especially hybrid warfare, information warfare and cyber warfare). I also analyse the importance of implementing operational law within the Romanian army and the benefits for the evolution of Romanian military doctrine.

Shaping leadership at the Military University of Land Forces in Wroclaw - recommendations for improving the process

In the previous research, it was determined how leadership competencies are shaped in selected foreign military academies, ie the American Military Academy West Point (USMA) and Theresian Military Academy in Austria (TMA). This article presents the methods and ways of shaping leadership competencies at the Military University of Land Forces in Wroclaw (MULF). The collected data were the basis for comparing the education process of candidates for officers between MULF and selected foreign universities. Thanks to this, areas that can be improved by implementing solutions taken from foreign universities, with the use of certain modifications taking into account the specificity of the Polish Armed Forces, were identified.

Black American History and Culture: Untold, Reframed, Stigmatized and Fetishized to the Point of Global Ethnocide

Purpose: A poetic work of fiction haunts the base of the Statue of Liberty. The act overshadowed the original tribute to the Civil War victory and the Emancipation Proclamation. Abraham Lincoln's praises of the Black American military fell silent. Eurocentrists shrouded centuries of genius and scaled-down Black American mastery. Sagas of barrier-breaking Olympians, military heroes, Wild West pioneers, and inventors ended as forgotten footnotes. Today, countries around the world fetishize Black American history and culture to the point of ethnocide. The real-time case study of Woni Spotts explores the phenomenon. Until ancient traditions evolve with authenticity, global cultures will wither and die. The presented research chronicles over half a millennium of archives. Lists with names, dates, and genealogies seal the Black American legacy in stone.
 Methodology: The presented research for case studies draws from archival data, dated events, news articles, and an interview with Woni Spotts. The case studies generated three lists. Fifty sports and competitions were dated and cataloged. The athletes were analyzed by a genealogist. Forty music and dance genres were cataloged by publishing or recording dates. The artists were analyzed by a genealogist. Copyright infringements were noted. Inventors were researched for U.S. patents. NASA astronauts and inventors were analyzed by a genealogist.
 Findings: The presented research showed centuries of untold, reframed, stigmatized, and fetishized Black American history and culture. In the case studies, foreigners of African descent (Africans, Caribbeans, Central Americans, and South Americans) practiced ethnocidal behavior in concert with European descendants. Prolific abolitionists, patriots, politicians, and inventors were written out of history. Superstar athletes were obstructed or outshined by fictional
 Recommendations: Case studies showed centuries of fragmented narratives created biases and distortions. Black Americans were written out of history, reframed as background characters, stigmatized with skewed statistics, and fetishized globally to the point of ethnocide. The presented research stands as a vital resource for preservationists. Music and dance genre architects were solidified by publishing and recording dates. Athletic events, inventions, and NASA scientists were recorded.

Starch: Faultless Premium Spray Starch

An exhibit at the Museum of the American Military Family provides a springboard from which to investigate spray starch. The exhibit elicits recollections of military ironing as a masculine labor of precision, rather than unskilled feminized work. A starched and ironed uniform signals military conformity and discipline; the illusion of race- and gender-blind meritocracy; and sanitized, honorable warriors. Braiding together the military roots of this Cold War–technology with its cultural history reveals the domestic labor that produces spray starched militarized masculinity. This essay is a part of the Roundtable called “The Housewife’s Secret Arsenal” (henceforth HSA); a collection of eight object-oriented engagements focusing on particular material instantiations of domesticated war. The title of this roundtable is deliberately tongue-in-cheek reminding readers of the many ways that militarisms can be invisible to their users yet persistent in the form of mundane household items that aid in the labor of homemaking. Juxtaposing the deliberately stereotyped “housewife” with the theater of war raises questions about the quiet migration of these objects and technologies from battlefield to kitchen, or bathroom, or garden. Gathered together as an “arsenal,” their uncanny proximity to one another becomes a key critical tool in asking how war comes to find itself at home in our lives.

