Scientia Militaria - South African Journal of Military Studies

Editorial

2021-12-01T13:00:28+00:00

FYI

The legalisation of cannabis: A security-vetting dilemma

2021-11-30T12:20:05+00:00

During 1996, the South African Intelligence Community issued the Minimum
Information Security Standards (MISS), which inter alia address the protection of
classified information. The MISS provide the principles, standards and procedures to
be followed by all South African government agencies for the protection of official
resources.3 This includes the granting of different types and levels of security clearances
by the South African government to provide employees and contractors access to
classified information. The decision to grant a person access to classified information
is based on such individual’s security competence. This is an indication of the person’s
ability – based on his or her conduct – to prevent classified material from being disclosed
to unauthorised persons, which may potentially prejudice or endanger the security or
interests of the employing institution or the state. An applicant for a security clearance
may be a prospective employee applying for a post from outside the organisation or
an insider who is already in the organisation, often referred to as outsider and insider
threats.4 The process of determining a person’s security competence is referred to as
security vetting for new employees, and re-vetting for existing employees who have
gone through the vetting process in the past.5 In this article, the use of the term ‘vetting’
includes re-vetting.

The role of Russian volunteers in the collapse of the international legion in the South African War

2021-11-30T12:20:05+00:00

The establishment of an international legion by General Georges de Villebois-Mareuil
in March 1900 was the most ambitious attempt to coordinate the activities of foreign
volunteer units within a single formation during the South African War. On the general’s
death (5 April 1900), De Villebois’s Russian deputy and successor, Lieutenant Colonel
Yevgeny Maximov, lost control of the legion. As a hierarchical formation, it survived
De Villebois by only two weeks. Given Maximov’s ample experience in conventional
and unconventional warfare, and the accolades that he later won from the republican
political and military leadership, including the rank of general, the legionnaires’
opposition to him appears to be unjustified. Accounting for the discrepancy between
historians’ perceptions of Maximov and his lack of success in controlling the legion
is based on a premise that legionnaires had compelling reasons to reject his authority.
Maximov had come to Africa ostensibly as a journalist. He was yet to earn the respect of
his subordinates because he had not seen action in the South African War. In subsequent
weeks, having resigned from his post in the legion, he distinguished himself in the
engagement at Tobaberg as the leader of the Dutch corps. By then, Maximov had the
‘moral authority’ to command an international unit, but his poor health prevented him
from carrying on fighting. Unlike De Villebois, who was supported by like-minded
French lieutenants, Maximov could not rely on his compatriots. Instead of endorsing his
claim to leadership, the Russian corps refused to join the legion while he was in charge,
and intentionally discredited him. In the power vacuum after De Villebois’s death, the
legion collapsed, and a chance to transform the emerging alliance of foreign volunteer
units into a formidable force was missed.

Loss of military equipment by the SADF at the Battle at Indungo during the Border War, 31 October 1987

2021-11-30T12:20:05+00:00

This article takes the form of an investigation regarding the loss of military equipment
by the South African Defence Force (SADF) at the Battle at Indungo, in an operation
that was assigned the codename Operation Firewood, on 31 October 1987 during the
Angolan Border War. The war was waged from 1966 to 1989 in Southern Africa. The
case study of Operation Firewood illustrates some of the circumstances under which the
SADF lost military equipment in Angola during the war.
Operation Firewood was one of more than 300 SADF general operations201 that occurred
in Angola. In the final stages of the war, the area north of Cuvelai provided the setting
for the launching of Operation Firewood, some 285 kilometres north of the border with
South West Africa/Namibia. The aim of this military operation was to eliminate an
enemy base that housed elements of the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN),
the military wing of the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO).

Professional military instructor identity in the South African National Defence Force

2021-11-30T12:20:05+00:00

In 2015, the chief of human resources at the South African National Defence Force
(SANDF) ordered the improvement of the instructional quality and military ethos of
military instructors. This article, based on a comprehensive study in this regard, reports
on the perceptions of a sample of military instructors in the SANDF on the existence
of a construct, known as the professional military instructor identity and its effect on
military ethos and instructional quality. A qualitative approach was followed, using an
interpretivist/constructivist paradigm, involving data collection by means of a focus
group discussion and expert interviews and using thematic networks analysis as data
analysis method. A conceptual framework for the professional military instructor
identity, consisting of sub-identities, influencing factors and identifying indicators, was
constructed. Findings suggest that the professional military instructor identity is not
recognised as a construct in the SANDF; however, the elements are known, although
only vaguely. The findings also support the view that this situation may have affected
the current declining military ethos and instructional quality of military instructors. It
is concluded that the institutionalisation and popularisation of the professional military
instructor identity, as well as professional recognition of military instructors in the
SANDF, could improve the current situation.

