ABSTRACT

This article explores how military ‘frontline workers’ use their discretion to interpret and then comply, breach or bypass policies that reach into the tactical level, and why. Based on extensive primary sources including in-depth interviews, end-of-tour reports and data from records, the case study explores the implementation of policies on civil-military relations by military commanders in the Norwegian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Afghanistan in 2005–2012. This article finds that the commanders used their considerable discretion to implement policies that parted from national directives. In doing so, the Norwegian military strove to align their approach with close allies and NATO and became actual policy-makers. This article contributes to the debate on how western militaries behave at the tactical level by employing the concept of ‘discretion’.

摘要

本文探讨了军事“前线工作人员”如何使用他们的自由裁量权来解释并遵守、违反或绕过达到战术层面的政策，以及原因。该案例研究基于深度访谈、旅行结束报告和记录数据等广泛的主要来源，探讨了挪威领导的省重建队 (PRT) 的军事指挥官执行军民关系政策的情况。 2005-2012 年的阿富汗。本文发现，指挥官使用了相当大的自由裁量权来执行与国家指令不同的政策。在这样做的过程中，挪威军方努力使他们的方法与亲密的盟友和北约保持一致，并成为实际的决策者。