scholarly journals Not Built to Last: Military Occupation and Ruination under Settler Colonialism

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Weiss

This article explores the afterlife of a military base on the islands of Haida Gwaii, unceded territory of the Indigenous Haida Nation. Canadian Forces Station Masset was officially decommissioned in 1997, its buildings abandoned by Canada’s armed forces. The understanding of both Haida and their settler neighbors was thus that the army was gone, leaving only ruins and ambivalent affects in its wake. Yet the military had not actually left; rather, it remained in concealment, continuing to monitor the territory it had occupied. At work in this strange juxtaposition of absence and presence, I argue, is the deliberate production of a paradox, a constitutive contradiction that serves to reinforce the structures of settler domination even as it mitigates the visible presence of the forces of occupation. The affects of ruination engendered by the military’s departure, I contend, form part of these processes of settler concealment and deception.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J Fraser ◽  
Andrew J MacGregor ◽  
Camille P Ryans ◽  
Mark A Dreyer ◽  
Michael D Gibboney ◽  
...  

Introduction: Lateral ankle sprains (LAS) are ubiquitous among tactical athletes and a substantial burden in the military. With the changes in operational demand and the beginning of integration of women into previously closed occupations, an updated assessment of the burden of ankle sprains in the military is warranted. Methods: A population-based epidemiological retrospective cohort study of all service members in the US Armed Forces was performed assessing risk of sex and military occupation on the outcome of LAS incidence. The Defense Medical Epidemiology Database was queried for the number of individuals with ICD-9 diagnosis codes 845.00 (sprain of ankle, unspecified) and 845.02 (calcaneofibular ligament sprain) on their initial encounter from 2006 to 2015. Relative risk (RR) and chi-square statistics were calculated in the assessment of sex and occupational category. Results: A total of 272,970 enlisted males (27.9 per 1000 person-years), 56,732 enlisted females (34.5 per 1000 person-years), 24,534 male officers (12.6 per 1000 person-years), and 6020 female officers (16.4 per 1000 person-years) incurred LAS. Enlisted females in all occupational groups were at significantly higher risk for LAS than their male counterparts (RR 1.09-1.68; p < 0.01), except for Engineers (p = 0.15). Female officers had consistently higher risk for LAS in all occupational groups (RR 1.10-1.42; p < 0.01) compared with male officers, except Ground/Naval Gunfire (p =0.23). Contrasted with Infantry, enlisted members in the Special Operations Forces, Mechanized/Armor, Aviation, Maintenance, and Maritime/Naval Specialties were at lower risk (RR, 0.38-0.93; p < 0.01), Artillery, Engineers, and Logistics Specialties were at higher risk (RR 1.04-1.18; p < 0.01), and Administration, Intelligence, and Communications were no different (p = 0.69). Compared with Ground/Naval Gunfire officers, Aviation officers were at significantly lower risk (RR, 0.75; p < 0.01), and Engineers, Maintenance, Administration, Operations/Intelligence, and Logistics officers were at higher risk (RR, 1.08-1.20; p < 0.01). Conclusion: Sex and military occupation were salient factors for LAS risk. Colocation of interdisciplinary neuromusculoskeletal specialists to provide targeted preventive interventions should be considered in practice and policy.


Author(s):  
Federica Caso

Abstract After decades of refusal, neglect, and tacit admittance, the service of Indigenous people in the national armed forces of settler colonial states such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States is finally gaining acknowledgment. Indigenous people are now integrated in the regular forces and represented in national war commemoration. This article maintains that while inclusion and recognition of Indigenous military service is a positive transformation in the direction of post-colonial reconciliation, it still operates within the logics of settler colonialism intended to eradicate Indigenous stories of connection to land and assimilate Indigenous people in settler society. Using the case study of Indigenous militarization in Australia, this article argues that, under conditions of settler colonialism, the inclusion and recognition of Indigenous people in national militaries advances the settler colonial project intended to dispossess Indigenous people from their land and assimilate them in the new settler society. It highlights that historically, military organization has supported settler colonialism, and positions the present inclusion and recognition of Indigenous people in the military as a continuation of this history.


Author(s):  
Ilan Zvi Baron

Questions arose about what it meant to support a country whose political future the author has no say in as a Diaspora Jew. The questions became all the more pronounced the more I learned about Israel’s history. Many Jews feel the same way, and often are uncomfortable with what such an obligation can mean, in no small part because of concerns over being identified with Israel because of one’s Jewish heritage or because of the overwhelming significance that Israel has come to have for Jewish identity. Israel’s significance is matched by how much is published about Israel. Increasingly, this literature is not only about trying to explain Israel’s wars, the military occupation or other parts of its history, but about the relationship between Diaspora1 Jewry and Israel.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 137-142
Author(s):  
ALEXEY ROMAKHIN ◽  

This article reveals the problem of the role of the religious factor in the formation of the value orientations of the military personnel of the Russian army from its inception to the present state. In the article, the author reveals the significance of the Church in the formation of the value orientations of military personnel. The problem of religious situation in foreign armies is considered. The article presents data from sociological studies confirming the increase in the number of religious servicemen in the modern Armed Forces. The concept of “religious factor” is revealed. The author suggests considering the influence of the religious factor on the formation of value orientations through the functions of religion. The article provides examples of the influence of religion on the formation of value orientations of military personnel from the time of the Baptism of Russia to the present. Examples of writers of Russian classical literature about the influence of religion on the morale of troops are given. Examples of religious participation in major battles and wars of the past years are shown. The significance of the religious factor in uniting the people and the army is shown. The work of officials of the Ministry of defense of the Russian Federation in strengthening values among military personnel in modern conditions is demonstrated. The role of the Minister of defense of the Russian Federation, General of the army S.K. Shoigu in strengthening the faith of the Russian army is outlined. Issues related to the construction of the Main Temple of the Armed Forces and its impact on the public masses were discussed. In this study, the author aims to show the significant role of religion in the formation of value orientations in Russian military personnel. The analysis shows an increasing role of religion in the minds of military personnel in modern conditions.


