"One Tribe at a Time"

[Abu-Shakra]

Originally Posted by Remington Raidr

You KNOW you have ARRIVED when they name something, good or bad, after you.

I can probably guarantee you Gantism is a good thing.

[PRB]

There is truth in his words and approach.
Astan is Tribes and nothing else...Tribe coopts everything as it is nothing more than extended family.
Ones place/position in that tribe is everything and our efforts to act as if tribes should be downplayed (State Dept concept)and enforced upon the Afghan MOI/MOD is counterproductive.
With proper ODA involvement we could really shape the battlefield beyond our present means.
The other long pole in the tent is ODA autonomy....if you work with the Tribes one must become a tribesman in thought and some of the 'deeds' one may have to execute to further the overall strategy may not set well with our civilian counterparts with little tactical/sociopolitical awareness.
This approach would also be the 'long haul' without a public endex for the home front.
Let's hope and pray someone in authority gives this more than lip service.

[Warrior-Mentor]

Questions for QPs here from someone wishing to stay anonymous:

MAJ Gant's paper is brilliant on a lot of levels. ... I was struck by the potential that some questions in themselves disclose an evolving tactical or even strategic thought process. The following are off the top of my head.

Your thoughts related to MAJ Gant's paper:

1. What in your opinion would be the most effective way for the Afghan Government to govern the tribal areas?

2. What do you think would be the best way for the US to monitor the influence of the Taliban/AQ on the tribes?

3. What do you think would be the ideal pipeline for SF personnel for rotation in/out of the AOR?

4. How long could an SF be in the tribal area in the suggested living/working arrangement without losing his effectiveness, before becoming emotionally overextended?

5. How could SF effectiveness be measured? What matrices would you suggest?

Any takers?

Originally Posted by PRB

There is truth in his words and approach.
Astan is Tribes and nothing else...Tribe coopts everything as it is nothing more than extended family.
Ones place/position in that tribe is everything and our efforts to act as if tribes should be downplayed (State Dept concept)and enforced upon the Afghan MOI/MOD is counterproductive.
With proper ODA involvement we could really shape the battlefield beyond our present means.
The other long pole in the tent is ODA autonomy....if you work with the Tribes one must become a tribesman in thought and some of the 'deeds' one may have to execute to further the overall strategy may not set well with our civilian counterparts with little tactical/sociopolitical awareness.

See photo below. I hope and pray that someone in power, understands this concept and implements it as you say.

This approach would also be the 'long haul' without a public endex for the home front.
.

I have read that the SF promises to the Montangards were kept and are still being kept. You guys going deploying now, have a legacy to keep up.

[head]

You guys may want to check out
http://smallwarsjournal.com/events/tew/
for some recent thoughts on this strategy. Several good must-read articles.

The Tribal Engagement Workshop, cosponsored by Small Wars Foundation, the U.S. Joint Forces Command Joint Irregular Warfare Center, the U.S. Marine Corps Center for Irregular Warfare, the U.S. Army / U.S. Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Center, and Noetic Group, was conducted 24-25 March 2010 at Gari Melchers Home and Studio, Fredericksburg, Virginia.
The objectives of the Tribal Engagement Workshop were to:

•Evaluate the value and feasibility of a tribal engagement approach in Afghanistan.
•Assess what secondary effects adoption of a tribal engagement strategy would have on the political and military situation.
•Identify the operational components of a tribal engagement approach in Afghanistan.

For some reason, Adobe isn't working right on my computer, otherwise I'd post MAJ Gant's latest followup "One Tribe at a Time: The Way Forward".

[J8127]

I downloaded and read his paper today, I think it's brilliant. I was relieved to see I wasn't the only one who left Afghanistan with a strange feeling of connection to the place, although I'm sure his was much, much deeper. I had been thinking along those lines after witnessing the futility of "Big Army's" strategy in the tribal areas, especially pre- McChrystal, but definitely don't have the strategic mind to formulate something like Major Gant's paper.

Warrior-Mentor, if I may take a stab at the first two of your questions,

1- I think something along the lines of our house of representatives could be implemented. Major Gant commented on a confederation of sorts between the TSF/Arbakais that the TETs train. I think if something like this were able to be formed, they could work directly with GIRoA, and maybe even the Pakistan government considering that 2/3rds of Pakistan is in the larger scale "tribal area"

I don't think that GIRoA could really ever "govern" the tribes though, those people couldn't care less about a central government.

