All,

Wanted to highlight this post at the COIN Center Blog:

Teach Your Organization the Basics of Counterinsurgency: COIN OPD/NCOPD Instructions

Organizations often ask COIN Center staff, “Can you send someone out here to teach us about COIN for a day or two?” The COIN Center certainly tries to accommodate as many requests as the staff of four military officers will allow—over the past year, the COIN Center has trained over 3,000 Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen, and civilians—but COIN Center trainers consistently observe that three-fourths of the organizations could easily have trained themselves had they had the proper tools.

Most COIN Center trainees have not needed an education on tactics or procedures, merely an adjustment in mindset—in the way they view the environment and conceptualize COIN operations. The COIN Center has created a COIN OPD/NCOPD program that instructors, with some self study, can customize and deliver based on their own organization’s demands. To access the OPDs and NCOPDs on the COIN Center website:

* Go to the COIN Knowledge Center
* Click “COIN Center Files”
* Click “COIN OPDs/NCOPDs”

This program consists of eight modules designed to build a basic understanding of COIN and how to approach the environment. The modules are:

* Introduction to COIN
* FM 3-24 Overview
* Understanding the Operational Environment in COIN
* Understanding Insurgencies
* Clear-Hold-Build
* COIN Leadership
* Information Engagement
* COIN Training Resources and Strategies

........ (Read more at the blog)

This COIN OPD/NCOPD program is not a comprehensive education on COIN. Rather, it is designed as a basic introduction for those preparing to deploy to OIF or OEF. The COIN Center has omitted some nuance and detail to produce modules that a self-taught instructor would feel comfortable delivering. The COIN Center hopes that this program will serve as a gateway for further self-study and development of COIN skills by both individuals and units.