Author(s):  
V. Nazarkin ◽  
O. Semenenko ◽  
A. Efimenko ◽  
V. Ivanov

The task of choosing the rational number of power structures is always one of the main priorities of any political leadership of the state. An insufficient number of armed forces is a threat to the national security of the state; an excess number creates pressures on the development of the country's national economy. Today, when the development programs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are being formed in the context of the practical application of their units and subunits to carry out combat missions, questions of choosing a priority approach to the formation (justification) of the rational size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is an urgent issue. The article proposes a structure for conducting research on the development and implementation of the methodology of military-economic substantiation of the rational strength of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the system of defense planning of Ukraine in the formation of programs for their development for the medium and long term. The main objectives of this methodology are: scientific substantiation of the range of the necessary strength of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the period of the program of their development; the choice of the indicator of the rational size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine according to the years of the program from a certain range of its changes; military-economic substantiation of this number under the influence of various limiting factors. The development and implementation of such a methodology will increase the efficiency of the formation and implementation of development programs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the efficiency of using public funds for the development of power structures.


Author(s):  
V. Makhankov ◽  
A. Maltsev ◽  
A. Kupriniuk ◽  
V. Obertas

The current stage of reforming the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AF) confirms that the crisis in the country's economy has significantly affected the system of logistics of troops, which ensures its main task – to maintain the combat readiness of military units and ensure their livelihood in peacetime. The war in the east of the country and the existing state of providing troops showed the need to improve the organization and management of the process of logistical (technical, rear and medical) provision of training and combat use of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which is currently in the phase of perspective changes and necessitates the development of a new concept of military information management and logistical flows, which will be implemented by a new, more efficient structure, called the "military logistics system". The purpose of the article is to determine the directions for the creation and accumulation of an optimal nomenclature of stocks of material resources in peacetime and their rational separation at the tactical, operational and strategic levels of management. The article describes the contents of the concepts of "logistics", "echelon", "stocking", "operational accounting". Important tasks of modern conditions of process of creation and management of stocks in the course of reforming of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are systematized; variants of the offered models of inventory management are outlined. The goal is achieved through theoretical and experimental research on volume optimization and material separation at all levels of management, which is one of the key problems of military logistics.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0095327X2199622
Author(s):  
Sergio Catignani ◽  
Nir Gazit ◽  
Eyal Ben-Ari

This Armed Forces & Society forum is dedicated to exploring recent trends in the characteristics of military reserves and of the changing character of reserve forces within the armed forces within the military, the civilian sphere, and in between them. To bring new and critical perspectives to the study of reserve forces and civil–military relations, this introduction and the five articles that follow draw on two organizing conceptual models: The first portrays reservists as transmigrants and focuses on the plural membership of reservists in the military and in civilian society and the “travel” between them. The second model focuses on the multiple formal and informal compacts (contracts, agreements, or pacts) between reservists and the military.


2021 ◽  
pp. bmjmilitary-2020-001740
Author(s):  
Erin G Lawrence ◽  
N Jones ◽  
N Greenberg ◽  
N T Fear ◽  
S Wessely ◽  
...  

Organisations including the United Kingdom Armed Forces should seek to implement mental health interventions to increase the psychological well-being of their workforce. This editorial briefly presents ten key principles that military forces should consider before implementing such interventions. These include job-focused training; evaluating interventions; the use of internal versus external training providers; the role of leaders; unit cohesion, single versus multiple session psychological interventions; not overgeneralising the applicability of interventions; the need for repeated skills practice; raising awareness and the fallibility of screening.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Thibaut Moulin

The emergence of new technologies might challenge our assumptions about biomedical research: medical progress may not only cure but enhance human capacities. In particular, the emergence of brain-machine interfaces will admittedly allow disabled people to move or communicate again, but also has various military applications, such as remote control of drones and avatars. Although there is no express legal framework pertaining to the experimental phase of human enhancement techniques, they are actually constrained by international law. According to international humanitarian law, civilians and prisoners of war may be subjected to experiments only when required by their state of health or for medical treatment. According to international human rights law, experimentations are permissible when they meet two conditions: (i) free consent, and (ii) proportionality (that is, the adequacy of risk and benefit). In light of these conditions, this article assesses the situations in which experimentation involving brain-computer interfaces would be lawful. It also gives specific attention to those experimentations carried out on members of the armed forces. In fact, owing to the military hierarchy and the unique nature of its mission (to protect national security at the risk of their own lives), it is necessary to determine how the military may comply with this legal framework.


2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 467-505
Author(s):  
Eyal Weinberg

As young medical students at Guanabara State University, Luiz Roberto Tenório and Ricardo Agnese Fayad received some of the best medical education offered in 1960s Brazil. For six years, the peers in the same entering class had studied the principles of the healing arts and practiced their application at the university's teaching hospital. They had also witnessed the Brazilian military oust a democratically elected president and install a dictatorship that ruled the country for 21 years (1964–85). After graduating, however, Tenório and Fayad embarked on very distinct paths. The former became a political dissident in opposition to the military regime and provided medical assistance to members of the armed left. The latter joined the armed forces and, as a military physician, participated in the brutal torture and cruel treatment of political prisoners. At the end of military rule, Brazil's medical board would find him guilty of violating the Brazilian code of medical ethics and revoke his license.


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