Stateside COIN Academy

[OfTheTroops]

The persistance of conflict.

We have had a good deal of success with your day 1 and day 2 lesson plans no where near the depth that you describe but i can see the use. We focus on police.

And you may want some lectures like that. The breakdown of the law, criminal enterprises vs insurgencies, the role of the police, the role of the army, the role of the governator (get to the chopper!!).

You know if you correlate it to business practices or adminstration somehow (lessons in change) you will probably make millions. The Phd will get you extra change too. Make the suit feel like he was in Ramadi or wherever. nah!

The common good is more important. You could probably almost definitely sell it to the local university as a way to get troops in the seats. Case in point this very forum.

[MikeF]

Day Three: Fighting for Intelligence- The use of Reconnaissance and Surveillance to overcome our Information Disadvantage

Required Reading:
"Saving Zaganiyah" TBP,
FM 17-98-1 "The Scout Leaders Handbook,"
FM 7-8 "Infantry Platoon,"
The Ranger Handbook

Recommended Reading:
Once a Warrior King by David Donovan,
Hunter-Killer Squadron: Aero-Weapons, Aero-Scouts, Aero-Rifles by Matthew Brennan
The Man Who Never Was by Ewen Montagu
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini


Outline:
1. The value of the General Area Survey- listening to the current and former stakeholders in your AO.

2. Develop a Hypothesis of the Current Situation

3. Conduct Reconaissance to confirm/deny hypothesis.
3a. Covert Reconnaissance- sneaking in under the cover of darkness to take a look around
3b. Overt Reconnaissance- Route, Area, and Zone patrols to define the terrain.
3c. Conduct leadership engagements- Meet the People.

4. Conduct Surveillance to confirm/deny hypothesis

5. Define the environment- Final commander's decision on current situation

6. Develop the "Message"
6a. The use of Propaganda to shape the environment
6b. The use of Deception to prepare for initial entry

[MikeF]

The persistance of conflict.

We have had a good deal of success with your day 1 and day 2 lesson plans no where near the depth that you describe but i can see the use. We focus on police.

Two years ago Robert Andrews came down and gave a lecture on his time in Vietnam. As I read through his book, all the events of my experience in Iraq made sense...The culmination of that was "The Breakpoint." So yeah, that part is detailed but there is a method behind it.

And you may want some lectures like that. The breakdown of the law, criminal enterprises vs insurgencies, the role of the police, the role of the army, the role of the governator (get to the chopper!!).

That will come once I get done showing how to do it.

The common good is more important. You could probably almost definitely sell it to the local university as a way to get troops in the seats. Case in point this very forum.

The common good is much more important. It's not about me.

[marct]

Mike,

A quick question - how long are your "days" in this syllabus?

[MikeF]

Mike,

A quick question - how long are your "days" in this syllabus?

Tentative plan was 1-2 hours. 30 minute lecture followed with 30-90 minutes of discussion. Looking at my tentative syllabus that maybe a stretch given the input.

The test case will be with guys from my former unit so I'll be able to see how it flows.

[marct]

Hi Mike,

Tentative plan was 1-2 hours. 30 minute lecture followed with 30-90 minutes of discussion. Looking at my tentative syllabus that maybe a stretch given the input.

Yeah, I suspect it is a stretch . I was thinking 3 hours minimum until I saw day 3 and thought you might be looking at an 8 hour day!

The test case will be with guys from my former unit so I'll be able to see how it flows.

Good idea running a test case first. You might think about doing a test talk run on each of the lecture components. It's been my experience that we tend to grossly underestimate time involved, but the underestimate factor varies widely depending on how much audience input / interaction we are looking for. A 30 minute lecture gives you, roughly, time to read ~ 20 pages, double-spaced with no interaction. I usually try and do a test run on talks and conference presentations with some of my colleagues up here (including past and present students) just to try and get a feel for the time length. Even then, I'm frequently off .

Cheers,

Marc

[MM_Smith]

Wow.

I'm truly impressed by the breadth and depth of the responses you have received and your replies. I think you will do well with your presentation.

