Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Research Articles

Heather L. Dichter. Bidding for the 1968 Olympic Games: International Sport’s Cold War Battle with NATO.

Journal Article Heather L. Dichter. Bidding for the 1968 Olympic Games: International Sport’s Cold War Battle with NATO. Get access Heather L. Dichter. Bidding for the 1968 Olympic Games: International Sport’s Cold War Battle with NATO. Amherst and Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 2021. Pp. xi, 276. Paper $29.95. Linda Risso Linda Risso Centre for Army Leadership, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, England Email: linda.risso@sas.ac.uk Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The American Historical Review, Volume 128, Issue 2, June 2023, Pages 1020–1021, https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhad181 Published: 22 June 2023

Association between external training loads and injury incidence during 44 weeks of military training.

Military training is physically arduous and associated with high injury incidence. Unlike in high-performance sport, the interaction between training load and injury has not been extensively researched in military personnel. Sixty-three (43 men, 20 women; age 24 ± 2 years; stature 1.76 ± 0.09 m; body mass 79.1 ± 10.8kg) British Army Officer Cadets undergoing 44 weeks of training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst volunteered to participate. Weekly training load (cumulative 7-day moderate-vigorous physical activity [MVPA], vigorous PA [VPA], and the ratio between MVPA and sedentary-light PA [SLPA; MVPA:SLPA]) was monitored using a wrist-worn accelerometer (GENEActiv, UK). Self-report injury data were collected and combined with musculoskeletal injuries recorded at the Academy medical center. Training loads were divided into quartiles with the lowest load group used as the reference to enable comparisons using odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Overall injury incidence was 60% with the most common injury sites being the ankle (22%) and knee (18%). High (load; OR; 95% CI [>2327 mins; 3.44; 1.80-6.56]) weekly cumulative MVPA exposure significantly increased odds of injury. Similarly, likelihood of injury significantly increased when exposed to low-moderate (0.42-0.47; 2.45 [1.19-5.04]), high-moderate (0.48-0.51; 2.48 [1.21-5.10]), and high MVPA:SLPA loads (>0.51; 3.60 [1.80-7.21]). High MVPA and high-moderate MVPA:SLPA increased odds of injury by ~2.0 to 3.5 fold, suggesting that the ratio of workload to recovery is important for mitigating injury occurrence.

Interview with His Royal Highness Prince Mired bin Raad Zeid Al-Hussein of Jordan

Born in Amman on 11 June 1965, His Royal Highness Prince Mired Raad Zeid Al-Hussein earned his BA degree from Tufts University in 1987 and his MA degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1995, with a specialization in international relations/strategic studies. He continued his education at Cambridge University, England, where he received an MPhil in historical studies in 1998. In addition, Prince Mired attended the British Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1990 and served for several years in the Jordanian Armed Forces, reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.Upon leaving the military, Prince Mired decided to continue serving his country by other means, dedicating his life to humanitarian and social causes. He has been the Chairman of the National Committee for Demining and Rehabilitation since 2004, and from November 2007 to November 2008 he was President of the Eighth Meeting of States Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention. He has also served as the Special Envoy of the Convention since 2009 and has had the honour and privilege of travelling the world advocating for further accession by countries that have not yet acceded to the Convention, as well as calling for the implementation of the Convention's articles by the States that have done so.Prince Mired is also President of the Hashemite Commission for Disabled Soldiers, a position he has held since 2000. Over the course of the last two decades, the Commission has been able to provide a wide variety of different services, acting as a support network to all servicemen and servicewomen with disabilities in the Kingdom.In addition, from 2008 through to 2013, Prince Mired served as Vice-President of the Higher Council for the Affairs of Persons with Disabilities, and in 2014 he was appointed by Royal Decree to serve as its President, succeeding his father, HRH Prince Raad Bin Zeid. In 2017, with the passing of groundbreaking new legislation calling for the rights of persons with disabilities, the Council was renamed as the Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Prince Mired also served a short stint as President of the Jordanian Paralympic Committee from 2017 to 2018.On 28 February 2021, in addition to all his aforementioned responsibilities, Prince Mired was appointed by Royal Decree as Chief Chamberlain to His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein of Jordan.Prince Mired is married to HRH Princess Dina Mired. They have three children, Shirin, Rakan and Jafar.

