Quote Originally Posted by Hacksaw View Post
I too grew up in an Army with a rich tradition of small wars... and despite the fact that I attended the Army's "premier" school for developing military planners... I was never once asked to think about something beyond force on force until 2002 - that's 15 years... as Sec Gates says when discussing the 2010 budget -- this isn't a IW budget, it just gets IW a seat at the table -- if the nouveau COIN/COINistas provide for a small wars seat at the table -- its worth the risk
You allude to a very interesting distinction here. I have always believed that the exclusion of "Small Wars" from military thought, training, equipment and doctrine, to be profoundly stupid.
I submit that the best way to prevent that is to nurture an "All Wars" approach.

This is why the Soap box, with the "Read Clausewitz" and "War is War" bumper stickers comes zooming out, ( much to Tom's annoyance! ) every time I sense the vibrations of those who see "COIN" as being something not grounded in War and Warfare. Small Wars and Irregular Warfare are not just about "COIN," and believing any warfare against an Irregular enemy is COIN and can be addressed by the "new thinking" that comes with that belief, may set you on the road to disaster.

So quote my more JEPY friends, "Love Small Wars. Love Irregular Warfare. Not so sure about the COIN, Darling."