Unit 6
Armed Forces and
Military Organizations
I. Read the text and
translate it with the help of dictionary
Text 1
Ten Facts about the
US Army
1. The
Armed Forces of the USA include the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and
Coast Guard. The regular components are manned by both men and women who make
the military life their profession. Under the Constitution of the United
States the President is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The
President is assisted by several agencies. At the top is the US Security
Council which gives advice to the President. This Council is composed of the
President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of
Defense. Under its supervision is the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
2. The
Secretary of the Army, a civilian, is the head of the Army. He is assisted by
other civilian officials and by the Army Staff.
3 The
Army initiated a reorganization in 1973, after the war in Vietnam. Today the
American Army is professional. Both men and women are volunteers. And women
account for 20 % of the total strength. Why do people join the Army? The
salary is stable and high (upwards of US $ 600). The meals for soldiers are
free. You may travel all over the world because there are a lot of military
bases in many countries. You may get a new profession. The Pentagon pays for
your University course. And even when you leave the Army, they will take care
of you during the rest of your life (special hospitals and so on). The
recruiting lasts all the year round, except Christmas and Easter. You may live
at the base in houses owned by the Army. The rent is free. No smoking, no
alcohol, no drugs. But you must work hard: drill, physical fitness program,
range practice.
4. Women
join the Army because they want to have equal rights with men. And they get
them. Service is a kind of adventure, sport, travelling. Women live together
with men and must do the same things. If they are married and/or have
children, they live separately and send their children to the free
kindergarten. Every Army base has its own kindergarten and school, hospital
and library, different clubs and shops. If you break no laws off duty, you may
wear civilian clothes and leave the base without saying anything. But at 6
o'clock in the morning you must be at the base.
5. A
most important person in the Army is the sergeant. It is he who makes real
soldiers of volunteers. Twice a year all military people must undergo 2 tests:
sport and weight. If you don't get the necessary results, you should leave the
Army.
6. There
are not very many special military colleges. The most famous is the US
Military Academy at West Point where a famous Military Museum is situated.
7. The
elite forces are American rangers. They are soldiers aged between 22 and 28. A
ranger must do a lot of different things: be a leader, use different weapons,
swim well in full uniform, get information and so on.
8. The
Pentagon is the military center of the United States. It was built between
1941 and 1943, in Arlington, Virginia, near Washington. It is a huge 5-sided
building 5 storeys high. It is the largest office building in the world. The
Pentagon has more than 17 miles of corridors and a lot of people work here.
The walls on each floor are a different color (brown, green, red, grey, blue).
Inside the Pentagon yard there is a subway station and 2 helicopter platforms,
a post office, a fire department, a police department, a hospital, and radio
and TV stations.
9. In
April 1949, the USA set up a military organization in Europe called NATO
(North Atlantic Treaty Organization). There were 12 countries there.
10. As
for the armaments, they are very modern and of high quality: helicopters,
submarines, aircraft carriers, ships, missiles, guns, tanks, artillery
weapons.
Vocabulary Practice
I. Find in the text
the English equivalents of the following:
вооруженные силы; сухопутные
войска; военно-морской флот; военно-воздушные силы; морская пехота; береговая
охрана; главнокомандующий; агентство; безопасность; госсекретарь; министр
обороны; центральное разведывательное управление (ЦРУ); Министр армии.
II. Find English
equivalents to the following Russian words and word-combinations:
доброволец; сержант; рейнджер;
вертолет; подводная лодка; авианосец; ракета; огневая подготовка; программа
физической подготовки; гражданское лицо.
III. Answer the
questions:
1. What
are the main components of the Armed Forces of the USA?
2. Who
is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces?
3. What
kind of person is the Secretary of the Army?
4. What
was the reason for the reorganization of the Army?
5. What
are the advantages of serving in the Army? And the disadvantages?
6. Why
do American women join the Army?
7. What
role does a sergeant play there?
8. What
arc the 2 special tests?
9. What
is the most famous Academy?
10. What
do you know about the Pentagon?
