Small-Ldr's Guide to COIN MCIP 3-33.01

[jcustis]

I've been grinding through the guide with a certain fervor of late - not just hitting the highlights or flipping back and forth, but reading front to back. That's a bit of a challenge when you're talking doctrine or TTPs, but that's sort of besides the point.

As I read, I see plenty of references to charts, network diagrams, and miscellaneous tracking/collection tools to help a company commander and his staff organize and prosecute the COIN mission.

Does anyone know of a package of digital COIN tools out there that can be easily manipulated to suit the situation, sort of like a "COIN ops in a box"? From my experience as a TF battle captain, I realize that some information capture tools need to be built from the ground up, but given the already critical time crunch commander's face in training for the deploy, why not give them pre-formatted templates and tools right out of the gate? The first direction to take may be to go to the S-2, but even then he doesn't have it all, so it often comes down to the Marine with the quickest Powerpoint and Excel skills. Not to mention, there are a number of TTP sections that rate their own smartcard for reproduction and issue as required.

Any MCCDC guys on here who think attaching a CD-ROM to the back dust jacket makes any sense?

[RTK]

Seems that a standardization of tracking sheets and databases would make it easier to share information. What better place to begin standardization than at the tactical level? The CD you speak of could do that.

[jcustis]

...but you are on point with the standardization piece RTK. If a unit commander and his staff roll in for the RIP and the turnover consists of a review of the details in standardized form, it could make the RIP more efficient. Staffs would be working with intel and information in roughly the same format that they used during the work-up.

I'll admit that on the Marine side, we are terrible at that degree of standardization, even though the doctrine and TTps are right in our face.

Has the USA made any strides in that direction?

[Tom Odom]

If someone will get it to me I will see about getting it done.

best

Tom

[marct]

Is the guide generally available or is it FAUO?

Marc

[jcustis]

I've not seen it posted electronically Marc, although I know electronic versions are moving between .mil accounts. Distro appears to be limited to US Govt agencies and theire contractors.

[marct]

I've found a link to it, but it appears to be in a restricted access area. It appears that there is a copy of MCIP 3-33 02 available in the non-restricted area. Too bad, I was hoping to read it

Marc

[slapout9]

Marc, it used to be in the SWJ library. However try a thread search for COIN manuals and it should come up there. I tried to copy for you but no luck. It is listed as small unit leaders guide. You will like it!

[marct]

Thanks Slapout! I got it from http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/usmc/coin.pdf

Marc

[marct]

I don't know if people are aware of this tool or not, but the CDC has an open source tool called EPI INFO developed to rack epidemiological outbreaks that could prove useful here. It is free, and information on it is available at

http://www.cdc.gov/EpiInfo/

Marc

PS. It's already used in at least one anti-terrorism project - see http://www.cdc.gov/epo/dphsi/8city.htm

[Jedburgh]

Thanks Slapout! I got it from http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/usmc/coin.pdf

....that link didn't work for me - but there is an alternate:

Small Unit Leader's Guide to COIN - Jun 06

...and here's a link to resources to go along with it provided by the USMC Warfighting Laboratory:

Small Unit Leader's Guide to Counterinsurgency (Charts & Graphs)

[marct]

Since they deal with kinship, here are a few links to way too much information on kinship types and charts.

Kinship and Social Organization: an interactive tutorial - Produced by an old acquaintance of mine, Brian Schwimmer at the University of Manitoba, this is probably the best online resource for learning about kinship networks and types of families. It's basically the equivalent of an Introduction to kinship course.

Essential Information & explanations, latest texts & monographs on Family.

David's Relationship Chart - There's a downloadable program and a massive number of links.

Marc

[marct]

I'm about half way through it at the moment and I just came to a comment that really bothered me:

Regardless of the agencies involved, this is your AO and you must stay involved with all upcoming and ongoing efforts. Remember, you are the one that will have to live with whatever happens in your AO, everyone else is just a tourist. (page 64-65)

While I can understand the issue of "owning an AO", it strikes me that the "everyone else is just a tourist" comment really strikes against the entire heart of COIN ops. Let's face it, the troops are, really, just tourists on extended visas (to carry on with the analogy). Maybe I'm being overly picky, but it strikes me that this is a somewhat skewed attitude to take.

Marc

[Tom Odom]

Marc,

You are misinterpreting the "you" and "everyone else". These remarks are toward the COIN forces, NGOs, etc. not the locals.

