The Dilemmas of Combining Military and Academic Studies - The Israeli Experience LtCol Amira Raviv* ike any professional military in is moulded into the concept of the For a long time now, the military pro- a democratic country, the Israeli officers training fession has been perceived as interdisci- Defence Forces (IDF), and espe- The Colleges mission is to train se- plinary in essence, and this is surely the cially the Colleges, have to train officers nior officers for the tasks they will have case in times like these, which are who can meet challenges successfully to perform - to create a conceptual infra- characterised by many changes, complex At the Military Colleges, we consider structure, to broaden their horizons, to threats, conflicts and warfare, and in which the military profession as a vocation in nurture their intellectual curiosity while there is an ongoing dialogue between the the full sense of the word The focusing on military and defence issues military and society Such a profession professions uniqueness is expressed in in the specific context of the IDF and the demands an interdisciplinary understand- its definition as an art and a science state of Israel The Israeli Defence Forces ing of different knowledge structures, The two art and science exist in a is a military organisation which operates including history, education, science, cul- state of mutual tension between the in- in a most complicated environment, de- ture, ethics, psychology, philosophy, strat- tuitive and the analytic, between under- fending the country minute-by-minute, egy, and tactics It is a profession that standing and knowledge, between con- day-by-day, against conventional and non- demands thought, vision and application, ceptual development and its translation conventional threats, including, of course, team leading, historical and moral con- to a concrete goal This dialectic unity the threat of terror sciousness, abstract thinking together with * LtCol Amira Raviv ?is a Head of Learning and Development Center, IDF Colleges 7 performance, planning and organisation, First of all, let us have a look at the 5 which will eventually become part of the self-inquiry and criticism IDF Colleges, and the way they interact IDF Colleges This perception constitutes a major with the officers career Division Commanders will learn the influence on the way in which curricula Seeing and analysing the professional operational level in another course It should are constructed in the Colleges, and the growth of the Israeli officer will make it be pointed out, by the way, that most of way the trainees command concept is clearer Let us examine the growth of an the professional staff officers (engineers, law- developed The task is not at all simple army officer as an example Recruitment yers and the like) acquire their BA degrees How can such a diverse person be de- to the army takes place at the age of 18 A on their own time outside the college signed? How do you raise such a soldier? soldier becomes a commander - goes to a As we can see, current military- aca- What sort of education will be appropri- cadet school - approximately at the age of demic interaction is characterised by de- ate and will manage to do it all? 20, after which he acquires his first com- pendency on two universities: Haifa and In this article, I will briefly try to por- missioned officers rank and becomes a Jerusalem We still do not give our own tray our dilemmas, as well as some of the platoon leader From then on, all the academic degrees, although we plan to do answers However, it is necessary to start major professional turning points in his so in the future with a short introduction which will de- career will involve one institution or an- Academic studies, in our eyes possess scribe the special professional training of other of the Colleges Command He will three important advantages: they develop commanders in the IDF; I will then go study two years in the Tactical Command certain competences and abilities; they on to describe the interaction of the College and become a company leader provide some highly important instru- Colleges Command with the academic Then he will come back to us at the age mental values, and, last but not least, they world in Israel, and then discuss the way of approx 30 to the CGSC, where he truly support the military profession Any we perceive the worth and the value of can study in one of our three institu- army wishes to promote officers intellec- academic studies The heart of this article tions: the Joint Staff Course, the Air tually: by encouraging their spirit of in- will present the embedded contradictions Squadron Course and the General Com- quiry, by encouraging them to explore between military and academic studies in mand and Staff Course for Land Brigade their surroundings, by providing them our view, refer to the commanders role Leaders Then he will go on to the Na- with research skills the ability to collect in this process, and finally portray our tional Defence College Senior manage- and analyse data wisely, they enhance and campus vision rial training is part of another course, develop their systematic approach to in- 8 terpreting reality and learning to under- However, at this point, we should ask his own moves and those of the environ- stand interactions between realms of ourselves: can we really separate between ment, to be able to change and to be knowledge or disciplines In addition, they military and academic studies? Is a course changed Perhaps in the armed forces more learn more about the complex world they on Military Ethics, a seminar in Military than anywhere else a leader should know live in, broaden their horizons, and de- Psychology or Military History merely how to walk against the current, to be velop the ability to ask, not only to an- academic? Is it not rather at the heart of doubtful, not to conform, to search for swer And no less important- a soldier has our profession? And conversely: Is a course a new order, to ask questions about the to be integrated into his own society We in Tactics, Command and Control or benefits of a course of action, to drill attach great importance to maintaining Military Law given by our staff and colo- alternative models in his mind for dialogue between the military and civil- nels, that gives full academic credit, not analysing reality that of his unit as ian society in every aspect, including by to be considered academic? Sometimes the well as the enemys In a complex and mutual study line between the two is not so clear-cut dynamic world, this ability is vital for However, we are not naïve: academic Having said all that, we can now pro- success, to be able to anticipate the degrees also provide extrinsic benefits ceed to an analysis of our eight dilem- enemys moves, thoughts and perfor- They mean higher salaries, better social mas, pointing out some embedded con- mance Nevertheless, military command mobility, especially when officers begin a tradictions between military and academic structure is based on the idea of cohe- second career (after the age of 50) By send- studies sion, continuity, unified language, dis- ing better educated officers into the civil cipline and a unified goal Only so can service and the business world, we indi- 1 The Dilemma Between a human being find the strength to rise rectly contribute to an improved society, Academic Scepticism and up and act against its own nature and and nation Military Discipline endanger its life Both a commander and But the most crucial benefit of them all subordinate must obey orders, other- is their real contribution to the military Is it right to educate toward self-reli- wise anarchy would ensue Discipline is, profession, which is multidisciplinary ance and undermining the system, or among other things, the professional Academic subjects shed light on implicit toward discipline and obedience? reasoning for performing ones tasks dimensions and add validity and depth to A leader must possess, among other It makes it possible to rely on a hierar- the military profession things, the ability to critically examine chical authority structure contained in 9 orders and a systematic comprehension nation, and reward each of these A solution? We try to build subject clus- of the superior echelons intentions The students appraisal is not based on nar- ters The cluster itself is obligatory (for question is, what is the role of the Col- row questions, having a single right an- example, World War II); however stu- leges in this? How does one build an of- swer, but on a diverse and rich vision of dents can focus and choose within it ficer to function in the tension between reality All this is done without making We also enable our students to do re- these poles? any concessions on normative military search on topics that appeal to and suit The solution to this dilemma is found codes: dress, schedule, reporting, their interest But, as mentioned above, in setting a proper mix of clear external honouring high-ranking commanders and most of the courses cannot be omitted normative rules and a common profes- systematic explanations of different pro- from our college curriculum sional base These are based on the idea fessional opinions 3 Time Consumed by Academic of a military command structure vis-à-vis 2 The Dilemma Between Choices Studies vs Time Consumed by an intellectual dialogue and academic cul- in Curriculum and Military Subjects ture Obligatory Courses In the Colleges, we attempt to develop The academic courses can be very de- a sceptical