11. What
kinds of armaments do you know?
IV.
Complete the sentences:
1. Under
the Constitution of the United States...
2. The
Secretary of the Army...
3. The
recruiting lasts...
4. Every
Army base has...
5. A
ranger must do a lot of different things...
6.
Inside the Pentagon yard there is...
V. Who
does this in the text?
1. Who
is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces?
2. Who
makes real soldiers of volunteers
3. Who
must do a lot of different things while serving in the Army?
VI. Ask
your friend:
--
whether he/she knows how many women serve in the US Army;
-- what
the Army offers to attract young people;
-- which
office building is the largest in the world.
VII.
Find a few sentences from which you have got new information.
VIII.
Read the passage you like best and say why.
IX. Read
and translate the American ranger rules and guess the meaning of the word
1.
Size up the situation.
2.
Undue haste makes waste.
3.
Remember where you are.
4.
Vanquish fear and panic.
5.
Improvise.
6.
Value living.
7.
Act like the natives.
8.
Learn the basic skills.
X. Match
the words
|
1)
company
2)
campaign
3)
cadet
4)
service ribbon
5)
blood type
6)
mobility
7)
caterpillar
8)
battlefield
9)
missile
10)
voice radio
11)
identification card
12)
liberty pass
13)
steel helmet
14)
airborne troops |
a)
воздушно-десантные войска
b)
увольнительная записка
c)
каска
d)
поле боя
e)
курсант
f)
рота
g)
группа крови
h)
радиотелефон
i)
операция
j)
подвижность
k)
орденская лента
l)
гусеница
m) ракета
n)
удостоверение личности |
XI. Read
the words and try to make up a dialogue with new words:
a) Armed
Forces —
вооруженные силы
Army —
сухопутные
войска
Navy —
военно-морской
флот
Air
Force — военно-воздушные
силы
Marine
Corps —
морская пехота
Coast
Guard —
береговая охрана
Commander-in-Chief —
главнокомандующий
agency —
агентство
security
— безопасность
the
Secretary of State —
государственный
секретарь
the
Secretary of Defense —
министр обороны
the
Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA)
— Центральное разведывательное управление (ЦРУ)
the
Secretary of the Army —
министр армии
a
civilian —
гражданское лицо
volunteer —
доброволец
physical
fitness program
— программа физической подготовки
range
practice —
огневая подготовка
sergeant
— сержант
Military
Academy —
высшее военное училище
ranger
— рейнджер (военнослужащий десантного диверсионно-разведывательного
подразделения)
helicopter —
вертолет
submarine —
подводная лодка
aircraft
carrier —
авианосец
missile
— ракета
b) Comment on the
following:
1.
Serving in the army is a great honor.
2.
It is better to choose alternative service.
3.
It is not necessary for women to serve in the army.
XII.
Read the text and translate into English.
Марселит Харрис
«Впервые звание
бригадного генерала ВВС США присвоено чернокожей женщине — полковнику Марселит
Дж. Харрис. В американской армии женщины в генеральском звании — не редкость.
Десять американок имеют этот чин, причем две из них - чернокожие. С 1973 года,
когда вооруженные силы страны перешли на вольнонаемную систему, количество
женщин в армии постоянно растет.
Став офицером по
обслуживанию в ВВС США, Харрис быстро продвигалась по служебной лестнице. В
1975 году она — начальник строевого отдела главного штаба ВВС в Вашингтоне.
Президент Джимми Картер назначил ее своим помощником по социальным вопросам. В
1981 году она стала командиром эскадрильи обслуживания на военной базе Маконел
стратегического командования ВВС США. А пятью годами позже Харрис возглавила
службы обслуживания ВВС Кислер.
Место рождения
46-летней М. Харрис — Хьюстон, штат Техас. Окончила колледж Спелмана, а затем
в университете штата Мэриленд получила ученую степень в области управления
бизнесом. Образовательный уровень приобретает в вооруженных силах США все
большее значение при повышении звания. Заметим, что лишь 5 из 100 полковников
становятся бригадными генералами, и Харрис прошла этот жесткий отбор".
