Stateside COIN Academy

[Bob's World]

Thanks MarcT. That's exactly the questions/comments that I was hoping for. I'm gonna work on a tentative syllabus and then post it on this thread as a working document for further discussion. I'll make sure that I send you and Dr. Fishel a PM.

As you review this, keep in mind that I'm not teaching college students. I'm talking to Company Grade officers and NCOs. Many of them will have multiple tours. So, I want to keep the reading light and no tests. I guess that's best called a seminar.

As I'm working on my syllabus, here's the required reading/case studies I'm considering....MTF...

- Zaganiyah- clearing denied rural areas
- Ramadi- Cavguy's ventures into the Sunni Awakening
- Mosul- Y'alls case study on SFA.
- Basilan, Phillipines- JSOTF-P initial entry and use of the McCormick Diamond Model
- Afghanistan- Jim Gant, "One tribe at a time"
- Colombia or El Salvador- need a good paper for this one.

Mike

Less the Latin America scenario, these are 5 campaigns in one war to protect the populace of the United States from terrorist attacks.

You can talk tactics: What was the situation, what worked, what didn't work, etc. That is intersting and helpful for those at Company level and below.

Or you can talk Operations, how each of these campagins contributed and fit into the larger campagins for their respective theaters. Good for the Field Grade level types

Or you can talk strategy. How did these campagins contribute or exacerbate the threat of terrorist attacks on America? etc.

As an aside, I realize you are coming from Monterey, home of the "McCormick Diamond," but I am pretty sure any serious application of the "diamond" to that operation is post facto. The operations there were shaped far more by the simple fact that we had no authorities to do anything other than the things we did. Which is a lesson in itself. "When conducting FID in support of another country's insurgency, are ones operations more effective when forced to subjugate themselves to the governance of that country and operate through their security forces and within the guidelines of their laws and rules; or when you invade, take out the existing government, and do whatever you damn well please."

[MikeF]

The operations there were shaped far more by the simple fact that we had no authorities to do anything other than the things we did. Which is a lesson in itself.

I'm glad that we both learned the same lessons there. Similar constraints have been placed on forces in Iraq as the gov't steps up sovereignty, and I thought that the Phillipines, El Sal, and Colombia would be good examples to use to show how the rules that may seem limiting can actually prove effective over time. IMO, that's one of the biggest issues with the SFA mission and RA in A'stan. We would rather do the mission ourselves instead of waiting for the Afghans to do it.

As I continue to narrow the scope of this thing, yes, it is GWOT intensive, but the examples covered highlight heavy armor units, light units, and SF units working in urban and rural environments. Different units, different terrains, and different missions. I think that will blend well.

The focus will be on company level planning, operations, and decision-making. Some primary questions will probably include:

1. What is a small war?
2. How does an insurgency mobilize, recruit, shape, clear, and hold an area?
3. How do we fight for intelligence to gain an accurate picture of our area of operations?
4. Once we determine the current situation, how do we shape the environment to allow for infiltration?
5. How do we clear the area?
6. How do we hold the area?
7. How do we build the area? Do we buld the area?

I'm not to concerned on specific TTPs and Tactics. Guys will argue all day long on how to clear a house. I want to develop a course that helps teach how to think and provide some examples of how others did business.

As I'm looking at my written notes, this seminar will probably be 10 x 1 hour classes. My timeline is to be ready to start teaching on 1 March. So, as soon as I'm done with the syllabus, I'll post it for y'alls edit.

Check in with the guys in the USASOC Commander's Initiatives Group. You'll find some friends there.

Thanks for the lead. I'd really like to eventually have a joint course b/c we all have a lot to teach each other (as I learned with SF and Seal friends at NPS).

From Wilf:

Obviously the first year of the course would be spent reading Clausewitz

Here's my thoughts and deception plan on getting the guys to read the classics. For my class, my "Break Point" article will be mandatory. It's short and easy to read. Hopefully, a young E6 or 02 will say, "Wow, I learned something from that." or "That #### was happening in my area, and I never saw it." Then, I'll recommend that they take the time to read Robert Andrews "The Village War."

Throughout the seminar, I'll put in quotes from Galula, Sir Robert Thompson, and others. Over time, they may decide to read up on how others tackled the same types of problems over time.

v/r

Mike

[Bob's World]

Be sure to ask fun questions too (ie, as in designed to make the Doctirne Nazi's heads explode), for example:

A. "Is it more important to know what phase friendly forces are in (i.e., Clear, Hold, or Build) in your particular sector; or which phase the Insurgency is in (i.e., “strategic defensive,” “strategic stalemate,” or “strategic offensive.”); or neither of the above in recognition that the insurgent can "win" when the sides are in any combinaiton of these phases and that the counterinsurgent can only "win" by moving the insurgent to Phase 0 regardless of which phase the counterinsrgent might be in?

(hell, no need for question B. If you can't fill up a bluebook answering that question you aren't trying!)

[marct]

Hi Mike,

Just a quick comment stemming from Bob's last...

Be sure to ask fun questions too (ie, as in designed to make the Doctirne Nazi's heads explode),

Some primary questions will probably include:

1. What is a small war?
2. How does an insurgency mobilize, recruit, shape, clear, and hold an area?
3. How do we fight for intelligence to gain an accurate picture of our area of operations?
4. Once we determine the current situation, how do we shape the environment to allow for infiltration?
5. How do we clear the area?
6. How do we hold the area?
7. How do we build the area? Do we buld the area?

1. Nice and unanswerable .
2. - 7. You need to invert these as part of the question.

Let me pull this out. Using a rather wonky, yet Sun Tzu inspired analogy, you and the various insurgents, civilians, etc. are involved in a dance; an ongoing improv that co-constructs the campaign, so you need to think about the entirety of the event space in that way. This means that you have to think about how you think about the insurgents and how they think about you. All these current questions do is think about how you think about them, hence the inversion.

You might also think about planting a few mental landmines in your course as well. Probably the simplest one would be a very minor modification of your Q 3. from

3. How do we fight for intelligence to gain an accurate picture of our area of operations?

to

3. How do we gain an accurate picture of how all stakeholders view our area of operations, and what are the limits of our accuracy?

If your students have the time, I would assign them to read Gordon Dickson's Tactics of Mistake - it's quite short and easily read in a night.

[William F. Owen]

I
Here's my thoughts and deception plan on getting the guys to read the classics.

Actually CvC wouldn't be necessary as part of the course, bar 4 Lectures/ guided discussions

a.) War is a Continuation of Politics - Mao as the lead example
b.) The Trinity - what you need to "do" violence for political aims
c.) The concept of "Nation" in the idea of War
e.) The "annihilation" of the enemy

If I could get those across in 4-8 classes I'd be happy