2- First hand reports from the TETs in the area

[Dozer523]

Originally Posted by Warrior-Mentor

Questions for QPs here from someone wishing to stay anonymous:
Your thoughts related to MAJ Gant's paper:

1. What in your opinion would be the most effective way for the Afghan Government to govern the tribal areas?

Any takers?

I'll take a shot at Number One.
The best way for the Afghan government to govern the tribal areas is to treat the tribes autonomously. The tribes govern, conduct business, operate in their own best interests. Might as well endorse it because that is what happens anyway.
The National government should operate on the International scene because in a global society the smaller (tribal) players can't initiate on their own and when the nation states initiate with the tribes it has not gone well for Afghans.
Let the Kabul government (presently under the protection of the US and ISAF) deal with the world. They can keep the tribes within the Avenue of Approach (v. Route) by functioning as the gate keeper to outside world assistance (trade, and aid).
The tribes get what they want -- what they have always had -- freedom to do as they please in their areas. The world gets what it wants a central government to deal with that looks sort of like what the world thinks a government should look like. The central government doesn't have to be responsible for the tribes doing what they want (like they always do anyway) they just act on the tribes behalf with outside agencies. Toeing the elected governments programs? Good, here's your part of the aid.

Problem? sure. tribes that don't want to play might be prime candidates for going over to the Taliban. But, I doubt that as memories of how awful it was linger, the Taliban sure don't have any improvement programs as good as the International community and there is always the ANA heading toward the tribes valley. (Sure, might not be the best Army but there are lots of them and plenty more and ISAF will assist.)

$0.02. AND My caller ID has not shown many (ok. . . none, actually) phone calls from DC.

[Dack]

The other link is down, I got a copy with this link.
http://www.defence.gov.au/army/lwsc/..._at_a_Time.pdf

[LarryW]

Thanks for the link, head. Good information source, or at least a place to begin the search for a better understanding.

Thanks for your link, too, Dack. Made the ref complete. Looking for a lot more from MAJ Gant. Esp good gouge.

[Flagg]

American Spartan

http://www.amazon.com/American-Spart...=UTF8&sr=&qid=

A book about Major Jim Gant of "One Tribe at a Time" fame.

Written by his wife.

It just showed up on my Kindle from an auto-order.

Looking forward to reading about his One Tribe at a Time experience in retrospect.

[bluenote]

I just finished reading American Spartan and now I have way more questions than answers. Surely there is more to the story than what was written about in the book. It seems way too harsh to demote from Major to Captain and revoke a tab based on what the book said.

[The Reaper]

Originally Posted by bluenote

I just finished reading American Spartan and now I have way more questions than answers. Surely there is more to the story than what was written about in the book. It seems way too harsh to demote from Major to Captain and revoke a tab based on what the book said.

Do you understand who wrote the book?

TR

[bluenote]

Yes Sir. I knew both Jim and Ann in Afghanistan.

[Basenshukai]

Jim is a complicated man, and he was thrust into a complicated environment. No SF guy goes into that kind of environment, and shoulder that much responsibility, without the best of intentions.

I still have a lot of respect for Jim. I consider him braver than 90% of the men I've met. We used to have long chats when he would occasionally come back to Kabul to report on his progress back in 2010. Each subsequent time I saw him, he seemed different, a bit more affected by his environment, and the things he saw. But, how can that environment not change a man? We have guys affected when they are coming back from a CONOP, to a nice firebase every few days, or so, after experiencing a full measure of Afghanistan in a single tour. Can you imagine what it can do to a person who does not "really" come back to the firebase? One thing that I truly believe is that Jim would have given his life for any one of us out there without question. There are not too many men like that.

[Abu-Shakra]

I read one BS article that completely missed the point of Jim's work is in Afghanistan while trashing him. I read another that was harsh, but very fair.

Whatever. I don't care what anyone says about him. I don't care what Mulholland says about him; No one can ever take away that he was be the best, most knowledgable, motivating instructor I had in the Q course.