Elaborate some then on point #6. How's it going? How do you recruit? How much 'pull and influence' do they really have? Is this small community of resources within units/AOs collaberating and collating and buiding data bases and communicating amongst themselves? If two men step forth with savvy and time in-country, what subjective and objective criteria determine the selection of your cultural point man? Who makes the decision - the company CO? Bn? I would think in smaller units this 'point man' would want to be able to readily have the ear of the Commander - is this the case? What mechanisms are there for procuring such talent from outside the military structure? If you knew a civilian in-country who had good language skills and moved easily amongst the people, how could you get him? You couldn't nab him or bribe him with MREs and field chow to come work for you. How much cross-over is there in the current applications of COIN?