Management of a large outbreak of COVID-19 at a British Army training centre: lessons for the future

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has posed major challenges for infection control within training centres, both civilian and military. Here we present a narrative review of an outbreak that occurred at the...

Here, there and everywhere: psychologists and the training of British Army officers at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

The Department of Communication and Applied Behavioural Science is one of the three departments in the academic faculty at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. The aim of the Department is...

The British End of the British Empire by Sarah Stockwell

Reviewed by: The British End of the British Empire by Sarah Stockwell Poppy Cullen The British End of the British Empire By Sarah Stockwell. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Studies of decolonization used to be limited to constitutional histories, ending when colonies became independent; more recently, the scope and chronology of such studies has become wider. Sarah Stockwell's The British End of the British Empire makes a significant contribution to this trend through her consideration of four British institutions in the decades around the end of empire: the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Bank of England, Royal Mint, and Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. How each of these institutions adapted to changing circumstances is meticulously detailed and situated in extensive historiography. Stockwell's research in the archives of each institution, often using material that other scholars have not accessed, particularly at the Royal Mint, allows her to paint a comprehensive picture of each of them. The focus is mostly, though not exclusively, on Anglophone Africa. Although the book is primarily aimed at scholars of decolonization, anyone concerned with the specific institutions will find plenty of interest here. The first chapter offers a history of the four institutions prior to decolonization, laying the groundwork for the rest of the book. It demonstrates the ways that empire intersected with the four institutions: Oxford and Cambridge trained colonial administrators, the Bank of England focused on the sterling area, the Royal Mint provided colonial coin, and Sandhurst trained soldiers for imperial postings. The second chapter offers particularly powerful analysis of technical assistance, a subject which often does not receive the attention it deserves. Stockwell shows the centrality of technical assistance to decolonization and the postcolonial era in Africa, arguing that it "should not be seen as constituting a distinct phase in postcolonial British-African relations but a constituent part of the decolonization process" (91). One of the central arguments of the book, as the title makes clear, is that this was a specifically British end of empire. While Stockwell's study of technical assistance is situated within a wider context, she argues throughout that these institutions sought to promote specifically British models. This was not just about convincing postcolonial states to remain in the Western sphere of influence. Instead, British institutions had "a common conviction in the value and relevance of British models, practice and expertise" (291). This was hard for newly independent states to discard. Although they could and often did look beyond Britain for assistance, they still needed "English-speaking experts familiar with British traditions" (121). Each of the four institutions receives its own, detailed chapter. The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge had an imperial role of training colonial administrators, which shifted to one of training "locals," both before and after independence. Although it is "perhaps surprising" (137) that Oxbridge was able to continue in this role for so long, Stockwell shows the ability of institutions, and individuals within institutions, to use the opportunities offered by decolonization. She also points out that influence was not unidirectional, and that the universities' syllabi, particularly development studies, were influenced in turn by African decolonization. The Bank of England was initially reluctant to set up central banks in colonies, but once it became apparent that they could not prevent this, sought to shape the process. Here, Stockwell shows the Bank's particular commitment to the idea of the Commonwealth, and, for as long as was possible, the sterling area. The Royal Mint is distinct from the other institutions as its primary motives were commercial. Initially, it was remarkably successful as "decolonization saw the Mint's transformation from an 'imperial' to a 'global' institution" (194). Stockwell also offers an illuminating discussion of "the cultural politics of imperialism on display" (219) in the design of African coins. The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst is also distinct in that its postimperial role was not one it actively sought. Rather, it "became a tool of colonial, Commonwealth and foreign policy" (57) through training overseas cadets. There were tensions as the Academy was reluctant to have too many overseas students, and the experiences of overseas cadets were not always positive, some facing racism. The impact of all this on newly independent states...

