Abel Esterhuyse

EDUCATING FOR PROFESSIONALISM: A NEW MILITARY FOR A NEW SOUTH AFRICA

This article explores the role of education in professionalising the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) since 1994. The central thesis is that military education, training and development played a major role in bringing the pre1994 belligerent forces in South Africa together and blending them into a single, coherent, bureaucratised defence force. There is, however, reason for serious concern. The article first outlines the specific need for education in the SANDF since 1994. The second part provides an overview of the educational institutions in the SANDF, their programmes and the nature of education, training and development that are provided. The final section discusses the most salient factors that have influenced education in the SANDF over the last decade. Specific emphasis is placed on the lack of suitably qualified academic staff, the difficulty of educating soldiers in a second or third language, the lack of research and the presence of an institutional climate of anti-intellectualism.

Professional Military Education and Training: Challenges Facing the South African Military

Taylor and Francis Ltd FDEF_A_205926.sgm 10.1080/14702430601060206 Defence Studies 470-2436 (pr nt)/1743-9698 (online) Original Article 2 06 & F ancis 630 00September 2 06 AbelEst rhuys @ma .sun.ac.za Since 1994, the South African military had to cope with a new strategic environment and a changed political setting. Collaborative security demarcated the Southern African strategic environment while the human security paradigm shaped the domestic security debate in South Africa. 1

Distance education and e-learning: The SANDF should get it right!

Education in South Africa is a controversial issue. In the military context, education is even more complex. The South African military struggled and is still struggling to development an educational ethos at those Education, Training and Development (ETD) institutions primarily responsible for education. This specifically concerns the Military Academy and its Faculty of Military Science, the National War College and the National Defence College. Worldwide military education faces an era that is primarily information driven, in which electronic and other forms of communication has made distance almost irrelevant, and in which there is a growing demand for well-educated soldier-diplomats and soldier-scholars. These considerations necessitate the development and roll-out of a distance education (DE) and e-learning system in the SANDF as a matter of urgency.

The practice of strategy: South African defence in stasis

ABSTRACT The article concerns the strategy development processes of the South African Department of Defence in South Africa. It intends to identify the probable causes of the observed failure of the South African National Defence Force to develop appropriate departmental policy and military strategy. Military strategy comprises force development, force employment, force deployment and the coordination of these elements in pursuit of national, grand-strategic objectives. (See Dennis M. Drew and Donald M. Snow, Making Twenty-first Century Strategy: An Introduction to Modern National Security Processes and Problems Montgomery, AL: Air University Press, Maxwell Air Force Base, November 2006, 103). Of these four constructs, the article concerns itself only with the first two. The article analyses two complementary approaches to strategy formation: a resource-driven, inside-out model and an interests-driven, outside-in method. The article concludes that the Department is preoccupied with the inside-out method to the lasting detriment of the declared strategic intent of the defence policy.

The Leadership Factor in South African Military Culture

South Africa has embraced the notion of a democracy in the early 1990s. Accepting democracy as a form of government also implied the embracement of military professionalism and international acceptable norms of behaviour for the South African military. The professional behaviour of the military in contemporary democracies is rooted in the acceptance of democratic values and the primacy of the citizen-soldier. Over time, democracies have developed and established certain ground rules for a ‘fair’ fight and, as far as possible, avoid involvement in protracted wars. The notions of jus ad bellum, jus in bello and, more recently, also the notion of jus post bellum are, in essence, the creation of modern democratic states. Because of these ground rules, democracies tend to emphasise the use of symmetrical forces aimed at delivering a decisive outcome in war. More important, though, is the development of a military ethos that is conducive to strategic effect in the conventional domain in general and military professionalism in particular. Few countries have experienced the kind of transformational change that the South African society and military have undergone since democratisation in 1994. As part of a highly militarised state before 1994, the military was due to be an integral part of the transformation of the public sector in South Africa (SA). The most visible and tangible part of the transformation of the military in SA has been the integration of the previous belligerent forces into a single armed force, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). These forces had to be trained to acceptable military standards and the underlying ethos of the

