... The military is increasingly focusing on “soft” skills, means, and methods. This includes a greater use and understanding of cultural factors, foreign languages, and the social sciences of anthropology and ethnography. The enemy has chosen to fight us in wars amongst the people. Therefore the “terrain” of this fight is human and cultural rather than just physical terrain. If soldiers and Marines aren’t as adept in the cultural terrain as they are on the physical terrain, they can’t win the current fight.
Each of the services has established specific capabilities to understand better the human factors of this war. Each provides enhanced training and education to better prepare service men and women for success. There is a small cadre of noted cultural anthropologists supporting this effort. They call themselves the “MilAnts” for military anthropologists. The facts prove that the more adept our forces are at operating with and among foreign peoples and cultures - rather than as total outsiders with no or little consideration for local customs, traditions, and social dynamics - the better for us all. This fight is about more than just killing the bad guys, it is about helping to spread democracy and setting conditions for a better life in those countries where we are engaged.
In addition to a better understanding of foreign cultures and languages, the military is increasing capabilities to win across the spectrum of “non-kinetic” operations, including the sphere of information. Let’s face it, our strategic communications and information campaigns have been a total bust! We don’t understand the target audience, we don’t know what resonates and what doesn’t, and we have not effectively used our vast potential to influence public perceptions in foreign cultures. The great good we’ve done in Iraq and Afghanistan and in places like the Horn of Africa has not been articulated adequately around the world. The impact we’ve had in helping countries like Indonesia after the Tsunami and in Pakistan after the earthquakes has been quickly overshadowed by our enemies’ ability to use their intimate knowledge about the audience to their advantage and our disadvantage. The services are working quickly to catch up while incorporating more reliable information operations into the fight.
The military brings a vast array of capabilities to “SSTR” operations (Stability, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction Operations). The Army in particular can provide a huge amount of logistic and engineering help. But it’s in other government organizations, the so-called “interagency”, where the vast majority of the expertise lies to build and rebuild nations. While the armed forces are honing their capabilities to deliver basic services and increase capabilities to perform SSTR Ops, the interagency has been a near “no-show” in Iraq and Afghanistan for the past 4 years. It’s only now that much of the federal bureaucracy is starting to provide the help desperately needed by the military to re-build in Iraq. I hope it’s not too late.
While many in the Pentagon and the services have recognized the need for change, it’s a balancing act. How to retain conventional war-winning capabilities and at the same time increase capability to fight and win irregular or “hybrid war” is the current big challenge across the armed forces...
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