GROWING SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS – NATURE VS NURTURE

ABSTRACT Think of someone you know in the field of spill response who has deep technical expertise in a particular area. Now think about how they got to where they are. Chances are, they have a background in a related field, and stumbled into spill response opportunistically. They found it interesting, and set about investing time and energy in a particular area until they became recognised across the industry as a subject matter expert. If you look at your own career path, you may recognise similarities. In the ‘nature vs nurture’ argument, this is ‘nature’ - the organic development of an oil spill expert over a long period, reliant on being in the right place, at the right time, many times over. So can an oil spill subject matter expert be nurtured and developed under a form of stewardship programme? There are no shortcuts to developing deep expertise, but there are efficiencies to be realised. This is especially pertinent in today’s industry backdrop of cost-control and ‘doing more with less’ in the context of succession planning for future expertise. We need a structured, efficient and deliberate framework to build the next generation. This paper will describe an approach to growing subject matter experts in spill response, which starts with OSRL’s 30-plus years of training oil spill experts, mixes in the best from industry’s graduate and SME development programmes and blends in techniques drawn from the UK’s Royal Military Academy Sandhurst’s officer training programmes and the world of sport psychology. The approach is underpinned by the principles of andragogy – the method and practice of teaching adult learners – and designed around the distinct capabilities defined in the Tiered Preparedness and Response framework. In practice, the approach combines structured competence-based training, values based leadership, and focussed coaching and mentoring. It accelerates the development of someone with no spill response experience and provides the building blocks which allow them to become a solid oil spill expert. For those who wish to specialise, it gives pathways and opportunities to achieving deep expertise in niche aspects of our discipline. We can’t strip out the need to be in the right place, at the right time, time after time… but this approach reduces the role that luck plays in an individual’s journey to become an industry-recognised authority.

Anglo-French military sexual health conference

The inaugural Anglo-French military sexual health conference was held on 16 December 2014 at Old College, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Presentations were given by a selected representation of British and French specialists. The French guest speakers focused on the work done so far on the

Our Ebola teams in Sierra Leone are up there with the bravest.

I recently had the privilege of attending a symposium at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, organised by the director of army nursing services Colonel David Bates.

Understanding Military Pedagogy

There are not many military tertiary institutions in the world. The famous military tertiary education providers include the ones located in the United States such as the United States Military Academy (West Point) and the United States Naval Academy; the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, United Kingdom; the Special Military School of St Cyr, France; and PLA National Defence University, China. In fact, each country owns at least one higher education provider for its future defenders. In Malaysia, the National Defence University of Malaysia (NDUM) is the sole provider of education at tertiary level for future military personnel. In comparison to other higher learning institutions, not many writings are done on military education and pedagogy. As such the learning environment and experience becomes such an interesting idea to be studied. This paper aims at discussing the concept of military pedagogy, which is argued to be the basis of teaching and learning at these military tertiary institutions. As a concept paper, the arguments revolve around the importance of military pedagogy, its similarities and differences with the normal pedagogy as a whole and the implementations of military pedagogy at the NDUM. The paper concludes the discussion with what may constitute military pedagogy at the NDUM that can help to enrich students’ learning experiences.

The Romani Movement: Minority Politics and Ethnic Mobilization in Contemporary Central Europe. Studies in Ethnopolitics by Peter Vermeersch (review)