XIII.
Use the information and put questions in a form of a dialogue:
Конечно, не все факты
и интересные моменты вошли в приведенные выше материалы. Их можно дополнить
следующими сведениями.
Письма от девушек,
которые не дождались своих парней, ушедших в армию, называют "Dear
John Letters".
Американские ветераны
имеют такую привилегию: они вывешивают флаг США на своем доме вверх ногами,
если что-то в действиях правительства им не нравится.
Металлические жетоны
со всеми данными о солдате, которые вешают на шею, называют в шутку собачьими
жетонами (dog's
counters).
У каждого
военнослужащего, начиная с рядового и кончая самым высшим начальником в
Пентагоне, на форме есть нашивка с фамилией.
Очень многие виды
вооружений в Америке носят названия индейских племен. Например, вертолеты: "Apache",
"Chinook",
"Iroquois",
"Commanche",
"Kiowa
Warrior".
А основным
изобретателем американских вертолетов был русский инженер И. И. Сикорский.
Один из вертолетов носит его имя — "Sikorsky
Black Hawk".
Во время первой мировой войны американской армией командовал Джон Першинг. В
его честь были названы крылатые ракеты "Pershing".
Американцы называют
Пентагон "Тее-Рее" (вигвам) или "Big
House".
Во время второй
мировой войны американских солдат называли "G.
I."
(government
issue —
букв, «состоящий на содержании правительства»).
Высшая военная
награда в США — медаль Конгресса (the
Congressional Medal of Honor).
Высший ранг в
американской армии — генерал с пятью звездами. А вообще генералы бывают с
одной звездой, с двумя и так до пяти.
Буквы МР
расшифровываются в Америке как
military
police
(военная полиция).
Activities
I. Read
the text
The Pentagon
The
Pentagon is a building in Arlington, Virginia, near Washington, D.C. It has
the offices of the U.S. Department of Defense. The Department of Defense
includes the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard. The word
pentagon comes from the Greek penta, which means "five." A pentagon is
a figure with five sides. Look at the picture. The Pentagon has five rings.
The rings are inside each other. Each ring has five sides. How tall do you
think the Pentagon is? The answer is easy. Each ring is five stories tall.
The
Pentagon is the largest office building in the world. It has seventeen miles
of halls. People can get lost in the Pentagon. So the walls on each floor are
a different color (brown, green, red, gray, and blue). This helps people to
know where they are. There are also many maps in the halls!
The
Pentagon is so big that it is like a city. Almost 30,000 people work there.
The Pentagon has its own doctors, dentists, and nurses. It has its own banks
and stores. It has a post office, a fire department, and a police department.
It also has an important center for communications. This center guards the
country. It is hundreds of feet under the ground. The Pentagon even has its
own radio and TV stations.
II.
Replace the underlined words in the sentences with the words below.
figure rings stories includes maps Navy get
lost halls
1.
A
pentagon is a shape with five sides.
2.
The building has seventeen miles of long corridors or passageways.
3.
The Pentagon is five floors high.
4.
Sometimes people cannot find their way in the Pentagon.
5.
In the Department of Defense, there is the Army, the country's war ships
and people who work on them, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard.
6.
The Pentagon has five circles, which are inside each other.
7.
To help you know where you are, you look at plans of the building.
8.
The Department of Defense contains the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines,
and Coast Guard.
III.
Circle the letter of the best answer.
1. The
Pentagon has the offices of…
a. the U.S. Department of Defense
b. the Army
c. the Navy and the Air Force
2. The
Pentagon has five…
a. halls
b. sides
c. offices
3. The
Pentagon…
a. has the longest halls in the world
b. has walls of different colors on the same floor
c. is the largest office building in the world
IV. Say
if the sentence is true or false.
1.
The Pentagon is in Washington, D.C.
2.
The Department of Defense includes the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and
Coast Guard.
3.
The Greek word penta means "five".
4.
The Pentagon has seventy miles of halls.
5.
