Old Eagle, and I emphasize the "old" (although I bet you're not as old as me & I know neither of us is as old as Max), I suspect that Max was likely at Carlisle having just begun the study that Max Thurman commissioned and that has carried us lo these many years. It was, however, a near thing. John Waghelstein comments that the small wars material at Leavenworth in the early 80s was down to 8 hours total. If it hadn't been for El Sal, Wag would have left the army as a LTC and his MILGP grads wouldn't have carried the small wars ball for so long.

Rob, you are right that it is not a branch thing. Among the best small warriors I know are tankers, infantryment, and MI guys (like Steve Fee). One of the very best was GEN Jack Galvin who brought Major Dave Petraeus to SOUTHCOM from West Point the summer of 86. My boss in SOUTHCOM's Small Wars Operations Research Dirctorate, COL Bob Herrick was a visionary in this field although I could never sell him on the utility of horse mounted infantry for El Salvador My point about SOF - and I would extend it to FAO - is that here, more than in the "conventional" branches, thinking about COIN is likely to be rewarded rather than disparaged. The culture (sub-cultures) in these areas is conducive to small wars thinking. But one has to caution that there are some who still believe that the Son Tay raid was the height of SF operations.