Given the fact that Special Forces detachments cause effects at the strategic and operational levels of war in the GWOT, it is imperative that SF detachment commanders are adequately prepared to develop a comprehensive understanding of the...
This study investigates the United States Army Special Forces role in coalition support operations since the Goldwater/Nichols Defense Reorganization Act of 1986. The issue presented is combined operations in a coalition environment are extensive...
In this edition of the Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL) Special Operations newsletter, we will examine the special operations forces (SOF) perspective of irregular warfare (IW) at the operational and tactical levels through a selection of...
The United States has conducted or supported more than a dozen counterinsurgencies in the 20th century. The emerging strategic environment indicates that the US will be involved with counterinsurgencies in the future and there appears to exist...
This monograph describes the nature and dynamics of insurgency and counterinsurgency (COIN) operations citing David Galula’s theory. In his book, Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice, Galula sets a clear mark for planning future COIN...
From the end of the Vietnam War until Operation Enduring Freedom, the United States military did not engage in significant counterinsurgency (COIN) operations. The decline in the U.S military’s experience in this area is evident in the fidelity...
Irregular warfare is emerging as a dominant form of warfare for the future. Yet irregular warfare, at its root, contains many of the characteristics found on today's battlefront in Afghanistan and Iraq and in the Global War on Terror (GWOT). At the...
In 1954 the French Armed Forces began a campaign in Algeria against the insurgent Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN) which had started a bloody uprising against French sovereignty. Initially, the French military did not have a viable...
The U.S. Army has an opportunity to define itself for the future in terms of force structure and designated mission set to meet the demands imposed upon it by national leaders. As the nation looks toward the next quarter century, the national...
This paper tries to determine the most effective method of providing logistical support to a theater replacement command. A history of United States Army replacement systems prior to World War II is described, along with a discussion of methods of...
The Sunni tribal uprising against Al Qaeda in Iraq, known as the Anbar Awakening, was the decisive event in the counterinsurgency campaign in Iraq. To capitalize on discontent between the Sunni population and Al Qaeda, U.S. commanders on the ground...
The premise for this study evolved during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF). It stems from a perception that the combat plan for the Coalition force invasion worked brilliantly but noticeably absent was a detailed plan for transitioning to peace. This...
This study traces the development of Special Forces (SF) missions from the OSS in 1944 to the present to determine how the doctrinal missions evolved. Five specific operations/events are examined; including the Jedburghs and Operational Groups in...
The 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review directs the Military Services to develop, within their general-purpose forces (GPF), the capability to conduct security force assistance, more specifically to train, advise, and assist foreign security forces....
This thesis explores the role of the military in conflict related development, recently dubbed "expeditionary economics." The thesis examines this role through relevant strategic guidance, development protocol, economic theory, military expediency,...
Recent operations have forced the United States Army to re-examine the “art” of fighting insurgencies. Although these types of operations are not new to the Army, World War II and the subsequent Cold War diminished any skill or institutional...
Special Forces (SF) has several characteristics that distinguish it from other forces in the U. S. military. Among these characteristics are a high level of maturity, a broader experience level, and regional orientation. Because of these...
Historically, the U.S. Army faces numerous challenges planning for counterinsurgency (COIN) operations. Insurgencies by their very nature occur within the context of a complex operating environment that typically last years if not decades. The...
Operational interoperability, the ability of units to provide services to and accept services from other units or forces and to use the services so exchanged to enable them to operate effectively together, is critical and central to effective joint...
The purpose of this student paper was to recommend action to be taken for the immediate establishment of a security force for the internal security of continental United States. It analyzes methods used in World War II by the U.S. and other...