The colors of the floors are red, blue, green, white, and gray.
6.
The Pentagon has its own police department.
V.
Complete the sentences with the prepositions below.
of
on in with near
Example:
You can get lost in the Pentagon.
1. The
Pentagon is…Washington, D.C.
2. The
Pentagon has the offices…the U.S. Department of Defense.
3. The
walls…each floor are a different color.
4. A
pentagon is a figure…five sides.
5. There
are maps…the halls.
6. The
Pentagon is the largest building…the world.
VI.
Discuss the answers to these questions with your classmates.
1. What
are the good and bad points of working in such a big place?
2. What
other government building can you name in the United States?
3. Draw
a picture of the soldier of the future. Then describe his or her uniform and
equipment.
Text 2
The future of NATO
A moment of truth
The NATO
alliance has until its November summit in Prague to decide what it is for
NOBODY
damns NATO with faint praise. Both boosters and detractors call it the most
successful military alliance in history. But does it have a future? It is hard
for Americans and Europeans to imagine the past 50 years without the North
Atlantic Treaty Organisation there to defend them. Yet it is harder than it
used to be to imagine nato, as it
is, advancing far into the 21st century.
Before
September nth, the question dangling over the transatlantic alliance was what
it was tor. The cold war, after all, had been over lor ten years. Since the
attacks on the United States, and with Europe, too, more worried than it used
to be about unfettered terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass
destruction, the value of "collective defence" is no longer in so much doubt.
But does America, with its unrivalled military power, need
nato any mote? And, assuming
someone wants and needs it, how can the alliance be adapted to defend its
members against the very different tin eats they now face? If good answers are
not found before the nato summit
in Prague in November, the future of NATO
looks bleak indeed.
By an
irony, NATO has never been busier. But much of its recent activity has been in
fuzzier collective security-organising peacekeeping missions, holding the
hands of Europe's weaker new democracies - rather than the harder - edged
collective defence for which it was created. You might call it, as some do,
babysitting the end of the cold war. Not everyone is unhappy at this change.
Peacekeeping in the Balkans and elsewhere, as those who do it sharply point
out, is not for wimps. Others, on both sides of the Atlantic, argue that
ensuring peace and stability in Europe, given the trouble its past wars have
caused, is anyway plenty for NATO
to be getting on with. But those who want
NATO to be doing more than
babysitting are in deeply gloomy mood.
NATO
troops
still turn out together for peacekeeping duty in the Balkans, though in
smaller numbers now. But what the war for Kosovo revealed, and the
American-led campaign in Afghanistan hammered home, is how far the European
members of NATO lag behind
America, both in high-tech weapons and in their ability to get usable troops
speedily to where they are needed. The extra $48 billion that President George
Bush now proposes to add to America's $331 billion defence budget is more than
Britain or France spends on defence in a year. As Europeans struggle to equip
the 60,000-strong EU-led rapid-reaction force they promised for next year,
such a gap may well drive them to despair.
Even
success can be a problem. Former cold-war adversaries from Central and Eastern
Europe are either in NATO already
(Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic) or else queuing to join, with
Russia's president keen to get alongside. Last June, in Warsaw, Mr Bush called
on NATO to be ready at Prague to
issue as many new invitations as possible. The alliance should "not calculate
how little we can get away with, but how much we can do to advance the cause
of freedom." Yet some of those who most value NATO's military effective-ness -
the British and German governments, some members of the United States Senate —
have doubts about going much beyond the current 19 members. They worry that Mr
Bush's open-door enthusiasm really reflects his dwindling interest in
NATO as a military tool.
Critics
feel that to extend new invitations to Slovenia, Slovakia, perhaps the three
Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and possibly even Bulgaria and
Romania, would inevitably dilute the alliance, turning it into more of a
security talking-shop. That might make a bigger
NATO more acceptable to Russia,
but would reduce it to little more than an armed version of the Organisation
for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is open to all Europeans and
spends its time on good works such as election-monitoring.
Vocabulary Practice
I. Read the text and
discuss the following questions:
1. What is NATO?
2. How old is this
organization?
