On September 11, 2001 a relatively obscure Islamic organization, executed an attack against the United States with catastrophic effects. Most of the United States, as well as the world, could not fathom how a single organization could conceive,...
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...
Non-Governmental Organizations, research and academic institutions, charities, and international organization efforts to track and monitor activities and conditions in high-risk settings provide uniquely useful indicators and warning of possible...
The art and science of military intelligence analysis has been scrutinized for its accuracy and value since the beginning of warfare. With every advance in technology and information processing, the delta between the trained cognitive capabilities...
The Way Ahead. Chief of Staff of the Army General Peter J. Schoomaker and Major Anthony W. Vassalo, U.S. Army; Our Army is serving a Nation at war, so the way we approach our duties must reflect the seriousness of an Army at war. American soldiers...
Regional studies Africa's security issues through 2010. William Thom Threat kingdom. Lieutenant Colonel Bill Flynt, US Army Under new ownership -- it's Panama's Canal. Colonel William W. Mendel, US Army,...
Even though it appears to the general public that the military does not abide by the Geneva Convention and it appears the military mistreats Prisoners of War (POWs), it is actually the media coverage and politics that has impacted our military...
The face of the battlefield has changed since the original Hague and Geneva Conventions were ratified in 1949. The change of the battlefield mandates changes in our laws and rules of engagement. Discussed here are the foundations for the Law of...
The United States Army presence in Iraq has
been ongoing for over six years now. The failure to fully plan for follow-on
operations after the invasion and a slow start to recognize and counter the
insurgency set conditions for a difficult...
United States. Army. Engineer Center and Fort Leonard Wood.
The Guidon came into being as a weekly publication in 1966 under the title Fort Leonard Wood Guidon. Between 1966 and 1987 the title was simplified to Guidon before becoming Essayons in 1988. The name reverted back to Guidon in 1999. It has been...
In this third of three interviews, COL (Ret.) Russell Thaden discusses his involvement with the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003 with V Corps in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). In this June 2011 interview, COL Thaden discusses that he...
This thesis examines how effectively the United States implements its instruments of national power into the counterdrug efforts currently being conducted in Colombia. Discussion begins with a review of the threat that the illegal narcotics trade...
This study examines three manhunts from the United States Army’s past. The manhunts highlighted in this thesis are the Punitive Expedition to capture the Mexican revolutionary leader Francisco “Pancho” Villa, Operation Just Cause to capture...
This paper argues that to counter border spillover violence, America must control the border with Mexico and generate the public and political commitment to do so. This study applies a military problem solving methodology to identify how best to...
The opium trade is a major funding source for the insurgency in Afghanistan. The Afghan counter-narcotics law enforcement agencies continue to target drug traffickers with counterdrug missions in order to break the funding source of the insurgents....
Counterinsurgents have raised and employed irregular security forces in many campaigns over the last century. Irregular security forces are indigenous forces, not part of the regular police or military organizations of the host nation, that are...
There are literally hundreds of factions in various countries all over the world that support or have religious ideologies that are considered extreme. They are extreme because they conduct or sponsor violent acts and because they seek to undermine...
This study investigates the role of Special Operations Forces in the other than war environment of Haiti during Operation UPHOLD DEMOCRACY. It is specifically concerned with the potential of nonstate actors to either assist or hinder Special...
Given the importance of security force assistance in an era of persistent conflict and the need for counterinsurgency operations, what makes indigenous police forces effective in counterinsurgency? This monograph proposes that, if the Army faces an...
Outreach, negotiation and cooption may be a vital tool for counterinsurgencies as they transform conflict and facilitate Amnesty, Reconciliation and Reintegration (AR2) of warring elements within a war-torn society. This monograph utilizes a...