DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY PEDERSEN RANDRUP THOMAS university of copenhagen FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES faculty of social sciences UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN · PHD DISSERTATION 2017 · ISBN 978-87-7209-046-7

THOMAS RANDRUP PEDERSEN SOLDIERLY BECOMINGS A Grunt Ethnography of Denmark’s New ‘Warrior Generation’ SOLDIERLY BECOMINGS · A Grunt Ethnography of Denmark’s New Generation’‘Warrior

SOLDIERLY BECOMINGS A Grunt Ethnography of Denmark’s New ‘Warrior Generation’ PhD Dissertation 2017 | Thomas Randrup Pedersen

SOLDIERLY BECOMINGS A Grunt Ethnography of Denmark’s New ‘Warrior Generation’

Foreword

Department of Anthropology Faculty of Social Sciences University of Copenhagen

Submitted: August 2017

Supervisor: Birgitte Refslund Sørensen Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen

Soldierly Becomings A Grunt Ethnography of Denmark’s New ‘Warrior Generation’ PhD dissertation by Thomas Randrup Pedersen

This PhD is funded by the Danish Council for Independent Research | Humanities (FKK) (grant no. 0602-02345B)

Copyright  2017. Text and images: Thomas Randrup Pedersen

ISBN 978-87-7209-056-6 (ebook)

ISBN 978-87-7209-046-7 Printed by SL grafik, Frederiksberg, Denmark (slgrafik.dk)

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Only human

Once upon a time, I wore the Queen’s uniform. It was a few years after the end of the . In the Danish Armed Forces, my enemy still went by the name of Ivan. He did still come from , and conscription in Denmark was still for eight months. I was a conscripted private. Yet, no one had forced me into the military. I had been giv- en a choice. I could do military service either in the or in the Danish Civil Defence. Alternatively, I could become conscientious objector and do communi- ty service. I chose the former. I was curious, even adventurous. I wanted to try my strength on the armed forces. I wanted to get to know the military world from inside the fence. I was given a second choice. I could join the , navy or air force. I chose the latter and became an airman, or ‘flyer’ (‘flyver’), as members of the air force are nicknamed. In retrospect, I do not wonder so much about why I signed up for military service in the first place as why I decided to join the air force. After all, as conscript, it is not exactly as if one gets to fly anything. Perhaps I was just not as adventurous as I like to think. Perhaps I somehow deemed the navy, let alone the army, to be just a little too adventurous, a little too strenuous. After all, as the saying goes: ‘The Army sleeps un- der the stars, the Navy navigates by the stars, and the Air Force chooses their hotel by the number of stars’.1 Yet, I also suspect Hollywood and, by implication, the Pentagon (cf. Robb 2004) had a finger in the pie. After all, back then in the early 1990s, I did still have a young Tom Cruise fresh in my mind as ‘Maverick’, the heroic US Navy Jet Fighter Pilot in Tom Scott’s Top Gun (1986). Scott’s action drama not only became a box office success, but also a very successful military recruitment video: the numbers of young men who joined the US Navy in the hope of becoming navy aviators went up by a staggering 500 per cent (ibid.). Perhaps I should not have been so surprised to learn that, among those of my three classmates who joined the armed forces after up- per-secondary school, two signed up for the like me. At the end of my military service, I was given a third choice: I could seek enlist- ment either in the Royal Danish Air Force Officers Academy or in the Danish Interna- tional Brigade. The former held out the promise of my becoming a leader, the latter a peacekeeper. A military officer? Why not? After all, my father once served in the army as a second lieutenant, and when I was playing war as child, did I then not always want

1 In Danish, ‘Hæren sover under stjernerne, søværnet navigerer efter stjernerne, og flyveåbnet væl- ger hotel ud fra antallet af stjerner’.