788 SEER, 88, 4, OCTOBER 2OIO analysis ofhowinsurgencies ariseand howtheycan be effectively dealtwith, bothbythetarget stateand thewiderinternational community. In anyfuture edition,Perritt shouldseriously considerrevising histitleto makeclearthe book'swiderscope and relevance.The current titleunnecessarily limitsits potential appeal and market. Department ofDefence & International Affairs RoyalMilitary Academy Sandhurst M. A. Smith Vermeersch, Peter.TheRomani Movement: Minority Politics andEthnic Mobilization in Contemporary Central Europe. Studiesin Ethnopolitics. BerghahnBooks, NewYorkand Oxford, 2006.xiv+ 261pp. Tables.Notes.Bibliography. Index.$80.00: £47.00. Gypsies,or Roma as theycall themselves, are an unpromising subjectfor political mobilization. Theyare an ethnie, nota nation;theylivein scattered communities, lacka standard written language,tendtobe poorlyeducatedif notilliterate, aredividedintheir aims,andlackan ideology thatmight sustain themin politicalaction.On the otherhand, as Vermeersch notes,it was Gypsyrioting thatgave riseto whathe callstheRomani movement in the first place. His bookis a conscientious comparative study ofwhyGypsies inHungary, theCzech Republicand Slovakiahavefailedtomobilizeeffectively inpursuit oftheir objectives. Vermeersch setsoutmeticulously thechangesintheir conditiondatingback a decade and a halfin each country, and discussestheir impacts.He has equippedhimself forthetaskwithrelevant politicalscience textsfromTed RobertGurronwardsbut,sadly,he neglects equallyuseful contributions fromsociologists (HenryA. Landsberger, forexample).This reflects a recenttendency forsocial scientists to confine themselves to their ownparticular discipline, and ithinders thedevelopment ofscholarship inthe area. Romanitendtobe resented bytheir neighbours and discriminated against. Most Roma remaininertifnot entirely apatheticwhilethe activists rarely agree about means or ends. Beforethecollapseof Communismtheywere better caredforbypaternalistic Communist regimes. Butthosedayshavelong past, and meanwhilediscrimination againstGypsieshas increased.In the Czech Republictheyhaveevenbeenattacked byskinheads. Yet though they havebecomemorevocaltheRoma havenotbeeneffective participants inthe politicalfreemarketthathas obtainedsince,and such alleviationof their condition as theyhaveexperienced in recent yearshas been obtainedmostly thanks totheintervention ofoutsideagencies, including theEU, OECD and Soros Foundation.Roma have notbeen effective in standing up forthemselves ,and the authoridentifies himself withthemsufficiently to sharethe frustrations ofRomaniactivists at thisfailure. In Hungary,forexample,the betteraccess to decenthousingthatthey enjoy,theexistence ofan advisory nationalGypsyCouncil,and a Hungarian REVIEWS 789 Gypsyculturalassociationare the fruits of outsideraction,not theirown. Romaniactivists are sometimes regarded withsuspicion bytheveryconstituencytheyare intendedto serve,whileGypsycynicsregardthe activists as 'puppetsin thehandsofthepoliticians in power5. Furthermore, theactivists themselves areriven bydissent. Somewantcultural minority rights and access totheeconomicand socialadvantages enjoyedbyothercitizens, whileothers simply wantthesame rights as othersubjects.And theyask formorethan their democratically-elected governments can afford to givethem. Vermeersch carefully setsout the gains and lossesin termsof poverty, discrimination and unemployment in legal,politicaland international contexts , butthetext veersoccasionally towards advocacyand theeconomiccontextdoes notreceiveadequateattention. London PhilipLongworth Orenstein, M. A., Bloom, S. and Lindstrom, N. (eds). Transnational Actors in Central and East EuropeanTransitions. Pitt Series in Russian and East EuropeanStudies.University ofPittsburgh Press,Pittsburgh, PA, 2008. x + 260 pp. Notes.Bibliography. Index.$27.95(paperback). This book offers a rangeof competing perspectives ratherthan a unified approachto the issue of the influence of transnational actorson Central and East Europeantransitions. The editorsassertthattransnational actors have been the'darkmatter thatheld thevariousaspectsofpostcommunist transition together'. The bookproposes thata quadrupletransition framework goingbeyondtheprevious focuson nation-building, democratization and marke tization - willprovidedeeperinsights. This cnew transnationalism', inwhichtheboundaries between international relations and comparative politics beginto collapse,takesa broad definition oftransnational actorsand thisis reflected in thebroad rangeofissuesand policyareasthatthisbookcovers. Thereare twomainareasoffocusin thisvolume:first, howtransnational actorsseekto exerttheir influence, and second,howinfluential theyactually are at thenationallevel. In terms ofthefirst theme,thefirst essay,perhapsunsurprisingly, focuses on theroleoftheEuropeanUnion.Here,Milada AnnaVachudovaoutlines the rationalist view of the EU's conditionality approach to dealingwith prospective members. Throughtheuseofpassiveand activeleverage, theEU has been the 'causal behemoth'of transnational influence on Centraland EasternEurope.This essayis theodd one outin thisvolumeas itrehearses a well-known argument and unlike theotheressaysdoesnotfocuson anyone particular issueorpolicyarea. The nextthreeessaysseekto combineelementsof bothrationalist and constructivist approaches. NicoleLindstrom looksat efforts tocombathuman trafficking in theBalkans,something thathas becomean 'obsession'forthe international community. The existence ofcompeting frames or conceptions ...

