Defense and Security Studies Commons^™

A Comparison Study Of Senior And Junior Deck Officers’ Interpretations Of The International Regulations For The Prevention Of Collisions At Sea, Ian Heffernan, Tom O'Mahony

Articles

The International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea (IRPCS) provide a comprehensive set of instructions for watchkeeping officers to follow and prevent collisions at sea. This study compares how six newly qualified deck officers and six Master Mariners, who were all trained at the same college, applied the IRPCS. Individual, semi-structured interviews were used to uncover how the 12 participants applied and interpreted the rules for three authentic scenarios. Phenomenography was used to capture the qualitatively different means by which participants interpreted the IRPCS. For basic collision avoidance situations, the results indicated little difference between the cohorts' ability …

Insider Risks And The Evolving Role Of Executive Protection Professionals In Cybersecurity, Alan Saquella

Publications

Insider risks have long been a critical concern in corporate security, traditionally encompassing threats from employees, contractors, or third-party vendors with access to sensitive information. However, as digital transformation accelerates, the convergence of physical and cyber threats has created new vulnerabilities. Executive protection (EP) professionals, historically tasked with safeguarding high-profile individuals from physical threats, now find themselves on the frontlines of combating cyber-criminal attacks. Expanding their skill sets to include cybersecurity awareness is no longer optional—it is a necessity.

This article explores insider risks, the growing need for executive protection professionals to adapt, and practical ways they can enhance their …

Book Review: Invisible Generals: Rediscovering Family Legacy, And A Quest To Honor America’S First Black Generals, Wylie W. Johnson

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Doug Melville

Reviewed by: Reverend Dr. Wylie W. Johnson, chaplain (retired), US Army War College Class of 2010

Author Doug Melville’s multigenerational biography presents the little-known story of his family and two of its military veterans who always believed in the American dream—Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis Sr., the first Black US Army general, and his son, General Benjamin O. Davis Jr., the first Black US Air Force brigadier general. Dr. Wylie W. Johnson reviewed the book because he was so impressed when he heard then–Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis Jr. speak in chapel at his evangelical college.

Copyright: …

Book Review: Airpower Pioneers: From Billy Mitchell To Dave Deptula, Robert E. Underwood Iii

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Editor: John Andreas Olson

Reviewed by: Colonel Robert E. Underwood III, DPhil, armor officer and US Army Goodpaster Fellow, US Army Advanced Strategic Plans and Policy Program

In this review, Robert E. Underwood III bills Airpower Pioneers as a refreshing read that highlights the tension between bureaucracy and innovation against a backdrop of the lives of 12 aviation pioneers. The importance of relationships and their relevance adds a layer of depth to the book.

Copyright: ©2025 Robert E. Underwood III

The Future Of Stealth Military Doctrine, Theodoros G. Kostis

Joint Force Quarterly

This article explores the future of stealth military doctrine and argues that conventional stealth, centered on reducing radar cross-section and other detectable signatures, faces growing limitations against advanced integrated air defense systems. The author proposes shifting from a model based primarily on high speed and low observability toward one that emphasizes surprise through obfuscation. Central to this approach is the stand-in variable speed multiple-domain (SiVSMD) offensive concept, which combines artificial intelligence, autonomous unmanned systems, swarm tactics, miniaturization, electronic warfare, cyber capabilities, deception, and mosaic warfare. Small, distributed platforms would operate across land, sea, undersea, and air domains, varying their speed …

Weapons In Space: Technology, Politics, And The Rise And Fall Of The Strategic Defense Initiative, Todd W. Pennington

Joint Force Quarterly

This book review assesses Aaron Bateman’s Weapons in Space: Technology, Politics, and the Rise and Fall of the Strategic Defense Initiative, which uses recently declassified U.S., Soviet, and British records to reinterpret the origins, development, and legacy of the Strategic Defense Initiative. Bateman emphasizes the close relationship between political decisionmaking and space technology, particularly the technological overlap between ballistic missile defense and offensive antisatellite capabilities. The review highlights how this entanglement complicated arms control, Cold War diplomacy, U.S. relations with European allies, and efforts to build political support for SDI. It also examines the program’s dependence on costly and …

The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, And The 21st Century’S Greatest Dilemma, Peter Khooshabeh, Robert Underwood

Joint Force Quarterly

This book review assesses Mustafa Suleyman and Michael Bhaskar’s The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the 21st Century’s Greatest Dilemma, which surveys the rapid development of artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, and other general-purpose technologies and the challenge of containing their unintended consequences. Suleyman argues that falling costs, accelerating innovation, increasing autonomy, and broad applicability are expanding the power of individuals and groups while making emerging technologies difficult to control. The reviewers highlight the book’s treatment of artificial intelligence, generative AI, synthetic biology, advanced energy, and quantum technologies, as well as its proposed containment mechanisms, including regulation, technical safety, …

