thumb|250px|The Chilean defense attaché in Panama (right) receiving a briefing on the armament of the from the ship's executive officer (2010)
A military attaché or defence attaché (DA), sometimes known as a "military diplomat", is an official responsible for military matters within a diplomatic mission, typically an embassy. They are usually high-ranking members of the armed forces who retain their commission while being accorded full diplomatic status and immunity.
Generally, a military attaché serves as a representative of their country's defense establishment, with responsibility over all aspects of bilateral military and defense relations.
During the Russo-Japanese War (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 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.
See also
- Arms industry
- Defense Attaché System (US)
- Defence diplomacy
- Diplomat
- Military attachés and observers in the Russo-Japanese War
- Military attachés and war correspondents in the First World War
- Science attaché
- United Nations Military Observer
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. The Service Attachés and Military Plenipotentiaries of Imperial Germany, 1871–1918