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to be the commander that the other kids would follow through thick and thin? A Contents peacekeeper? Why not? After all, war was waged as close to home as the Balkans, and when I was playing soldiers as a child, did I not then always want to protect the weak Foreword | Only human 3 and the wounded? Eventually, I rejected both options. Perhaps my courage failed me, or perhaps I did not want to break my mother’s heart. Perhaps my convictions were Tables | Maps and figures 10 closer to those of the dove than to those of the hawk. Perhaps I simply reckoned that I Abbreviations 11 was too weedy and too impractical to ever truly become a competent officer or peace- Acknowledgements 13 keeper, let alone a ‘true warrior’. Instead, I took the decision to deploy to Uganda with the Red Cross Youth and lat- Prologue | Highway adventures 21 er to enrol in academia within the discipline of social anthropology. Why? However Chapter 1 | Introduction: Target designations 33 naïve it may be, to make the world a better place; to make the much-famed difference. Chapter 2 | Background brief alpha: Old news from the ‘home front’ 53 Yet, at the same time, I did also choose both the Red Cross and academia because I wanted to test myself, to fashion myself and become somebody, not just anybody. As a Chapter 3 | Background brief bravo: Warrior nation 2.0 73 result, there seems to be a deep resonance between my own project of self-becoming Chapter 4 | Analytical incursions, theoretical positions: Soldierly becomings 95 and those of the Danish soldiers who are my interlocutors in the present study. Becom- Chapter 5 | Methodological manoeuvres: Anthropologist in arms 117 ing, it seems, is only human, however militant and warlike it may be. Chapter 6 | Terrain orientatons: Garrison Denmark, Camp Afghanistan 149 154 Hussars 166 ‘Vikings’ 181

The articles: Publication overview 197 (i) Get Real: Chasing Danish warrior dreams in the Afghan 'sandbox' 199 (ii) War/Law/Morality: Battling for the warrior's moral high ground in the civilianised war 227

(iii) The Willing: Danish combat troops from endurance, through edgework, to engagement 251

Chapter 7 | Conclusion: Happiness is a warm gun? 273 References 285 Appendix 1 | Denmark's military contributions to international operations since 1948 315

Appendix 2 | Order of Battle, DANCON/ISAF RC (S/SW) 319

Appendix 3 | 1st Brigade and Regiment - organisation 320

Appendix 4 | 2nd Brigade and Guard Hussar Regiment - organisation 321

Appendix 5 | Loki, Tank Detachment and Fenrir - organisation 322

Appendix 6 | Badges and Insignia of the Royal Danish Army 323

Summary 325

Dansk resumé 327

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Tables | Maps and figures Abbreviations

AAA American Anthropological Association ABT Army Basic Training ANA APC Armoured Personnel Carrier Maps ARF Army Reaction Force Map 1: Key field sites, Denmark 15 BRAC-T Base Relocation and Closure – Transition CF NSN Combined Force Nahr-e Saraj (North) Map 2: Provinces of Afghanistan 16 CIMIC Civil-Military Cooperation CISCEN Communication and Information System Centre Map 3: Highway One, Afghanistan 17 CO Conscientious Objector COIN Counter-insurgency Map 4: Helmand Province 18 COMISAF Commander-in-Chief of the International Security Assistance Force CSF2 Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness Map 5: ‘Green Zone’, central Helmand 19 DANCON Danish Contingent DDEO Danish Defence Estates and Infrastructure Organisation DDPO Danish Defence Personnel Organisation ECM Electronic Counter-Measures Figures EFP Enhanced Forward Presence Figure 1: MRAP Cougar, Fenrir, Foxtrot Range, Bastion-Leatherneck-Shorabak 1 EOD Explosive Ordnance Disposal EU European Union Figure 2: Badge Drill, 3rd Training Squadron, Bornholm 4 EW Electronic Warfare FOB Forward Operating Base Figure 3: Highway One-mugs, Danish PX, Camp Viking 22 GHR Guard Hussar Regiment GIRoA Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Figure 4: Commander’s update brief, Loki, operational zone, Camp Viking 34 HPRT Helmand Provisional Reconstruction Team HQ Headquarters Figure 5: Rotation, outbound, Roskilde Airport 54 IDF Indirect Fire IED Improvised Explosive Device Figure 6: The Army’s Monument to the Fallen in Helmand, parade ground, Camp Viking 74 IFV Infantry Fighting Vehicle IHL International Humanitarian Law Figure 7: Haircut, Loki, accommodation pod, Camp Midgaard 96 ISAF International Security Assistance Force ISIL Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Figure 8: Target practice, anthropologist with Loki instructor, pistol range, Camp Bastion 118 ISTAR Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance JDR Jutland Dragoon Regiment Figure 9: Main gate, Camp Viking 150 JOB Joint Operating Base JROTC Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps Figure 10: Leopard 2A5 fire adjustment ranging, Fenrir personnel recording Loki, KBR Kellogg, Brown and Root Foxtrot Range, Bastion-Leatherneck-Shorabak 200 KFOR Kosovo Force MECH INF Mechanised Infantry Figure 11: Deployment parade, Loki, Camp Oksbøl 228 MEDEVAC Medical Evacuation MOB Main Operating Base Figure 12: Pull-ups, Loki, CrossFit field, Camp Midgaard 252 MoD Ministry of Defence MP Figure 13: Muzzle cover, tank gun, Loki operational zone, Camp Viking 274 MRAP Mine Resistant Ambush Protected MRX Mission Rehearsal Exercise NAAFI Navy, Army, and Air Force Institutes NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NCO Non-Commissioned Officer NSE National Support Element OEF-A Operation Enduring Freedom Afghanistan 10 11

