Rikke Haugegaard defends her PhD thesis at the Department of Anthropology
Candidate
Rikke Haugegaard, Department of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen.
Title
CULTIVATING THE DANGER ZONE: Body, Water and Agility in Naval Special Warfare Training
Supervisors
- Professor Henrik Vigh, University of Copenhagen
Committee
- Professor Susan Whyte, University of Copenhagen
- Director of Research Kerry B. Fosher, US Marine Corps University
- Professor Robert A. Rubinstein, Syracuse University
Time and Place
Thursday the 24th of October 2024, 3:30 PM
University of Copenhagen, City Campus CSS 35.01.06
Øster Farimagsgade 5
1353 Copenhagen K
Reception:
After the defense, the Department will host a reception in the foyer of building 35
Zoom-Link
https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/69201307300?pwd=AOqmMnXjU8Fj2fnFTbMYvOUQozxGV8.1
Summary
This dissertation tells a story about military capacity building. The project is inspired by discussions about the future role of special operations forces. Military assistance is a trend in the task portfolio of these forces. The project looks at Military assistance conducted by naval special operations forces, unfolding the international and cultural context for these efforts. Hence, the dissertation is an empirical contribution to anthropological research on military training and international security cooperation.
Through field studies with the Danish Frogman Corps in Nigeria, Ghana and Denmark, I have explored vital components for building professional intuitive expertise. In addition, the project elucidates examples of how these learning processes are adapted in a cross-cultural, military learning environment. The wish to assist the government of Ghana with capacity building of a naval special boat squadron is a response to criminality at sea.
The research project is based on more than seven months of field studies in military locations in Nigeria, Denmark and Ghana. The dissertation is article-based, consisting of a frame, three scientific articles and a conclusion. The training of Ghana Navy Special Boat Squadron is examined in articles 1 and 2, focusing on details of the training curriculum such as close-quarters battle and water habituation training. In article 1, ‘Fighting Danger at Sea – the Quest for Speed in Special Operations’, I found the concepts of ‘speed’ (Duclos 2017; Virilio 2006) and ‘acceleration’ (Rosa 2003) helpful. The discussion focus is on speed in body techniques, but also as tempo in the learning process. In article 2, ‘The Power of Water – How Naval Special Warfare Operators Cultivate the Danger Zone’, central analytical concepts are ‘edgework’ (Lyng 2014; Lyng 2005) and ‘secondary socialization’ (Berger and Luckmann 1991). In the two articles, I argue that the training is focused on refining body movements and mental agility. Thereby, achieving time efficiency through speed, superiority in battle situations and optimization of operations. The purpose is to teach the soldiers to be alert and to learn to ‘flex’ quickly between different solutions. A misjudgment can be fatal, and team members can be injured or die. Thus, their ability to stay calm during combat situations is battle-decisive, involving intuitive expert decision-making (Dreyfus and Dreyfus 1986). Thus, naval special warfare is professional work on the edge, where soldiers learn to perform edgework (Lyng 2014) by navigating the space between uncertainty and control. The training prepares them for creative thinking and adaptability in war.
Article 3, ‘The Frigate and the Firefight: A Counter-piracy Operation in the Gulf of Guinea,’ discusses the deployment of the Frogman Corps with the Danish Navy frigate Esbern Snare. Inspired by situational analysis (Gluckman 1940), the article focus on a lethal incident in the Gulf of Guinea, where the Danish Navy stopped suspected pirates. The analysis reveals several factors, based on ethnographic fieldwork and retrospective interviewing, namely the political decision leading to deployment of the frigate, the economic interests of the shipping industry and the details of the confrontation at sea.
The conclusion summarizes the findings, gathering the analytical threads to provide an understanding of naval special warfare training as cultivation of the danger zone.