피진에서 기층언어의 문법적 흔적을 측정하려는 시도 - 뱀부 영어(Bamboo English)에서 볼 수 있는 일본어나 한국어의 영향 -

20세기 중반, "뱀부 영어"(Bamboo English:이하, BE)라고 불리는 영어 기반의 피진(pidgin)은 전후 점령하 일본에서 미군과 현지인 사이에서 먼저 사용된 이후, 한반도에서는 미군과 현지인 사이에서 사용되었다. BE의 언어 데이터가 많지 않아서인지 지금까지 연구는 거의 이루어지지 않았다. 본고에서는 수량적인 분석을 통해 BE의 문법구조를 조금이라도 해명하는 것이 목적이었다. 분석 대상은 BE 44개의 문장이다. 1문장씩 형태소 해석을 행하고 나서, BE와 표준 영어, BE와 일본어, BE와 한국어의 3가지의 산포도를 작성해, 피어슨(Pearson)의 r치에 의한 상관계수를 문장마다 3개씩 산출하였다. 입력은 x값이 원래의 BE문 형태소의 일련 번호이며, y 값은 표준영어, 일본어 및 한국어 각각의 번역문 형태소를 BE에 맞추어 정렬한 번호 예이다. 분석한 결과, 먼저, BE문의 대부분이 영어와 문법적으로(형태소 순서) 유사하다는 것을 알았다. 원래 BE는 피진화된 영어이며, 피진일본어도 피진한국어도 아니기 때문에, 이것은 예상한대로의 결과라고도 할 수 있다. 그러나 그럼에도 불구하고 44개 문장 가운데, 7개 (약 15 %)는 영어로는 설명 할 수 없는 형태소 순서로 되어 있다. 이 7개문의 대부분은 또, 기층언어(일본어나 한국어)의 통사론적인 영향을 받고 있음이 판명되었다. 마지막으로, BE는 전세계의 많은 다른 피진과는 달리 "제3자에 의한 사용"(tertiary usage)이 발견되지 않는다는 점에 주의할 필요가 있다. 즉, BE는 일본인과 한국인이 서로의 의사전달을 위한 링구아 프랑카(국제어)로는 사용되지 않았다. 그럼에도 불구하고 이 피진에 대한 기층언어의 강한 문법적 영향이 보이는 것은 일본어와 한국어 사이에 존재하는 형태소 순서의 유사성에 기인하는 것으로 보인다. In the mid 20th century an English-based pidgin commonly referred to Bamboo English was used first in post-war occupied Japan by American military and Japanese locals, and later on the Korean peninsula as American soldiers and local people there had increasing contact. No in-depth studies of it have been published mainly because of the paucity of linguistic data. This paper seeks to shed light on its grammatical structure through quantitative analyses, namely producing three scatter plots and thrice calculating Pearson’s r correlation coefficients. These are made for 44 individual sentences in Bamboo English, with the x values being the sequential numbers of the morphemes in the original Bamboo English sentence and the y values being the re-ordered numbers of morphemes in the Standard English, Japanese and Korean translations, respectively. The results showed that the majority of the BE sentences were grammatically similar (similar morpheme order) to English. This is to be expected since, after all, BE is pidginized English and not pidginized Japanese or pidginized Korean. Nonetheless seven (or around 15%) of the 44 sentences had morpheme order which is unexplainable by English. Many (though significantly all of these) do indeed seem to reflect the syntactic influence of the substrata (i.e. Japanese and Korean) languages. Finally, we note that BE differs from many pidgins worldwide in that we do not find “tertiary usage”, that is BE was not used a lingua franca by Japanese and Koreans to communicate with one another. Nonetheless, it is possible that the strong grammatical influence of the substrata languages on this pidgin may be due to the morpheme order similarities inherent in Japanese and Korean.

A Post‐American Middle East? US Realities Vs. Chinese and Russian Alternatives

AbstractFor the past 15 years, there have been increasing calls for the United States to reduce its overseas force structure and to bring troops home. Such discussion accelerated during the Trump administration, and perceptions of American retrenchment were heightened by President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. This article asks the key question: Is Washington really engaging in a systematic pullout from the Middle East? Based on publicly available evidence, I argue that, contrary to common perceptions, the American military is actually increasing its forward presence in the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf region. In addition, I contend that the two other states that have the potential to replace the United States in the Middle East, Russia and China, are for multiple reasons incapable of doing so. In addition to puncturing the myths, the article contributes to the ongoing policy debates and theoretical literatures regarding Middle East security and great‐power competition.

Conrad's Maw: The Buried Histories of Costaguana

Abstract: This essay examines how the legacy of slavery in Joseph Conrad's Nostromo affects narrative temporality and, consequently, the novel's conception of imperial history and extractive futurity. I argue that Sulaco's attempts to forget the San Tomé mine's reliance on the labor of enslaved persons during the era of the Spanish empire results in an ahistorical proto-nationalist mythmaking. Consequently, Sulaco's attempts to declare independence from the Republic of Costaguana subordinate the province even more deeply to imperial capital, trading a pale semblance of self-determination for a massive expansion of the local resource extraction operation guarded by the American military. Through these events, Emilia Gould, the mine chief's wife, emerges as the figure who most profoundly understands the connection between the mined silver ore and the imperial world system in which the province's people and the mine uneasily coexist. In a novel notably devoid of reproductive futurity or eros of almost any kind, the Occidental Republic of Sulaco exploits Emilia Gould's imperial femininity by casting her as the mother figure of the new nation.