Food wastage management at the South African Military Academy officer’s mess

2021-11-30T12:20:05+00:00

Globally, an estimated one-third of the total of food produced for human consumption
is never consumed. This affects food security. South Africa has obligations to meet
international commitments to reduce food wastage. The United Nations Sustainable
Development Goal (SDG) 12.3 aims to reduce food loss through wastage by 30 per cent
by 2030. To contribute to the achievement of this goal, South Africa has to formulate
policies to reduce food loss to achieve national food security. The South African
National Defence Force (SANDF), as an organ of the state, should align with national
policies aimed at reducing food loss and waste. The current study was conducted at the
South African Military Academy (SAMA), an institution of higher learning for SANDF
members. The institution has a catering facility that serves approximately 350 resident
students and other living-in members375 daily. To date, no research has been done on
food wastage management either in the broader SANDF or at this institution. This
lack of information and analysis on food wastage management in the military in South
Africa prompted the current research. The study analysed food wastage management at
the SAMA mess to identify the level of knowledge and skills of SAMA officers’ mess
personnel regarding the status of food wastage and best management practices. Through
this qualitative study, online semi-structured interviews, using Microsoft Teams, were
utilised to collect data from SAMA mess personnel. The findings revealed that there are
set measures in place at the SAMA mess for managing food wastage, such as booking
meals in advance and being able to repurpose food. The participants also indicated that
most SAMA chefs are trained in food wastage management and possess the necessary
skills to reduce food wastage in the mess; yet, not optimally so. Recommendations from
this research are that more and improved training of personnel, as well as awareness
programmes among mess staff and SAMA students would further reduce food wastage.
Implementing such food wastage management measures would benefit the SAMA
and the SANDF, and would contribute to national food wastage management and the
realisation of the United Nations SDG 12.3.

Artificial intelligence and big data in the Maritime Silk Road Initiative: The road towards Sea Power 2.0

2021-12-01T13:01:35+00:00

China’s Belt and Road Initiative continues to attract considerable attention from scholars
and observers in diverse fields. However, students of the Belt and Road Initiative (‘the
Initiative’) have focused extensively on the land and sea dimensions of this grand project
while only tentatively touching on its other dimensions. This article draws attention to
the digital and maritime dimensions of the Initiative, which are respectively known as
the Digital Silk Road Initiative and the Maritime Silk Road Initiative. Specifically, the
article focuses on how artificial intelligence and big data, as promoted under the Digital
Silk Road Initiative, intersect with the Maritime Silk Road Initiative to produce what the
author refers to as Sea power 2.0. To contextualise this intersection, the article draws
on patent data to show how artificial intelligence and big data are adopted in supply
chains. The results from the patent analysis show that artificial intelligence and big
data will play a crucial role in future supply chains, and hence, the Maritime Silk Road
Initiative. Although the article focuses mostly on the commercial side of Sea power 2.0,
it concludes by pointing out how artificial intelligence and big data could serve military
objectives.

In the Kill Zone: Surviving as a private military contractor in Iraq

2021-11-30T12:20:05+00:00

FYI

Eerste Daar

2021-11-30T12:20:05+00:00

In the introduction to his book, Van der Waals claims that the book is largely based on
a manuscript that he wrote for his children about 15 years ago, and he acknowledges
that it is not an academic work.564 With this disclaimer of sorts, Van der Waals firmly
places his book in the memoire segment of recent South African military historiography.
While this is true – the book certainly reads like a memoire – Van der Waals manages
to incorporate much more than just personal reflections and recollections in his work.
Perhaps due to his academic background, his narrative is lifted above the proliferation
of recent memoires by South African Defence Force (SADF) soldiers by occasional
analyses and opinions interspersed throughout the book.

Kansvatter: Die rustelose lewe van Ben Viljoen

2021-11-30T12:20:05+00:00

To write a biography is a daunting task but if done correctly and fairly, it can be a
magnificent piece of historical literature. A biography, and especially an autobiography,
is a literary genre that can assist any historian to see past events directly through the eyes
of the person about whose life is being written. Some historical figures can boast a long
list of biographies due to their popularity during their lifetime or shortly after it. Others
are either merely mentioned briefly in other publications or their biographies are limited
due to a variety of external factors. When it comes to Benjamin Johannis (or is it Barend
Johannes?) Viljoen, his life story is finally explained thoroughly for the first time by the
Stellenbosch historian, Dr Carel van der Merwe.

Physical control, transformation and damage in the First World War: War bodies

2021-11-30T12:20:05+00:00

Nearly a century after the conclusion of the First World War of 1914–1918, the British
military historian Ian FW Beckett expressively stated, “[h]istorians walk with ghosts.”577
As an explanation, he descriptively noted, “[t]hey are privileged … to see what others do
not as they tread the deserted banquet-hall of the past, endeavouring to repopulate it with
those who have gone before and who might otherwise be forgotten.

Enemies in the Empire: Civilian internment in the British Empire during the First World War

2021-11-30T12:20:05+00:00

FYI

On contested shores: The evolving role of amphibious operations in the history of warfare

2021-11-30T12:20:05+00:00

FYI