South Africa and the search for strategic effect in the Central African Republic

This article provides a critical assessment from a strategic perspective of the South African military involvement in the Central African Republic that culminated in the Battle of Bangui. The strategic assessment was aimed at an understanding of the South African armed forces and their government’s strategic approach and logic (i.e. strategic ways) through a consideration of, firstly, their strategic objectives and end states and, secondly, a critical reflection on the military means that were available and employed in the Central African Republic. The authors question the logic of South African political and military objectives through an emphasis on the absence of South African interests in the Central African Republic, the failure of the executive to inform parliament, the dubious and blurred intentions of the African National Congress government and the absence of a clear political–military nexus for the operation. The lack of sufficient military capabilities for the deployment was assessed through a consideration of overstretch, obsolescence, neglect and mismanagement of military resources. The article concludes that not only did the government set the military up for failure; it also succeeded in creating the perfect conditions for a strategic fiasco.

Die Vraagstuk van Misleiding, Verrassing en Vertolking van Informasie in Oorlog, met Spesifieke Verwysing na die rol wat dit in Egipte se Aanval op Israel op 6 Oktober 1973 gespeel het

The Question of Deception, Surprise and Interpretation of Information in War, with specific reference to Egypts Attack on Israel on 6 October 1973. Strategic surprise occurs to the degree that the victim does not appreciate whether he is attacked (moral surprise). or when, where or how the adversary will strike (material surprise). The effect of surprise is both psychological and physical. because the victims moral, as well as his forces and equipment are destroyed. Surprise is an effective force multiplier. blll it is not a guaranty for success. It creates an initial advantage that will not lead to success if it is not exploited. Successful deception is an effective way to ensure surprise. The enemy can be deceived with regard to capabilities. or if the capabilities are already known. with regard to the intention to use that capability. Through deception the enemys thoughts are influenced. If his thoughts are inj/uenced. his decisions and actions are influenced.

DIE BUFFEL STRUIKEL: ’N STORIE VAN 32 BATALJON EN SY MENSE/L.J. BOTHMA

“Die Buffel Struikel: ’n Storie van 32 Bataljon en Sy Mense” (The Buffalo Stumbles: A Story of 32 Battalion and Its People) was written originally in Afrikaans. The author is an Afrikaans-speaking white South African who, as a member of the well-known South African 32 “foreign legion” Battalion, participated in the Namibian Border War in the 1970s and 1980s. The war was fought by an army whose operational language for the major part was Afrikaans. However, two reasons call for a review of this book in English. Firstly, with the Western powers facing a serious insurgency threat in Iraq and elsewhere, the world has an urgent need for a new understanding, thinking and perspectives about counter-insurgency. Secondly, the book can be seen as a watershed contribution to the so-called Border War literature that, until now, has been dominated by contributions of journalists and writers with questionable motives.

SEAPOWER: A GUIDE FOR THE TWENTYFIRST CENTURY/GEOFFREY TILL

With the publication of Seapower: A Guide for the Twenty-First Century Geoffrey Till has set the standard for publications on all things maritime. The updated and expanded new edition of the book is an essential guide for students of naval history and maritime strategy and provides essential reading for those interested in the role of seapower in the twenty-first century. Till notes in the preface to the second edition of the book (p. xv) that he specifically aimed at providing a broader international context for the discussion of the role of navies. The naval policies of China, Japan, India and the United States are used as case studies of general naval developments around the world. In addition, the analysis highlights the “… post-modern preoccupations of today’s navies” (p. xvii) including inter alia the maintenance of good order at sea, coalition operations, and multilateral terrorism. The central hypothesis of the book is rooted in the notion that the sea is central to the prosperity and security of all nations, and even more so since the emergence of an increasingly globalised world trading system. Till argues in Seapower that the fate of nations is closely link to the sea as a source of resources and as a means of transportation, information exchange and strategic domination in all human development.

On Strategy: Stategic theory and contemporary African armed conflicts

CITATION: Vrey, F., Mandrup, T. & Esterhuyse, A (eds). 2010. Conference Proceedings - On Strategy: Strategic Theory and contemporary African armed conflicts, presented at Stellenbosch 10-11 June 2009, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. doi:10.18820/9781919985404.