OFS Operation Freedom’s Sentinel OHW Overhead Weapon Station Acknowledgements OIF Operation Iraqi Freedom OP Operation or Observation Post This PhD dissertation is funded by the Danish Council for Independent Research | OPLAW Operational Law Humanities (FKK) (grant no. 0602-02345B). I wish to thank the Council for its open- OSCE Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe PB Patrol Base minded support without which my doctoral studies would not have been possible. Re- PKM Pulemyot Kalashnikova Modernizirovany (Kalashnikov’s modernised machine gun) flecting the collaborative efforts of doing anthropological research, I am deeply in- POC Point of Contact debted to the many people who have contributed to the generation of my empirical POG Person Other than Grunt or Posted on Garrison material and to the continuous formation of my thinking and doing. POMLT Police Operational Mentoring Liaison Team PRT Provisional Reconstruction Team At Defence Command Denmark, I would like to thank the Operations Staff for PTDS Persistent Threat Detection System supporting my research proposal and granting me access to rank and file troops on the PTSD Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder ground in both Denmark and Afghanistan. I owe all the soldiers and officers with PX Post Exchange RC Regional Command whom I have carried out my fieldwork for this dissertation a debt of gratitude for ac- RC(S) Regional Command (South) cepting me into their ranks and for generously sharing their time and place in the world RC(SW) Regional Command (South West) with me. For reasons of confidentiality, I cannot mention the names of the military Recce Reconnaissance ROE Rules of Engagement personnel who have entrusted their thoughts and feelings to me. However, I can name RPG Rocket-Propelled Grenade and voice my profound appreciation of the two regiments to which the vast majority of RSM my interlocutors belong, namely, the Jutland Dragoon Regiment in and the RSOI Reception, Staging, Onward-moving and Integration SOF Special Operations Forces Guard Hussar Regiment in Rønne and . Special thanks are due to those sol- SOP Standard Operating Procedure diers and officers who have laboriously commented on my draft articles and patiently STRONG Schofield Barracks Training and Research on Neurobehavioral Growth responded to my steady flow of questions seeking clarification. TACP Tactical Air Control Party I would like to thank everyone at the University of Copenhagen’s Department of TCCC Tactical Combat Casualty Care TFBW Task Force Belleau Wood Anthropology for its progressive and challenging work environment. In particular, I TFH Task Force Helmand wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Birgitte Refslund Sørensen. TOC Tactical Operations Centre Her collegiality has gone far beyond the ordinary, her engagement with my work and UAS Unmanned Aircraft System UN United Nations with the world at large has always been critical, and her involvement in the veteran UNIFIL United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon community has consistently been highly admirable. I also wish to thank Birgitte for UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime her strong commitment, back in early 2012, to our joint development of the collabora- UNPROFOR United Nations Protection Force UNTSO United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation tive research project Soldier and Society: Anthropological Perspectives, in which my US United States PhD project is included, and which has kept me occupied with things military ever USMC United States Marine Corps since. I also owe many thanks to Mads Daugbjerg (Aarhus University) and to Maj USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics YMCA Young Men’s Christian Association Hedegaard Heiselberg for the often-heated discussions we have had on the Soldier and Society Research Team. I further wish to acknowledge my appreciation of the thought-provoking debates in the Conflict, Power, and Politics Researcher Group. Special thanks are due to Stine Krøijer, Henrik Hvenegaard Mikkelsen, Perle Møhl, Lotte Buch Segal, Atreyee Sen and Henrik E. Vigh for taking a lively interest in my work. In the network group, Cross Field: Military Anthropology, I would like to thank particularly Sara la Cour, Alice Elmerkjær, Sebastian Mohr (Aarhus University), Beate Sløk-Andersen and Matti Weisdorf for comments and questions from which this dissertation has benefited great- ly. Among my fellow PhD students, I wish to extend my warm thanks to Helle Harnisch (Aarhus University), Iben Karlsen, Marie Kolling, Christina Algreen- 12 13

