In and between: possible bridging positions for the Defence Forces

This article outlines some possibilities for developing certain types of knowledge and practice held within the Defence Forces (DF) and evident in the other articles in this volume. The possibilities could be viewed as ‘insights we can work with’ (Eisner, 2001: 138), arising from the on-the-ground experiences of all the research participants and the researcher-writers. In different ways, the articles here show the DF in a bridging position between a traditional, militarised and masculinised view of itself, on the one hand and, on the other, glimpses of other ways of being and engaging, capable of facilitating new positions, in response to our times. The primary role traditionally articulated for the DF is to carry out militarised missions, associated with specific actions such as the crisis management operations described by McNamara (this volume). Other articles (Keyes, Markey, O’Brien, Ryan S., this volume) demonstrate tensions between this role and challenging experiences in the field. The insights in these articles offer sources for the creation of new knowledge and practice, out of a consideration of suffering, peace, negotiation, gender differences, personal remembrances, dislocation and ethical challenges. In adding such considerations to the traditional repertoire of military discourses and actions, the writers are also implicitly scrutinising and challenging traditional concepts of militarism. The articles by O’Lehan (this volume) and O’Callaghan (this volume) also show the DF in a responsive in/between state, open to the flow of information from multiple sources and adapting behaviour to suit situational challenges