China’S Use Of Armed Coercion: To Win Without Fighting, Ian Forsyth

Joint Force Quarterly

This book review assesses China’s Use of Armed Coercion: To Win Without Fighting, edited by James A. Siebens, which analyzes how China employs military and paramilitary forces to signal, deter, and coerce while remaining below the threshold of armed conflict. Drawing particular attention to the book’s analysis of more than 200 Chinese coercive military operations conducted between 2000 and 2021, the reviewer highlights patterns in Beijing’s use of armed coercion, including its tendency to portray its actions as defensive, apply pressure in territorial disputes, and use military forces as instruments of political signaling. Case studies involving the East and …

Polybian Warfare: The First Punic War As A Case Study In Strategic Competition And Joint Warfighting, Casey B. Baker

Joint Force Quarterly

This article uses the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage as a case study in strategic competition and joint warfighting. The 23-year conflict demonstrates how enduring political, economic, and geographic interests can produce prolonged competition marked by shifting fortunes, costly stalemates, and repeated reversals. The author highlights the importance of alliances, partnerships, and mercenary forces, showing how changes in military strength, domestic politics, and economic pressures can reshape relationships over time. Rome’s effort to challenge Carthaginian maritime dominance also illustrates the difficulty of building advantage in a new warfighting domain, requiring rapid acquisition, technological innovation, sustained investment, and operational …

It’S The Chain That Broke It: The Strategic Supply Chains Underpinning National Security, Gregory M. Tomlin

Joint Force Quarterly

Strategic supply chain vulnerabilities threaten the Department of Defense’s (DOD) ability to maintain readiness and protect national security. Global supply chains, often dependent on multiple subcontractor tiers, are highly prone to disruptions from geopolitical events, foreign interference, cybersecurity risks, and shortages of critical materials, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic and in delays like those affecting F-35 production. To address these challenges, the DOD must adopt "strategic supply chains" as a core concept in its doctrine, emphasizing continuous risk assessment and safeguards like multisourcing, supply chain nerve centers, and contingency planning. Updating key policies and doctrines, such as Joint Publications …

Bullets, Bandages, And Fairy Dust: Improving Dmo Health Services Support With Wargaming, Debra D. Buckland-Coffey, Robert P. Gerbracht, Kengo Nishida, William R. Gureck

Joint Force Quarterly

This article argues that health services support remains insufficiently integrated into planning, wargaming, and exercises for distributed maritime operations and expeditionary advanced base operations. The authors describe the common practice of “fairy dusting,” in which planners accept unvalidated assumptions about medical support, casualty movement, logistics, and sustainment in order to keep exercises moving. In a contested Indo-Pacific environment, however, high casualty rates, extended evacuation timelines, dispersed forces, vulnerable supply chains, and limited medical capacity could place severe strain on existing health services systems. Drawing on doctrine, after-action reports, and interviews with Navy, Marine Corps, medical, and logistics leaders, the article …

Updating The Tacs/Aags For Large-Scale Combat Operations, Matthew Neuenswander

Joint Force Quarterly

This article reviews the evolution of the Theater Air Control System/Army Air-Ground System (TACS/AAGS) and assesses whether its current structure is adequate for large-scale combat operations. Since the Vietnam War, TACS/AAGS has provided the command-and-control framework for integrating Army and Air Force operations involving joint fires, close air support, air interdiction, airspace control, intelligence, and other air-ground missions. The author argues that decades of counterinsurgency operations, changing Army force structures, emerging long-range fires organizations, dispersed command posts, and Air Force reductions in Tactical Air Control Party personnel have created new challenges for joint air-ground integration. Additional complications include unresolved questions …

Determining Political Objectives, Milan Vego

Joint Force Quarterly

This article explains how political objectives shape grand strategy and national or coalition security strategy and argues that they must be realistic, achievable, and clearly articulated before military options are developed. Political leaders bear primary responsibility for determining these objectives but should incorporate the professional advice of senior military leaders. The author outlines a process that begins with a strategic estimate, identification and prioritization of national interests, and assessment of the enemy, available resources, and political assumptions. Political objectives may be offensive or defensive and limited or unlimited in scope, with their value and ambition affecting the level of effort, …

Is The Pla Overestimating The Potential Of Artificial Intelligence?, Koichiro Takagi