Close, but No Cigar

Close, but No Cigar

A Practice Round for the Inner City: Circum-Caribbean Occupation, Crack Cocaine, and Religious Duty in Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam

Throughout the mid-1980s, the Nation of Islam—via its newspaper the Final Call—condemned American expansion of empire in the circum-Caribbean. Domestically, articles focused on President Ronald Reagan’s War on Drugs, characterizing it as a farce justifying the imprisonment and genocide of Black people. These were not separate thought experiments, however. For the Nation of Islam, the same racist, imperialist justifications served as the basis of both occupations, one foreign and one domestic. American military action abroad was simply a precursor to subjugation of Black America with tanks, guns, and bombs. This article explores this intellectual and internationalist discourse and the real solutions that emerged from it through the Nation of Islam’s Dopebusters program, which fought drugs and violence in Black communities. I argue that these tactics were a religio-political response, combining Islam, Black nationalism, internationalism, and anti-imperial discourses to translate theory and rhetoric into community action.

How the Russian Influence Operation on Twitter Weaponized Military Narratives

Since 2016, Russia has engaged in a dedicated influence operation against the United States to exacerbate existing cleavages in American society and to undermine US national security. Although distinctly modern in its use of social media platforms, the current methods align with old Soviet doctrine using information warfare to gain a strategic edge over competitors. We examine Russia’s use of military-related content and profiles in their influence operation on Twitter and, in particular, the strategic deployment of military narratives. Using data from Twitter’s comprehensive data archive of state-backed information operations, we find that 12.14% of the 1,408,712 tweets in English from 2009 through February 2021 contain military-related content. In addition, of the 2,370 fake accounts on Twitter tied to the IRA and GRU, 148 were from accounts posing as military or military-adjacent, and these accounts posted 12.7% of the influence operation’s tweets. Together, tweets containing military-related content or coming from fake military and military-adjacent profiles account for 22.6% of the tweets identified as part of the Russian influence operation on Twitter. The Russians used narratives related to veterans, particularly sacrifice narratives and post-Vietnam government betrayal of sacrifice narratives. Patriotic sacrifice narratives were used to gather and engage an audience and to legitimize and amplify the content and accounts. In contrast, betrayal of sacrifice narratives were weaponized to amplify and escalate divisive social issues by tying them to veterans’ sacrifices. We conclude the Russians amplified existing military narratives in American culture and used fake American military profiles to wrap anti-government sentiment in patriotic trappings to exacerbate existing social divisions. Turning Americans against their government achieves Russian strategic goals of removing American influence abroad and allowing Russia to have greater impact on the levers of international power that serve Russian interests.

U.S. Naval Oceanography: Pathfinders of the American Military: Part II

U.S. Naval Oceanography: Pathfinders of the American Military: Part II

The American Politics of French Theory: Derrida, Deleuze, Guattari, and Foucault in Translation

The American Politics of French Theory: Derrida, Deleuze, Guattari, and Foucault in Translation

The Rest Is History

The Rest Is History

U.S. Naval Oceanography: Pathfinders of the American Military: Part I

U.S. Naval Oceanography: Pathfinders of the American Military: Part I

“The Great Siberian Way” in perception of American travelers of the early 20th century

World’s focus during the beginning 20th century was on completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia. This article is based on the analysis essays and memoirs of travelers at the early 20th century. The article examines how the main problems, topics and aspects of the emergence and functioning of the railway were perceived. The greatest attention is paid to the views of the most famous US political figures, military and businessmen on the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Manchurian railway. The prospects for the practical use of the railway, as well as its strategic importance, were of particular interest to American politicians and the military. Before the war, Senator A. Beveridge traveled along the Trans-Siberian Railway. The Russo-Japanese War inspired a deeper interest in the Trans-Siberian Railway. On their way to the seat of war in Manchuria, the American military attaché W. Judson followed the road and the naval attaché N. McCully also passed by rail. The most prominent American political figure who visited the Trans-Siberian after the war was Secretary of War W. H. Taft. The rich artistic images of Siberia are reflected at the work of American photographers W.H. Jackson and B. Holmes, who also visited the Trans-Siberian Railroad. Through studying the sources, the author concludes what kind images of the railway was represented in all its essences. At the beginning of the 20th century, the conviction was firmly entrenched in the United States that the entire railway system of Russia developed due to its strategic purpose, that is, for military purposes.