Revising the British Army's Counter-Insurgency Doctrine

The Army's counter-insurgency doctrine is published in Part Ten of its Field Manual.1 It was last updated fully in July 2001. The pamphlet is the latest in a line of Army publications that have wre...

La Division Azul: Sangre Espanola en Rusia, 1941-1945 (review)

Reviewed by: La División Azul. Sangre Española en Rusia, 1941–1945 Klaus Schmider La División Azul. Sangre Española en Rusia, 1941–1945. By Xavier Moreno Julia. Barcelona: Critica, 2005. ISBN 84-8432-574-1. Maps. Photographs. Appendixes. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. xx, 553. €90.00. Researching and writing a unit history constitutes a task which is equally challenging and frustrating. For one thing, the author has to acquire a degree of familiarity with the nuts and bolts of fighting units and the way they operate which someone—even a military historian—without a professional military background will often find alien, tiresome, and difficult to translate into captivating reading material. At the same time, the danger of this effort going by unappreciated and the author finding himself labelled as a mere "buff" is often enough to put serious scholars off the idea altogether. Xavier Moreno Julia has taken up this challenge together with another one: that of trumping numerous previous publications on his subject of choice—a political and military history of the two formations (250. Infanteriedivision, the so-called "Blue Division" as well as its successor formation, the "Blue Legion") of Spanish volunteers that fought on the Eastern Front between September 1941 and January 1944. Suffice it to say that he has succeeded triumphantly. Even though the author does follow a chronological structure, the main chapters are arranged in such a way that it is possible for the reader to focus on the political events which preceded the division's creation (pp. 1–55), its recruiting process (pp. 57–115), the military deployment in northern Russia (pp. 117–209), the political repercussions both in Spain and abroad (pp. 211–309), and finally, the fate suffered by those of its members who were wounded or taken prisoner (pp. 311–69). This extremely user-friendly structure is maintained right through the conclusion (pp. 372–96) which is sub-divided into six sections. The source material is nothing short of staggering and includes many Spanish archives (public and private ones) rarely—if ever—used by historians from the English-speaking world. Even though I am prejudiced by virtue of being a military historian with a clear (or rather, idiosyncratic) focus on the operational level of war, I was struck by the near-perfect balance which Moreno managed to strike between the different component parts of his work; each was allotted enough space to do justice to its subject area without dwarfing the others. Just about the only conceivable [End Page 864] flaw that comes to mind is the huge number of episodes of a human nature which the author touches on only briefly because to do otherwise surely would have doubled the size of his book. The encounter of Blue Division POWs with ex-Loyalist airmen and sailors held captive in the U.S.S.R. on account of their refusal to accept Soviet citizenship after 1939 alone surely would have been worth another book. Overall, the author, unlike many of his predecessors, manages to empathise with the plight of his countrymen while simultaneously documenting the cynical machinations of "Generalissimo" Francisco Franco in Madrid, who used them as pawns in a game of domestic (the rivalry between Falange and army) as well as international (to stay on good terms with Germany) politics. Dr. Moreno has written what undoubtedly will remain the definitive treatment of a difficult and multi-layered subject for the foreseeable future. Both as a unit history and as an analysis of a small, but critically important, segment of Francoist Spain's wartime foreign policy it has no peer. A translation would appear to be a highly desirable undertaking. Klaus Schmider Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Camberley, United Kingdom Copyright © 2006 Society for Military History

Morbidity Surveillance in the British Army - the first 12 months

This paper describes the data obtained during the first 12 months of the morbidity surveillance system used, world-wide, by the British Army in operational and non-operational settings and the economic...

