The idea behind human terrain teams, or HTTs, is to put a small army of civilian social scientists (ideally anthropologists) and intel-savvy military officers into the field to give brigade commanders a better understanding of local dynamics. The teams are charged with “mapping” social structures, linkages, and priorities, just as a recon team might map physical terrain. By talking to locals the teams might help identify which village elder the commander should deal with or which tribe might be a waste of time; which valley should get a roads project and whether a new road might create a dispute between villages.
I still don't get this. FACT: This was done, successfully, in Vietnam by SF. No civilians. Is this not the type of mission SF was created for?

I just hope this is a BS article and has totally got the HTT mission wrong.

Now, don't get me wrong. The teams are charged with “mapping” social structures, linkages, and priorities, just as a recon team might map physical terrain. By talking to locals the teams might help identify which village elder the commander should deal with or which tribe might be a waste of time - is a very sound military mission, was was routinely done by the British as a matter of course. It's good military common sense. It's called Reconnaissance - and it should be done by soldiers.

Talking to a village elder and all the other stuff is real time intelligence work. Why does this require anthropologists?