Theresan Military Academic Forum 2024 (TMAF 2024)
The Theresan Military Academic Forum is a scientific symposium that seeks to further the transfer of knowledge and develop the necessary skills, responsibility, and autonomy inherent to successful basic officer education. The TMAF includes a general orientation as well as a cyber specialisation, conceived to help military leaders cope with future challenges.
For the TMAF 2024, the main theme is "Manoeuvre Warfare and Manoeuvrist Approach". We believe that scientific-based knowledge is vital to increase operational readiness. For Western thinkers, the Manoeuvrist Approach is a foundational method in this regard. Allied Joint Doctrine for Land Operations explains that the “manoeuvrist approach” is “an indirect and sophisticated” one that “focuses on applying strength against vulnerability and recognises the importance of cohesion and will.”1 The Manoeuvrist Approach is understood as the more intellectual one compared to other concepts such as attrition. However, the most recent War in Ukraine illustrated both the reality and necessity of attritional approaches. Is Manoeuvre dead?
[1] Jeroen Verhaege, “Is NATO Land Operations Doctrine Aiming Too High?,” War On The Rocks, August 06, 2021, warontherocks.com/2021/08/is-nato-land-operations-doctrine-aiming-too-high/.
Options for participation
A maximum of three persons per institution may participate as follows:
| Priority | Contribution | Administration |
| 1 | Lecture with publication | Free board & lodging |
| 2 | Lecture without publication | Free board |
| 3 | Participation | Conference fee (€40,-/day) |
| 4 | Publication | --- |
Submitted contributions (Priority 1 & 4) will be subject to a double peer review. They will be published by our cooperating partner, "The Defence Horizon Journal" (online), as well as in "Armis et Litteris" (hardcopy). In addition, on the final day of the forum, we will host an in-depth discussion and summary in the German language. In parallel, a cultural excursion to our federal capital Vienna will be organised. The TMAF focuses on the education of future generations of military officers. Therefore, we would like to integrate officer cadets & students into the symposium. Thus, we kindly invite participants to bring an officer cadet or student from your home institution and include them in the presentation, if possible. We wish to invite up to three participants from your institution (preferably a senior, a junior military lecturer/researcher, and a cadet) to participate as authors & speakers and/or active listeners in the forum. Please use the registration form to apply. The organising team will assign the available slots on a first-come, first-served principle, considering the priorities listed above.
The deadline for registration is 9th Aug 2024!
Please note that for participation with Priority 1, regardless of the number of integrated speakers, accommodation and meals free of charge will be provided to only one (1) person/author. For contributions with Priority 2, only the catering for one person is covered.
In addition to thematic discussions, numerous side events will be offered to promote, deepen, and broaden (military) cultural exchanges; the nature of these exchanges will be decided depending on the pandemic situation, the weather and the interests of the participants.
Procedures for publication
Interested participants (Priority 1, 2 & 4) are cordially invited to apply with an abstract according to the following guidelines:
| Phase | Deadline |
| Call for Papers (submission of abstract with up to 250 words; endnotes not included; CV; template format) | 28th Apr 2024 |
Information to the author about acceptance of the article by the TMAF Scientific Committee | 2nd Jun 2024 |
Exclusively for submissions with Priority 1 & 4: | 18th Aug 2024 |
| Review phase | 18th Aug - 20th Oct 2024 |
| Re-submission date for required modifications (if necessary) | 20th Oct 2024 |
| Publication availability online (TDHJ) | 10th Nov 2024 |
| Availability of the publication "Armis et Litteris" | 31st Mar 2025 |
For submitting abstracts (including a CV), please use the format template "TMAF Short Essay", which you can find below respectively on www.emilyo.eu/node/878 and send them to tmaf@bmlv.gv.at. If a contribution is accepted, we request a picture of the author & speaker for designing the programme and the publications.
Download: Milestones, Call for Papers, Fact Sheet, Short Essay, Long Essay
Quality management of publication entries
All publication submissions are subject to a double peer review,
- in cooperation with "The Defence Horizon Journal (TDHJ)",
- under the auspices of the TMAF Scientific Committee and are published
- in TDHJ (ISSN: 2710-3722 online; www.thedefencehorizon.org) respectively "Armis et Litteris"
Provisional time-schedule
| Monday, 7th Oct 2024 | arrival and icebreaker |
| Tuesday, 8th Oct 2024 | TMAF (presentation, discussion, reflection) |
| Wednesday, 9th Oct 2024 | TMAF (presentation, discussion, reflection) |
| Thursday, 10th Oct 2024 | TMAF (presentation, discussion, reflection) On this day, the symposium's theme will be deepened with presentations and discussions exclusively in German. Interested speakers who know German are cordially invited to apply with an abstract. In parallel, a cultural excursion to our federal capital Vienna will be organised. |
| Friday, 11th Oct 2024 | departure |
Location
The challenging topic and the unique atmosphere in Wiener Neustadt make the TMAF a special event for participants interested in addressing the burning issues for selecting, training, and assessing military leaders.
Theresan Military Academy
Burgplatz 1
2700 Wiener Neustadt
Application
Registration for the TMAF 2024 has to be made with the registration form by 9th August 2024 at the latest.
Accommodation and rates
Accommodation for the speakers (option 1) will be provided at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel in Wiener Neustadt, which is located in the vicinity of the Theresan Military Academy. We kindly ask you to book personally by e-mail, stating the password "MilAk-TMAF-Speaker" for your intended participation. Please send us your booking confirmation so that we can cover the costs of your stay. Please note that we will only cover the costs for the room and breakfast from 7th to 11th October. Further catering will be provided at the Theresan Military Academy.
In addition to the Hilton Garden Inn, the organisation team recommends the Hotel Zentral (0.6 km) and the Hotel Le Park (1.7 km). Both hotels are located in the vicinity of the Theresan Military Academy and are easily and quickly accessible either by foot or with the offered shuttle service. Transfer to and from the TMAF will be provided exclusively to Hotel Le Parc. The following reduced prices can be guaranteed by booking via mail or phone by using the keyword „MilAk-TMAF-participant“ only.
Participating students from our partner institutions will be provided with military accommodation and catering free of charge.
The cost of accommodation is:
- Hotel Hilton Garden Inn (www.hiltonhotels.de/oesterreich/hilton-garden-inn-wiener-neustadt):
€ 115,- for a single - or € 125,- for a double occupancy per night (breakfast: € 25,- per person) - Hotel Le Parc (www.leparc.at/das-hotel):
€ 80,- for a single - or € 100,- for a double occupancy per night (breakfast: € 18,- per person) - Hotel Zentral (www.hotelzentral.at):
€ 65,- for a single - or € 80,- for a double occupancy per night (breakfast: € 14,- per person)
Transport – exclusively – from/to the above-mentioned hotels to the venue will be provided.
Meals
The daily rate is € 40,00 for all participants and includes lunch and dinner as well as drinks and snacks during the forum.
During the in-processing on the first day, the respective amount of money for all participating days will be requested in cash (paying via credit card is not possible!).