Soldiers of the Queen: photographs of Africa, 1867-1902 in the National Army Museum

By way of introduction, and to put the body of this paper in context, it may be helpful to say a few words about the National Army Museum and its Collections.The Museum received its Royal Charter in 1960 when it was established at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and moved to its present location in Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, where it opened to the public in 1971. Under the terms of its Charter, the Museum is responsible for collecting, preserving and interpreting items relating to the the history of the British Army from 1485 to the present day, the Indian Army until 1947, and the land forces of Britain's overseas possessions until their respective dates of independence.

Another Look at Grant's Crossing of the James, 1864

Another Look at Grant's Crossing of the James, 1864 Brian Holden Reid In his biography of Dwight Morrow, Sir Harold Nicolson, in an author's "apology," wrote that for an Englishman to write about an American "may seem a hazardous, and perhaps impertinent enterprise." This is perhaps no less the case for a Scotsman. "With whatever modesty he may approach his task," Nicolson continues, "however scrupulous may be his endeavour to appreciate the American background, there must always occur some gaps in comprehension, some mistaken attribution of values, some errors in perspective .'" This observation is relevant to the theme of this essay not simply because of the diffidence any European author might feel for writing about a commander who has been described on numerous occasions as "quintessentially " American, but because the idea behind such a reconsideration grew out of discussion among British Army officers. The British Army has a long tradition of studying the American Civil War, and initially this had a strong pro-Confederate bias, with Col. G. F. R. Henderson's famous biography of Stonewall Jackson and Maj. Gen. Sir Frederick Maurice's no-lesscelebrated study of Robert E. Lee's generalship. Indeed one student at the Staff College, Camberley, Capt. (later Brig. Gen. Sir) James Edmonds RE, had found the Staff Course so undemanding that he found time with his brother-in-law, Capt. W. Birkbeck Wood (iDG), to write a history of the Civil War; when this was published in 1905 it was adopted by the United States Army as a textbook. None of these writers, however, underestimated Grant's generalship. One British soldier-author, Maj. Gen. J. F. C. Fuller, made a decisive contribution to the resurgence of Grant's reputation when, in 1929, he published The Generalship of Ulysses S. Grant. This remains the greatest book ever written on Grant's military career, both in intellectual range and the shrewdness of its military analysis, and is still in print today. Much more recently, 1 Harold Nicolson, Dwight Morrow (London: Constable, 1935), v. Civil War History, Vol. XXXIX, No. 4, © 1993 by The Kent State University Press 292CIVIL WAR HISTORY John Keegan (formerly of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst) has described Grant as "the greatest general of the American Civil War."2 Since I have worked at the Staff College, Camberley, I have been able to develop studies on the Civil War and move away from the traditional focus on the Battle of Gettysburg. One ofthe topics that I thought would be of interest to today's soldiers is river crossings, and here Grant's crossing of the James is still of extraordinary interest. But my keen and scholarly British Army students found after a scrutiny of the recommended sources that although they could find much general comment on Grant's general aims and strategy there was rather less material available on how this operation was actually completed. So after agreeing with them that the mechanics of the operation were neglected in favor of airy generalization, I deemed it appropriate to consider the whole operation afresh. But it was also prompted by some further thoughts about military historiography . The campaign in Northern Virginia in 1864 is often represented as a kind of duel between Grant and Lee, and the issues are often personalized. Fuller, in his detailed account, gives full weight to the extent of Grant's success and, with some zeal, rubs salt into the wounds inflicted on the reputation of one of the British Army's most revered heroes, Gen. Robert E. Lee. "Why did not Lee strike?" Fuller asks, while the Army of the Potomac was straddled across the James. "Here was presented to him [Lee] an opportunity of attacking his enemy in detail and in flank and, in spite of his numerical inferiority , of concentrating superiority of force against a most favourable target. There can be but one answer to this question, namely, that Lee had been completely out-generalled. An adept in audacious flanking movements, he failed to credit Grant, by reputation a stolid, unimaginative fighter, with an equal daring."3 Yet, despite this praise, Fuller contents himself with scoring points off Lee rather than explaining the methods that...