Petersen Leeson, Mette My Madsen, Ida Sofie Matzen, Camilla Ida Ravnbøl, and Line Richter for taking turns in their detailed desiccations of my drafts. I am particularly indebted to Anja Simonsen for courageously taking it upon herself to read my final draft from cover to cover, to Humphrey Asamoah Agyekum for being Humphrey Asamoah Agyekum, and not least to Trine Brinkmann for being there for me when I needed it the most. The past four years or so have been quite a ride, and not always an easy one. As always life has proved to be full of tribulations. In that respect, I wish to thank Tine Gammeltoft and Ditte Wachs for their warm support. In connection with my affiliation as research graduate student at the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a million thanks are due to C. Jason Throop for taking me under his wing and for his always truly in- spiring engagement with my work. I am deeply grateful for all the time, coffee and ideas he shared with me. I would also like to express my appreciation for the often philosophically informed debates in the interdisciplinary interest group Mind, Medi- cine, and Culture (MMAC). I would especially like to thank Jaden Netwig and Chris- topher Stephan for becoming involved in my research. I would like to thank Sabine Frühstück of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) for warmly welcoming me and entering into dia- logue with me on topics that, as it has turned out, only linger on the margins of this dissertation, such as ‘playing war’ and ‘feminist militarists’. In the Danish-Israeli-Japanese network group, The Anthropology of Contemporary Civil-Military Entanglements (ACCME), I would particularly like to offer many thanks to Eyal Ben-Ari, Morten Brænder, Nir Gazit and Erella Grassiani for their comparative and challenging perspectives on my work. As for the journal Critical Mil- itary Studies, I would like to thank Kevin McSorley and his fellow (and still anony- mous) peer reviewer for their critical but constructive comments from which the first of the three articles in this dissertation has benefited tremendously. I wish to thank Mikkel Bille of Roskilde University’s Department of People and Technology for un- derstanding, if not actually sharing, my interest in the thingness of things military. I would also like to thank Rane Willerslev at the National Museum of Denmark for his enthusiastic response to my work, which gave me a much-needed shot in the arm. I owe great many thanks to my writing coach Mirjam Godskesen for ceaselessly cheering me on, for teaching me a trick or two about writing, and for reminding me to take breaks and breathe. Many thanks are also due to Alison Crosley Stent (article one) and Robert Parkin (everything else) for their very careful copyediting and thorough proofreading. Finally, I wish to thank my family and friends for their relentless care and support. Thank you for bearing with my all too frequent absences. I am grateful to have you, one and all, in my life. Last but not least, I owe very special thanks to my partner Mette, who has had to put up with so much in the past few years. Her fighting spirit is truly remarkable. I would not have made it without her. Thank you for keeping the faith.

Thomas Randrup Pedersen,

Copenhagen, August 2017 14 15