As a suggestion, have someone record the presentation. I guarantee you will learn from your audience and you will learn even more by reviewing the presentation. You may end up with a couple of articles out of your ideas and/or questions and comments.

I was an instructor at the JFK Center and an O/C at JRTC. A lot of the topics you and others have suggested we have tried to incorporate. I'm afraid that what a lot of us see as "common sense" will never become apparent to some of the folks who really need that information.

For what it's worth, I'm still learning from things I observed in Vietnam and subsequent locations. As a result I feel kind of bad about all the things we tried to teach but couldn't get across or didn't think about.

Please recover completely and quickly. You are the future of the Army.

[marct]

Hi MM,

As a suggestion, have someone record the presentation. I guarantee you will learn from your audience and you will learn even more by reviewing the presentation. You may end up with a couple of articles out of your ideas and/or questions and comments.

Mike, this is a REALLY good idea! When I was prepping for my first conference paper, my father dragged me down to his office and made me go through the presentation about 8 times, videotaping each one. In between, he offered some really devastating critiques on tempo, content, body language and tonality. By the end of the exercise (over 4 hours!), I had the frakin' paper memorized, with stage directions! Nowadays, I don't go to such great lengths, but I do do dry runs for my colleagues and really, seriously take their comments into consideration.

I was an instructor at the JFK Center and an O/C at JRTC. A lot of the topics you and others have suggested we have tried to incorporate. I'm afraid that what a lot of us see as "common sense" will never become apparent to some of the folks who really need that information.

For what it's worth, there are times when I feel like I am bashing my head into a brick wall when talking with some of our (Canadian) policy people about COIN, etc. It's not our military folks - they get it - it's dealing with some of the bureaucrats whose agendas are solely aimed at building their own, personal little empires . Luckily, we also have some great bureaucrats who do get it but, sometimes, it just makes me want to ...

For what it's worth, I'm still learning from things I observed in Vietnam and subsequent locations. As a result I feel kind of bad about all the things we tried to teach but couldn't get across or didn't think about.

The sign of a true scholar - in the Socratic tradition .

Cheers,

Marc

[MikeF]

Just some quick notes for tonight then I'm off on a date with a sweet southern belle. Smalls wars can wait . Unfortunately, they are not going anywhere.

From Bob's World:

Mike sounds more like a GWOT campaign assessment

I think I'm gonna start calling this post-colonial small wars.

As a suggestion, have someone record the presentation. I guarantee you will learn from your audience and you will learn even more by reviewing the presentation. You may end up with a couple of articles out of your ideas and/or questions and comments.

Working on it. We found a scout that also does photography and videos.

I was an instructor at the JFK Center and an O/C at JRTC. A lot of the topics you and others have suggested we have tried to incorporate. I'm afraid that what a lot of us see as "common sense" will never become apparent to some of the folks who really need that information.

For what it's worth, I'm still learning from things I observed in Vietnam and subsequent locations. As a result I feel kind of bad about all the things we tried to teach but couldn't get across or didn't think about.

MM, thank you for your service. The more I consider, common sense and METT-TC seem to be learned along the way directly correlated to one's age and experience. I look back at how much I've absorbed from combat, grad school, and SWJ from guys like Ken White, Goesh, BW, Wilf, Stan, Tom Odom and countless others. I want to minimize that gap.

So back to the real world. A 1SGT (former PLT SGT of mine) is crashing at my place while he's going through a divorce. Right now, while I"m working through my own ####, he's helping me. In his own words, "Sir, brother, you took care of us and now I'm gonna take care of you." That's the type of unit we had. Anyways, he's done four tours in Iraq and A'stan, and we've spent many nights with a bottle of Jack just talking things out. He told me that I've always had a way to know and explain things on a level that was comprehendable from a PFC to a 4-star.

I showed him the first three days of courses today. He loved it, but he laughed. "Mike, you gotta dumb that down for the E6's. Too many college words. Take your enemy situation and make it 'shape, hold, and clear.'"

So, I'm gonna relook the format and the questions (as per MarcT's suggestions on inversion) to make something accessible for everyone.