3. What countries does
NATO include?
4. What are the main
aims of this military organization?
II. Make the following
statements disjunctive questions.
1.
The cold war,
after all, had been over for ten years.
2.
The future of
NATO looks bleak indeed.
3.
Those who want
NATO to be doing more than babysitting are deeply in deed gloomy mood.
4.
Even success
can be a problem.
5.
The President
of the USA called on NATO to be ready at Prague to issue as many new
invitations as possible.
6.
Critics feel
that to extend new invitations would inevitably dilute the alliance.
7.
That might make
a bigger NATO more acceptable to Russia.
III. Make up a plan
and try to retell the text.
IV. Make up a dialogue
of your understanding “the future of NATO”.
V. Give Russian
equivalents to the English ones:
a military alliance; a
treaty; cold war; attacks; terrorism; the spread of weapons; mass destruction;
the value of “collective defence”; different treats; collective security;
peacekeeping missions; high-tech weapons; ensuring peace and stability;
defence budget.
VI. Give it a name:
1. an arrangement in
which two or more countries join together to defend themselves against an
enemy.
2. a meeting or
serious of meetings between leaders of two or more countries
Additional Reading
Human Rights and
the Armed Forces
Under
international law, everyone has a right to adequate food and to the highest
attainable standard of health. The United Nations Committee on Economic,
Social, and Cultural Rights, the body that monitors states parties' compliance
with the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, has
affirmed that a positive obligation for states exists with regard to certain
groups that are "unable, for reasons beyond their control," to enjoy the right
to adequate food or medical care by the means at their disposal. Conscripts
fit this criterion, as they live in custodial circumstances — they are not
allowed to leave their base without prior permission from their commander and
may be administratively or criminally punished should they do so — and
generally do not have access to alternative sources of food or medical care.
From the
perspective of international human rights law, military conscripts are an
exceptional group. The special mission of the armed forces may justify
restrictions on their rights that far exceed those that may be placed on
almost any other group. For example, ordering a prisoner to crawl through the
mud for several hours would almost certainly constitute degrading treatment.
Such an order from a military commander to conscripts during field training
would be a legitimate part of a soldier's preparation for battlefield
conditions. Similarly, temporary deprivation of food can also be a legitimate
part of a conscript soldier's training.
Intentional human rights law includes standards for minimum treatment of
persons in state custody or otherwise deprived of their liberty, for example
prisoners or people detained because of mental disabilities. These standards
set limits on such restrictions, and impose on states positive obligations to
provide for the well-being of those in state custody. No such standards exist
for conscripts. However, in its case-law, the European Court of Human Rights
has consistently held that, while certain restrictions placed on specific
rights of military servicemen may be necessary to ensure the proper
functioning of the army, these may not serve to altogether negate a basic
right.
From
this principle, Human Rights Watch has derived three criteria for determining
the lawfulness of restrictions on conscripts' rights:
1.
Restrictions of conscripts' rights should have a legitimate purpose related to
the specific mission of the armed forces;
2.
They must be shown to have been planned, and may not be arbitrary;
3.
They may not unjustifiably threaten the health or well being of the conscript.
Iraq
Coalition to Recruit Militias Despite Dangers
The
United States-led coalition in Iraq is to form a new paramilitary force to
combat terrorism and growing guerrilla insurgency, drawing on the militias of
the main political parties working with America to govern Iraq.
The move
has been considered for some months, but had been delayed because of the
dangers of using militias formed by individual parties, and the fear that they
could exploit their power to political ends.
The new
force will initially comprise about 1,000 men, and will draw on the militias'
experience of fighting Saddam Hussein's regime and on their extensive
intelligence networks to counter a well-entrenched and elusive enemy in Iraq,
sources close to the coalition said.
The
members of the new battalion, tentatively called a Response Unit, would come
principally from the ranks of the Kurdish Peshmerga armies, the Badr Brigades,
the armed wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI),
and the Pentagon-backed Iraqi National Congress of Ahmad Chalabi.
