Scientia Militaria - South African Journal of Military Studies

Editorial

Evert Kleynhans — 2024-09-26

The Establishment of the Directorate Military Intelligence upon South Africa’s Exit from the Commonwealth 1961–1971: In Pursuit of Recognition

Chris Pheiffer — 2024-09-26

After South Africa had left the Commonwealth in 1961, the South African Defence Force had to develop its own intelligence capacity, as the British intelligence services ceased intelligence provision to South Africa. The Defence Force had limited experience in the field of intelligence as far as personnel, training and structures were concerned. It had no mandate, an insubordinate position in the higher military hierarchy, and no national legislation or departmental prescripts existed to direct its functions. Certain of its functions continuously migrated to other structures in the Defence Force, which hampered its development. Towards the end of the decade, the organisation was temporarily disbanded, and its functions taken over by a newly created Bureau of State Security. Despite these limitations, the Directorate Military Intelligence evolved into a comprehensive autonomous intelligence organisation over a period of ten years, directed by national legislation, and legitimised as one of the three principal intelligence organisations in South Africa. It performed the main intelligence functions as is globally accepted from the role of an intelligence organisation, viz. collection, analyses, counter-intelligence, and covert action. This article will provide a narrative, based mainly on primary archival sources, of the evolution of Directorate Military Intelligence between 1961 and 1971 despite the developmental challenges it faced.

Re-evaluating Oversight of South African Defence Procurement: Can Combined Assurance Help Extract Full Accountability from the Department of Defence?

Ernst Heydenrych — 2024-09-26

The Department of Defence and the South African National Defence Force have been plagued by defence procurement irregularities since the inception of democracy. As a result, several scholars have questioned the ability of certain oversight mechanisms to conduct proper oversight of the military, and of defence procurement specifically. The study on which this article reports therefore aimed to evaluate the ability of Parliament, the Military Ombud, the Auditor-General of South Africa, and the Public Protector to extract accountability from the Department of Defence for its defence procurement activities. Discussion of these four mechanisms will constitute the basis for evaluating whether a renewed approach to oversight, in the form of combined assurance, might be able to allow for extracting greater accountability from the military for its non-compliance with the regulatory frameworks of South African defence procurement.

The Composition of the Imperial British Forces in the Anglo-Boer War, 1899–1902: A Military and Socio-Historical Overview

Louis Venter — 2024-09-26

The British forces that served during the Anglo-Boer War (also known as the South African War) of 1899–1902 were an amalgam of several different types of soldiers. These men came from varying geographic and socio-economic backgrounds, and had different reasons for enlisting. This article discusses the composition of the British forces during the war, and adopts a military and socio-historical approach to understand who served in South Africa and why. To this end, the different types of British soldiers are looked at as separate (but ultimately intertwined) groupings, including regular (or career) soldiers, British volunteers, colonial volunteers, and “non-white” combatants. This represents a wide-viewed perspective of the British military system during the late-Victorian era.

Amplifying Education: A Case Study in Advancing Academic Centres at Norwich University

Travis Morris — 2024-09-26

Norwich University, the oldest private military college in the United States, aims to prepare future military and civilian leaders to navigate leadership and educational challenges successfully. One method of preparing leaders is through academic centres. Drawing on seven years of data from the John and Mary Frances Patton Peace and War Center and six years at the Center for Global Resilience and Security at Norwich University, this article shows how this task is accomplished by formally establishing research centres that exist outside of regular academic programming. The centres are uniquely positioned to understand the priorities of the US Reserve Officer Training Corps Cadet Command and the US Department of Defense to prepare future junior military leaders to be prepared for twenty-first-century security challenges. Particular attention is given to how experiential learning, leadership laboratories, and research have prepared cadets to be effective junior military leaders. For each core area, we apply Bloom’s hierarchical models to maximise cognitive, affective, and sensory learning objectives. Examples are provided to elucidate the paradigm and outlined objectives further. The article concludes by highlighting the impact of centres across the Norwich community.

A Profession Without a Distinct Science: Reflection on the Professional Requirement for Officers to Hold a University Degree

Danic Parenteau — 2024-09-26

The study on which this article is based, explored the fundamental question: why do future officers of the armed forces need to receive a university education? In other words, which reasons justify this professional requirement to hold a university degree for candidates to this profession? This fundamental question still deserves attention, despite the broad consensus around the requirement, as this is a condition for recruitment for most Western armed forces, or an integral part of the training and education programme offered to naval and officer cadets attending military academies today. There are seven distinct but somewhat interrelated reasons in support of this professional requirement: complexity of operational theatres or warfare; a new vision of the officer; better-educated officers; the integrated career-long training path for officers; professionals reflecting on their own profession; a mechanism that reinforces the authority and the legitimacy of officers; and for a better understanding of the military-academic complex. This article focuses on generalist officers, and leaves aside the case of specialists, such as medical officers, legal officers or engineers, as these military occupations already have their own specific professional requirements in terms of university education. In addition, the article does not report on the case of officers promoted from the ranks, for whom there is usually no such qualification requirement.

Much Ado about Disinformation: A Critical Approach to Coping with Information Manipulation in a Post-Truth World

Dong-ha Seo — 2024-09-26

The purpose of the study on which this article is based, was to explore how to build cadets’ ability to fight against disinformation in a post-truth age. Considering lessons from the study of the human mind, invited us to examine why we fail to discern truths rather than how to win this fight. Disinformation – often interchangeably called “fake news” – seeks to shape or change perceptions of information users. The understanding of disinformation by our young leaders is crucial because it – i.e. sowing distrust and doubt among members – is dangerous and even fatal to the Army, which places great emphasis on mutual trust as its core value. The military in general and the Army in particular are expanding their information operations capabilities, as North Korea is one of the few countries that actively engage in a disinformation campaign. During their years at the military academy, cadets should however improve their ability to discern truths before acquiring skills relevant to a counter-disinformation campaign. The best way to enhance cadets’ ability to discern truths – even in a media-saturated age – is still to participate in deep reading, especially reading imaginative literature that fosters inventive as well as critical thinking. The current study argued that our grasp of human frailty through deep reading helps us develop an ability to discern truths.

The Boer Invasion of the Zulu Kingdom 1837–1840

Fankie Monama — 2024-09-26

Work or Starve: Black Concentration Camps & Forced Labour Camps in South Africa, 1901–1902

Hendrik Snyders — 2024-09-26

20 Battles: Searching for a South African Way of War, 1913–2013

David Murphy — 2024-06-18

The Raw War: 123 Battles of the Boer War (1899–1902)

Garth Benneyworth — 2024-09-26

The MiG Diaries: Fighter Pilot Memoirs & Accounts of Cuban, SAAF and Angolan Air Combat in Southern African Skies

Hano Van Eck — 2024-09-26

Honoris Crux: The Evolution of South Africa’s Cross of Honour

Louis Bester — 2024-09-26