True to Their Salt: Indigenous Personnel in Western Armed Forces [Hardcover]

Within the last decade, the Iraqi Army and the Afghan National Army brought together local fighters, militias, and former insurgents among other auxiliaries to create their local armed forces. While this aided in establishing a sense of security, it also created the risk of an over-empowered local military. Robert Johnson seeks to address these concerns with in-depth look at colonial and post-colonial auxiliaries.In the last decade an Iraqi Army and an Afghan National Army were created entirely from scratch, the founding of which was deemed to be a crucial measure for the establishment of security and the withdrawal of Western forces from Iraq and Afghanistan.Raising new armies is always problematic, especially during an insurgency, but doing so outside the sovereignty of one's own state raises questions of legality, concerns about their conduct and the risk of an over-empowered local military. The recruitment of proxies, including former insurgents, or the arming of local fighters and auxiliaries, levies and militias, may also exacerbate an internal security situation.In seeking answers to this conundrum Robert Johnson turns to history. His book sets out how recruitment of local auxiliaries was an essential component of European colonialism, and how, in the transfer of power and security at the end of that colonial era, the raising of local forces using existing Western models became the norm. He then offers a comprehensive survey of the post-colonial legacy, particularly the recent utilization of surrogates and auxiliaries, the work of embedded training teams, and mentoring.Preface1. Introduction: Partnering with Indigenous Forces2. Raising Armies: North American and South Asian Personnel in British, American and French Service, 1746-17833. The Mercenary Motive, Contracts and Mutiny4. Discipline and Punishment5. Slave Soldiers of the Americas6. Armies of Empire7. Imperial Armies in Africa8. Irregulars and Advisers in Colonial Service9. Colonial Armies and Irregulaló1