Professional Soldiers ® - View Single Post

USANick7 · 09-07-2008, 11:25

If only there was an organization trained to deal with counter insurgency and insurgency operations specifically...

If only there was a group of men, trained to work with the indigenous population...

An entity that focused its efforts toward fostering relationships with friendly militarys' in war and peace time....

A force...a "special" force that was dedicated to such a type of warfare.

Oh if only.

Unfortunately all we have is a 3000 man regiment of...I'm sorry...how did the JSOC commander describe us..."housekeepers".

But if I remember my history correctly (and I should because I remember watching this part of it with envy), his ass wasn't the one who was on a damned horse in Afghanistan leading his indig force, and helping to accomplish in short order what the Soviet war Machine couldn't have hoped for in 15 years (yes I realize it wasn't that simple, but I'm venting here).

You can have the other crap, Ill take my lot with the guys who jump in to the middle of no where and link up with a rag tag bunch of tribesman, focus their efforts, provide a little purpose, direction and motivation and then go and change the course of history.

Its not that big army doesn't recognize the principles of counter insurgency...its that they have never bothered to come up with a "comprehensive strategy" for it.

Nobody gives a rats ass about COIN, until were there, and then they treat it as if it can be learned overnight with a couple power point presentations.

We need to start treating COIN operations with appropriate consideration given to "Division of Labor". You don't send a patriot missile technician out to patrol Fallujah, and you don't send an 11B in to fix a patriot battery. we are all over the division of labor concept when it comes to military specialties, its high time we learn that the same concept applies when dealing with types of warfare.

But the bottom line is, SF is never protected unless we have strong political backing. It doesn't matter how many times we prove our worth, we will continually be asked to make bricks without straw.

There is a place for conventional forces in COIN just as there is a place for SF in a conventional fight, but we damned well better start recognizing the appropriate "roles" for each force in each type of conflict.

But I'm not holding my breath. So instead, maybe Ill start working on something.

09-07-2008, 11:25	#5
USANick7 Quiet Professional Join Date: May 2008 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 288	If only... If only there was an organization trained to deal with counter insurgency and insurgency operations specifically... If only there was a group of men, trained to work with the indigenous population... An entity that focused its efforts toward fostering relationships with friendly militarys' in war and peace time.... A force...a "special" force that was dedicated to such a type of warfare. Oh if only. Unfortunately all we have is a 3000 man regiment of...I'm sorry...how did the JSOC commander describe us..."housekeepers". But if I remember my history correctly (and I should because I remember watching this part of it with envy), his ass wasn't the one who was on a damned horse in Afghanistan leading his indig force, and helping to accomplish in short order what the Soviet war Machine couldn't have hoped for in 15 years (yes I realize it wasn't that simple, but I'm venting here). You can have the other crap, Ill take my lot with the guys who jump in to the middle of no where and link up with a rag tag bunch of tribesman, focus their efforts, provide a little purpose, direction and motivation and then go and change the course of history. Its not that big army doesn't recognize the principles of counter insurgency...its that they have never bothered to come up with a "comprehensive strategy" for it. Nobody gives a rats ass about COIN, until were there, and then they treat it as if it can be learned overnight with a couple power point presentations. We need to start treating COIN operations with appropriate consideration given to "Division of Labor". You don't send a patriot missile technician out to patrol Fallujah, and you don't send an 11B in to fix a patriot battery. we are all over the division of labor concept when it comes to military specialties, its high time we learn that the same concept applies when dealing with types of warfare. But the bottom line is, SF is never protected unless we have strong political backing. It doesn't matter how many times we prove our worth, we will continually be asked to make bricks without straw. There is a place for conventional forces in COIN just as there is a place for SF in a conventional fight, but we damned well better start recognizing the appropriate "roles" for each force in each type of conflict. But I'm not holding my breath. So instead, maybe Ill start working on something.
USANick7 is offline