With that, here's some good tunes for the weekend that cover it all...

v/r

Mike

[MikeF]

Here's where I'm headed next week.

Day Four: The Biggest Tribe- Clearing the Village and taking Control

Day Five: Annihilation of the Opposition- Holding the Village

Day Six: Reconstruction at Gun-Point: Armed Nation-Building and the Build Phase

Day Seven: Transition- Conflict Resolution and moving to the Role of the Arbitrator

Day Eight: The Combat Advisor: FID. SFA, and the alternative, indirect approach- One Tribe at a Time

Day Nine: The Intangables: Three Cups of Tea, Winning Friends and Influencing People, and Peace Corps ####

Day Ten: Having a Life/Going Home before 2100- Resetting, Rebuilding, and Revamping our Army in a time of war: Working through injuries, grief, training the next breed, and new commanders.

[Bob's World]

Here's where I'm headed next week.

Day Four: The Biggest Tribe- Clearing the Village and taking Control

Day Five: Annihilation of the Opposition- Holding the Village

Day Six: Reconstruction at Gun-Point: Armed Nation-Building and the Build Phase

Day Seven: Transition- Conflict Resolution and moving to the Role of the Arbitrator

Day Eight: The Combat Advisor: FID. SFA, and the alternative, indirect approach- One Tribe at a Time

Day Nine: The Intangables: Three Cups of Tea, Winning Friends and Influencing People, and Peace Corps ####

Day Ten: Having a Life/Going Home before 2100- Resetting, Rebuilding, and Revamping our Army in a time of war: Working through injuries, grief, training the next breed, and new commanders.

This is NOT a recipe for effective foreign policy. If this is what you are having your military do, your foregin policy is hard broke.

[Commando Spirit]

Here's where I'm headed next week.

Day Four: The Biggest Tribe- Clearing the Village and taking Control

Day Five: Annihilation of the Opposition- Holding the Village

Day Six: Reconstruction at Gun-Point: Armed Nation-Building and the Build Phase

Day Seven: Transition- Conflict Resolution and moving to the Role of the Arbitrator

Day Eight: The Combat Advisor: FID. SFA, and the alternative, indirect approach- One Tribe at a Time

Day Nine: The Intangables: Three Cups of Tea, Winning Friends and Influencing People, and Peace Corps ####

Day Ten: Having a Life/Going Home before 2100- Resetting, Rebuilding, and Revamping our Army in a time of war: Working through injuries, grief, training the next breed, and new commanders.

Hi Mike, I run these type of courses but for the British Army. I deliver to all units types mainly to fit with their training programme but, as with many units, they go with my recommendations! I go in initially with a two day package (full days 0830 - 1630). The package, whilst flexible to the needs of the unit, is an intro to the 10 x British Principles of COIN, which underpin all "Small Wars" and then drill down into more detail. Happy to discuss if you wish and even share resources??

I have a concern though with your proposed content. I think you're coming at it too heavily on the kinetic side. Whilst I appreciate the need for kinetic effect (I am a serving member of the British Army) I am not so sure it should have quite such a high profile that you suggest? There is a distinct danger that you will set the conditions in your students heads that these Small Wars are best resolved through the sole use of kinetic effects; I would argue that this is not the case.

As I have said; happy to chat if you want me to?

CS

[Dayuhan]

I think I'm gonna start calling this post-colonial small wars.

Post-colonial, yes, but "post Cold War" is also appropriate. The prominent insurgencies of the second half of the 20th century may have been primarily driven by opposition to colonial powers and postcolonial dictatorships, but our response to them was driven primarily by our own "communists vs capitalists" stategic equation. Our tendency to impose the latter paradigm over the fiormer often led us to surrender the moral high ground of opposition to antiquated, abusive, and crumbling power structures to our opponents, which really didn't do us any good.

Certainly there are useful lessons to be learned from the Cold War insurgencies, but we also have to recognize that many of today's conflicts are very different, and not all the lessons apply. There's a danger, for example, in trying to apply COIN principles to a conflict against a group like AQ, which is not an insurgency at all, or to a situation that is less an insurgency than an armed competition for control of an ungoverned space.