The
force will be under the umbrella of the Iraqi Civil Defence Corps (ICDC),
itself a paramilitary police organisation, and initially will be under the
combined command of the Iraqi administration and the coalition.
"They'd
be at the sharp end of counter-terrorism," one source said. "They shouldn't be
acting as belonging to a political party; that will remain a red line."
What to
do with the militias, many of which fought as allies of the coalition against
Saddam, has long been a pressing question. The coalition hopes that by
incorporating them into the new national security forces they can both exploit
their local intelligence networks and defuse their power as a political force.
Although
militias are banned by the coalition, they have continued as party security
apparatus, nominally disbanded but in fact tolerated. At the funeral of
Ayatollah Muhammad Baqr al-Hakim, who was killed in a mosque bombing in
August, the Badr Brigades openly enforced security in the Shia city of Najaf
while the coalition turned a blind eye.
The
Peshmerga, the de facto army in the autonomous Kurdish north since the
1991 Gulf War, has remained intact since the US-led invasion, under the
control of the Kurdish Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.
Iraqi
critics have given warning against the dangers of raising militias, arguing
that once in place they would be difficult to disband.
Some
even fear that they could ultimately trigger a civil war, a key reason why the
coalition insists that they can operate only under strict parameters and after
thorough vetting and training.
Dan
Senor, a spokesman for Paul Bremer, the civilian head of the occupation
authority, insisted that anyone joining the new national security structures
would be vetted and "cannot represent any political party or militia. They
must serve as individuals."
Abdelaziz al-Hakim, the brother of the dead ayatollah and the current
president of the Iraqi Governing Council, described the militias as "freedom
fighters" and said that the Iraqi authorities would use any group that they
could to rid themselves of the insurgency led by Saddam loyalists.
Mr
al-Hakim used to head the Badr Brigades, a force of at least 10,000 men that
residents of Najaf have said works alongside the Iraqi police in hunting down
Baath party loyalists.
Some
Iraqi officials argue that if the coalition turned a blind eye, it could
quickly identify and eliminate Baathists. The fear of such extra-judicial zeal
has been another factor slowing the formation of the new force, which
officials say is still in the planning phase.
After
James Hider, THE TIMES
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GLOSSARY |
|
|
paramilitary |
organised or functioning like a
military unit but outside the regular military forces |
|
guerrilla |
an irregular military force, using harassing tactics
against an enemy army |
|
insurgency |
rebellion |
|
militias |
male citizens who receive military training outside the
regular armed forces and who are on call for military service in times of
emergency |
|
exploit |
unethically make use of (someone/something) |
|
comprise |
be composed of |
|
counter |
oppose |
|
elusive |
tending to escape |
|
tentative |
not definite |
|
pressing |
demanding immediate attention |
|
disband |
dismiss from military service |
|
enforce |
compel observance of |
|
intact |
not damaged |
|
trigger |
start; set in motion |
|
thorough |
painstakingly careful |
|
vetting |
examining records or making background checks |
|
loyalists |
those who remain faithful to the power, especially during a
civil war or revolution |
|
extra-judicial |
out of the ordinary course of legal procedure; not legally
justified |
Comprehension:
1.
Why did the coalition in Iraq delay the formation of a new paramilitary force?
2.
What are the main advantages of the new force?
3.
Where will the members of the new battalion come from?
4.
What does the coalition hope to avoid by incorporating militias into the new
national security forces?
5.
What is the militias' current work?
6.
What is the Peshmerga?
7.
What are the main fears regarding the new force?
8.
What can you say about the Badr Brigades?
9.
What is the coalition going to do to avoid a civil war?
Problems for Discussion:
1.
There are fears that militias could exploit their power to political ends. Do
you think they will? Why or why not?
2.
Some Iraqi officials argue that if the coalition turned a blind eye, the Badr
Brigades could quickly identify and eliminate Baathists. Do you think it
should have been done? Why or why not?
3.
Do you think the militias can help to fight terrorism and guerrilla
insurgency? Why or why not?