I try to teach the very same point: that the pointy end of the COIN spear is also the point of greatest knowledge when it comes to situational awareness and its growth into situational understanding. That happens of course if the small unit leaders take that objective to heart: that SU is their goal and that waiting for headquarters to explain what is happening outside the wire is a certain formula for disaster.

best

Tom

[marct]

Hi Tom,

You are misinterpreting the "you" and "everyone else". These remarks are toward the COIN forces, NGOs, etc. not the locals.

I figured I was . The reason I posted about it was that I had a specific emotional reaction to the comment - i.e. it really bothered me (I'm still trying to nail down the exact whys of it) and I was wondering if it bothered anyone else.

I try to teach the very same point: that the pointy end of the COIN spear is also the point of greatest knowledge when it comes to situational awareness and its growth into situational understanding. That happens of course if the small unit leaders take that objective to heart: that SU is their goal and that waiting for headquarters to explain what is happening outside the wire is a certain formula for disaster.

You know, I'm wondering if "the pointy end of the COIN spear" is the best metaphor. It's certainly accurate in most of the current situations, but I'm wondering if a "shield" metaphor or an "interface" metaphor mightn't be better. I think it's time for me to go back and reread Ginzburg on metaphor and analogy...

Marc

[RTK]

Marc,

You are misinterpreting the "you" and "everyone else". These remarks are toward the COIN forces, NGOs, etc. not the locals.

I try to teach the very same point: that the pointy end of the COIN spear is also the point of greatest knowledge when it comes to situational awareness and its growth into situational understanding. That happens of course if the small unit leaders take that objective to heart: that SU is their goal and that waiting for headquarters to explain what is happening outside the wire is a certain formula for disaster.

best

Tom

To add to that point for Marc, many times you'll have a major road network through your AO. Many will use that road network but none will have to deal with the 2nd and 3rd order effects like the "owner" of the AO if those outside agencies come into contact, return fire, inflict collateral damage, or any other contingency that occurs. They come and go. The owner stays and deals with it.

[marct]

Hi RTK,

To add to that point for Marc, many times you'll have a major road network through your AO. Many will use that road network but none will have to deal with the 2nd and 3rd order effects like the "owner" of the AO if those outside agencies come into contact, return fire, inflict collateral damage, or any other contingency that occurs. They come and go. The owner stays and deals with it.

You know, that's an excellent point. I don't remember reading about dealing with that in the handbook (admittedly, I was skimming it). Is there a particular way for a local company to "report" (?) something like this? I'm thinking back to some of the video's posted on youtube last year (kids "attacking" convoys).

Marc

[jcustis]

Marc, to answer your question, we would try to call them on the carpet when we could. That usually meant dragging them into the COC when their convoy eventually came to our FOB. On other stretches of road near Ramadi, we went to great lenghts to address the issue, educate other units, and inform them of what was going on, but we still had to duck from their fires on more than one occasion. All because they saw something go bump in the night and they had absolutely no fire discipline.

Other times the only thing we could do was pass a report up to the movement control center embedded in the higher HQ, and hope they would address it appropriately.

[marct]

Hi JC,

Marc, to answer your question, we would try to call them on the carpet when we could. That usually meant dragging them into the COC when their convoy eventually came to our FOB. On other stretches of road near Ramadi, we went to great lenghts to address the issue, educate other units, and inform them of what was going on, but we still had to duck from their fires on more than one occasion. All because they saw something go bump in the night and they had absolutely no fire discipline.

Thanks. You know, that is a rather scary situation in terms of being able to control the local AO.

Other times the only thing we could do was pass a report up to the movement control center embedded in the higher HQ, and hope they would address it appropriately.

Again, truly scary. I hate to say it, but if a bunch of yahoos showed up on one of our highways and started shooting, we would have their butts in slings. From a "law and order" perspective (and I really HATE that term - "perspective"), I have to wonder what the value to a local IO op would be to actually prosecute, in the AO, some yahoo who shoots up "stuff" on an MSR.

Marc

[jcustis]

I have to wonder what the value to a local IO op would be to actually prosecute, in the AO, some yahoo who shoots up "stuff" on an MSR.

In some sense, that appears to have been the point that someone tried to make in Afghanistan with regard to that MARSOC unit. Sadly, we will never know the full story, and just like the Duke lacrosse players, the incident has played out in full view through the helpful hands of the media.