A military attaché is a

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

expert who is attached to a

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...

, often an

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...

. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opportunities sometimes arise for service in the field with military forces of another

sovereign state A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined ter ...

. The attache has the privileges of a foreign diplomat.

History

An early example, General

Edward Stopford Claremont General Edward Stopford Claremont CB (23 January 1819 – 16 July 1890) was a British soldier who was the United Kingdom's first military attaché, holding the post in Paris for 25 years. Birth Stopford Claremont was born in Paris with the name ...

, served as the first British military attaché (at first described as "military commissioner") based in Paris for 25 years from 1856 to 1881. Though based in the embassy, he was attached to the French army command during the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

of 1853-1856 and later campaigns. The functions of a military attaché are illustrated by actions of U.S. military attachés in Japan around the time of the

Russo-Japanese war The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

of 1904–1905. A series of military officers had been assigned to the American diplomatic mission in Tokyo since 1901, when the U.S. and Japan were co-operating closely in response to the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an Xenophobia, anti-foreign, anti-colonialism, anti-colonial, and Persecution of Christians#China, anti-Christian uprising in China ...

of 1899-1901 in China. The military attaché advised the United States Ambassador to Japan on military matters, acted as a liaison between

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

and the

Imperial General Headquarters The was part of the Supreme War Council and was established in 1893 to coordinate efforts between the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during wartime. In terms of function, it was approximately equivalent to the United States ...

, and gathered and disseminated

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can ...

. The military attaché's office in Tokyo usually had two assistants and a number of "language officers" who were assigned specifically to learn Japanese while attached to

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emper ...

regiments as observers. These "language officers" translated training and technical manuals and reported on conditions in Japanese military units. During the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

(1904–1905), military attachés from many Western military organizations served as observers with the land and naval forces of Russia and of Japan. The United States Army detailed eight officers to serve as military attachés with opposing forces in the field; and all served from the start of hostilities in 1904 through the signing of the peace protocols in September 1905. After the war, the reports of British officers attached to the Japanese forces in the field were combined and published in four volumes. During this conflict, some attachés served primarily in Manchuria, and others served primarily in Tokyo. Some, like Italian naval officer Ernesto Burzagli, saw service both at sea and in Tokyo. The agreed conditions that allow military attachés to gather information can be misunderstood with fatal results. United States military attaché Maj. Arthur D. Nicholson was killed on March 24, 1985, while photographing a military installation in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

northwest of Berlin. He was reportedly observing from a point not marked off-limits, though near a place that was. According to Sgt. Jessie Schatz, Nicholson's driver, there were no warning shots and the Soviets refused to give Nicholson medical attention for nearly an hour. His role had been agreed to by the United States and the Soviet Union. Soviet liaison-teams were conducting similar missions in West Germany. These tours had evolved into a legalized form of intelligence-gathering, usually accepted by both sides. The killing became a diplomatic incident. In retaliation, the United States expelled Soviet military attaché Stanislav Gromov, who was selected for his effectiveness in collecting intelligence on the United States for the Soviet Union from his post in Washington.

Notes and references

References

* Craig, Gordon A. "Military diplomats in the Prussian and German service: the attachés, 1816-1914." ''Political Science Quarterly'' (1949): 65-94
online
* Cullen, Glen T. (1999)
"Preparing for battle: Learning Lessons in the US Army during World War I."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College ( CGSC)
Combined Arms Research Library
* _____, Office of the Chief of Staff, Second (military) Information Division. (1906). ''Reports of the Military Observers attached to the Armies in Manchuria during the Russo-Japanese War'', Vol. I; (1907). Vol. II. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. * Hadley, Tim. ''Military Diplomacy in the Dual Alliance: German Military Attaché Reporting from Vienna, 1879–1914'' (Lexington Books, 2015). * Prout, John. "The origins of the military attaché corps." ''American Intelligence Journal'' (2002): 47-55
online
* Sisemore, James D. (2003)
"The Russo-Japanese War, Lessons Not Learned."
CGSC. * _____. (1907). ''The Russo-Japanese War, Reports from British Officers Attached to the Japanese Forces in the Field'', Vol. I; (1908). Vol. II. London: General Staff. * Trumpener, Ulrich. "The Service Attachés and Military Plenipotentiaries of Imperial Germany, 1871–1918." ''The International History Review'' 9#4 (1987): 621-638. https://doi.org/10.1080/07075332.1987.9640462 {{DEFAULTSORT:Military attache Diplomats by role Military command staff occupations Titles

History

See also

Notes and references

References