Contenu du sommaire : L'administration des armes

Responding to Change. A review of the major factors that have affected major West European armed forces in the past 30 years reveals two types of administrative response taking account of the need for consistency with defense objectives. One response consists of bridging the gap with society, becoming more democratic and open to outside influences, curtailing hierarchical authority and instilling new attitudes. In the second type of response, ‘civilianization' jeopardizes the stability and identity of the armed forces. Advanced technology, administrative reforms and consumer thinking have encouraged critical awareness in the population that reduces the appeal of the military profession to vocational training that paves the way for a lucrative civilian career. Responding to change involves coping with two extremes without sliding from adequate self-sufficiency into militarism or from minimum subsistence levels into operational effectiveness that would deprive the armed forces of their raison d'être.

Defense Administration Hierarchy. The structure and operation of the military establishment is unique in many ways. Above ail, both civilians and military sit in the Minister's Cabinet. The supreme body consists of four tiers : CEMA, who define national defense policy and the DGA, the chief procurement officer ; the army, navy and air force chiefs of staff ; their individual personnel, budget and legal departments ; and controllors and inspectors general. The three fundamental operating principles of defense administration are civilian supremacy, balanced forces, and the rise of DGA as the key decisionmaker. This central body is seconded by similar bodies proper to each service, organized along territorial lines and resulting in two coexisting hierarchies for each service branch.

People Systems for Weapons Systems : Developments in Pension Administration. The crisis of the military reached its apogee in the mid 1970's, leading to three major periods of reform. In 1972, general statutes were adopted to balance off the rights and obligations of the French State and military commands against those of military personnel. In 1973-1980, specific statutes were implemented, and measures taken to retrain existing personnel for new functions and ensure adequate compensation. Since 1980, thinking has centered on personnel and administrative management techniques and the need to broaden recruitment and differentiate new job qualifications, which have been leading to more flexible regulations.

Current Trends in Military Management. War and thrift are diametrically opposed concepts to most citizens. Nonetheless, the armed services have undertaken a vast modernization program since the 1960's for political, economic and technological reasons, based on Planning, Programming & Budget Preparation ('3PB') and Budget Priority Sequencing (RC B). This resulted in the creation of the 1970-1975 Five Year Military Plan, financial planning & management services and economic advisory staff at ministerial level. Despite the setbacks and the difficulty of quantifying the resulting gains, this program has provided military decisionmakers with awareness of the value of management techniques, who used to consider combat and management techniques as mutually opposing notions.

Financial Planning and Budgeting. Financial management depends on a series of short, medium and long term estimates prepared in the runup to each five year military plan bill, as well as annual runups to national budget bills. Actual spending is monitored during regular meetings, ongoing coordination with the finance department, chiefs of staff and the authorities responsible for providing and supervising the funds. At this level, the main problems are external events and unforeseeables. DGA, the procurement body, translates operational needs, as defined by the chiefs of staff, into equipment specifications and either carries out the work itself or contracts it out to private industry. Although some degree of flexibility is possible, the armed forces are no ‘market' with a specific ‘product' in the standard sense of these terms. Surviving on public funds, it cannot readily escape the restrictions of budget regulations and government accounting principles.

Emancipated Administration of the 27th Mountain Battalion. The 27th Mountain Battalion (Annecy) is being administered in a novel way. He calls for tenders and commits funds on his own authority for local procurement of most supplies (except fuel). This enhances battalion integration into the local economy. Any savings are re-allocated at the discretion of the unit commander. In addition, contract followup and cash flow are microprocessed.

Defense Rresearch. Defense research is defined in terms of scope, organization and openness. It consumes 1/3 of the total national research budget. A high degree of cooperation at ail levels is required between weapons designers and end users. Working relationships with the scientific community at large both in government and in research laboratories are expanding. The Ministry of Defense farms out over 60 % development to industry, thereby opening up a new two-way information flow that contributes to weapons development and benefits the national economy.

Office of the Inspector General. Directly subordinated to the Ministry of Defense, the Inspector General (IG) differs markedly from other monitoring and inspection bodies. This is due to history, geographically distributed duties and services and a dualistic tradition of civilian and military control. IG duties have kept pace with the military establishment : deterrence strategy led the IG to obtain thorough insight into preparedness and to enforce strict cost control. The radical changes to military thinking resulting from advanced technology caused the IG to ensure coherent coordination of procurement policy.

The Uncontrolled and Uncontrollable Bureaucracy of French Defense. The record of ineffective operational capabilities, materiel of debatable quality and chronic program delays ail reflect the standards of preparedness, which are a function of peacetime defense administration. Interservice coordination is effected by a hierarchical pyramid and the resulting concertation is at best superficial. In terms of preparedness and administration, an important communication channel between civilians and the military was cut when the posts of army, navy and air force secretary of state were abolished. In terms of procurement, development planning and budget followup has been delegated to department level. Defense development engineers are so influential that defense doctrine has to be adapted to weapons systems rather than the opposite.

Military Assistance Programs. Africa has assumed geostrategic importance, making military assistance a key element of French foreign policy. Aid is covered by accords de défense with the Ministry of Defense and/or conventions d'assistance militaire technique with the Military Cooperation Mission (MCM). The extent of the latter has doubled in the past 15 years. Aid takes three forms : (a) materiel, (b) military advisors, and (c), officer & NCO training. The MCM budget has not changed since 1978 ; furthermore, there is a chronic gap between the allocated budget and actual outlays, which complicates MCM capability to respond to individual African aid requests.

Alternative National Service. Alternative service overseas has changed considerably since its inception in 1965, and now concerns the Ministries of Foreign Aid, Foreign Affairs, Economies & Finance and Foreign Trade. Recruiting and processing procedures have been streamlined. It was initially concentrated on Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, later extending to French-speaking Africa and, more recently, to industrialized countries. Developing countries now require more highly specialized personnel. Originally intended for developing countries, alternative service now extends into highly industrial countries, where personnel contribute to broadening trade relations and spreading French cultural values.

Logistical Support for Rapid Deployment Forces. French obligations in Africa require a capability to support military operations overseas based on good knowledge of local conditions and, wherever feasible, on prepositioned materiel. Long range logistics (e.g. cargo aircraft, communications, fuel supplies, field hospitals in support of substantial forces mobilized at short notice cannot be improvized. Epervier (Chad, 1986) and Promethée (Gulf of Oman, 1987) are two examples of ongoing RDF operations.

Career Paths for Commissioned & Non-Commissioned Officers in the Federal German Army and Retraining for Civilian Employment. One major concern in creating the Federal German Bundeswehr shortly after World War II was to avoid any hint that German militarism subsisted. Thus, commissioned and non-commissioned officers enjoy civil service status of maximum possible parity with that of other civil services. Moreover, original concepts have been adopted to recruit a broad range of candidates, as well as to ensure thorough job training and a smooth return to civilian life after 12 -15 years' service.

Administration of a Professional Army in Britain. British armed forces have relied entirely on volunteers for 25 years. Much attention has been paid to recruitment policy, pay scales, career paths, living standards and job satisfaction in order to attract the right personnel. Reassignment of certain duties to civilian personnel has reduced costs. Reserve forces consist not only of veterans but of specially-recruited volunteers as well. Abolishing conscription does reduce materiel requirements, but greater savings have resulted from ‘sleeping contracts' which provide for the callup of civilian materiel in case of conflict. The article concludes by reviewing the lessons of operational administration taught by the 1982 Falklands War.