Joint Force Quarterly

This article analyzes how the People’s Liberation Army views the military potential and limitations of artificial intelligence as part of China’s broader drive toward “intelligentization.” Drawing on approximately 370 military theory articles published in PLA Daily in 2023, the author identifies four principal areas in which the PLA expects AI to transform warfare: situational awareness, military decisionmaking, unmanned weapons, and cognitive domain operations. PLA writings also discuss applications in training, logistics, and weapons development. At the same time, the PLA acknowledges significant risks, including unreliable or biased data, system malfunction, loss of human control, unintended escalation, legal and ethical concerns, …

Celtic Security In The Atlantic: How Does Ireland Secure Europe’S Western Flank?, Patrick J. Smith

Joint Force Quarterly

This article argues that Ireland has become a critical vulnerability on Europe’s western flank as Russian military activity exposes gaps in Irish air, maritime, and undersea infrastructure security. Ireland’s limited naval and air capabilities, lack of military radar, and geographic position near major transatlantic sea lanes and undersea cables create risks not only for Ireland but also for NATO and the broader transatlantic security architecture. The author considers two options for strengthening Irish defense: NATO membership or Major Non-NATO Ally status with the United States. Major Non-NATO Ally status could improve Ireland’s access to U.S. equipment, technology, training, and bilateral …

The Urgency Of Warfighting Renewal: Five Principles For Today’S Professional Military Education, Christopher M. Marcell, Gaylon L. Mcalpine, Reagan E. Schaupp, Joseph L. Varuolo

Joint Force Quarterly

This article argues that Professional Military Education must renew its focus on the art and science of warfighting in response to senior Department of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff guidance. Although PME programs have added content on China, Russia, and other contemporary challenges, the authors contend that topical updates alone do not address deeper concerns about whether military education is adequately preparing leaders for future conflict. They present five principles for reform: make warfighting the central purpose of PME; define and prioritize warfighting-related study more clearly; recognize PME degrees as professional degrees; treat joint and Service leadership as PME’s …

Being Believed: Persuasion And The Narrative In Military Operations, Brent A. Lawniczak

Joint Force Quarterly

This article explores the role of persuasive narratives in military operations and argues that being truthful is not enough; joint force narratives must also be believable and persuasive to intended audiences. Narratives provide context, coherence, and meaning to military actions and can shape perceptions, influence behavior, and support objectives across the competition continuum. The article identifies the core elements of a narrative, including setting, characters, plot, and moral, and explains key factors that contribute to persuasiveness, such as emotional appeal, simplicity, consistency, identification, trust, resonance, coherence, and alignment between words and actions. It also emphasizes the importance of understanding audience …

The Art Of Campaigning: Joint Planners Working At The Intersections Of Everything, Mary Bell, Edgar M. Hollandsworth, Thomas J. Snukis, Jeffrey Turner, Luke P. Bellocchi, Nicholas Anthony, Steve Tribble, Chris Botterbusch, Justin D. Harper

Joint Force Quarterly

This article explains the evolving concept of military campaigning and the complex role of joint planners in developing and executing Combatant Command Campaign Plans. Modern campaigning encompasses not only combat operations but also persistent activities intended to shape the strategic environment, create favorable conditions, and advance U.S. national objectives. The authors describe how joint planners translate strategic guidance and a combatant commander’s vision into operational approaches by integrating doctrine, operational design, intelligence, assessment, and activities across the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of war. The article also highlights the importance of strategic wargaming, collaboration across combatant commands and external partners, …

Adopting A Data-Centric Mindset For Operational Planning, Jeremiah Hurley, Morgan Greene

Joint Force Quarterly

The Department of Defense is investing in advanced technologies to maintain a competitive military advantage, but realizing their full value requires a data-first approach to operational planning. Jeremiah Hurley and Morgan Greene argue that DOD must improve how it collects, organizes, integrates, and uses data so commanders and staffs can understand the operational environment and develop and execute courses of action faster than adversaries. The article critiques current planning processes that rely on static products such as PowerPoint slides, spreadsheets, and email, and recommends incorporating standardized data collection templates, plans, matrices, automated data pipelines, and dynamic visualizations into joint and …

Preparing For Adversary Employment Of Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons: Tactical Effects, Operational Impacts, Strategic Implications, James H. Gifford

Joint Force Quarterly

For more than 30 years after the Cold War, the United States largely operated without facing the threat of nuclear weapons on the battlefield. Recent nuclear threats from adversaries such as Russia, however, have renewed the need to prepare for the possible use of nonstrategic nuclear weapons. This article explains the distinction between strategic and nonstrategic nuclear weapons and assesses the consequences of limited nuclear use at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of war. A nuclear strike could produce severe casualties and equipment losses at the tactical level, create medical, logistical, and civilian challenges at the operational level, and …