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Thread: South Africa's COIN war in SWA/Namibia/Angola

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  1. #1
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Visual aids: Koevoet

    In the first post I mentioned the 1988 book Koevoet by Jim Hooper (a US photographer / journalist based in the UK, who had embedded with SW African COIN unit, in the conflict over nowadays Namibia).

    Today I found his website: http://jimhooper.co.uk/ which has a mass of photos: http://jimhooper.co.uk/gallery3.html, three short video clips and other subjects covered.

    There are other books on Koevoet, notably those by Peter Stiff, a trilogy on the war(s) fought; The Covert War (2005), The Silent War and Warfare by Other means (2001). The books are not without controversy, nor cheap.
    davidbfpo

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    Default Koevoet video

    Another video can be found here

    This one seems to have been staged for the video but gives some idea how they operated. Being policemen and not soldiers the contacts were even more chaotic than normal but they did the business with a not so great kill ratio 25:1

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    Default Further McCuen

    COL McCuen and COL Gentile faced off in Dec 2009 in a couple of Tom Ricks' pieces:

    A challenge for COINhata Gentile, Thomas E. Ricks Friday, December 4, 2009 (counterpoint by McCuen to Gentile's Parameters article).

    COIN (III): Do not go Gentile into that good night, Thomas E. Ricks Monday, December 7, 2009 (response by Gentile to McCuen's counterpoint).

    These are (relatively) short postings which, however, cover a long period in US involvement in "COIN" and irregular warfare.

    The Center of Military History has an online book (588 pp.), Birtle, U.S. Army counterinsurgency and contingency operations doctrine, 1942–1976 (2006), which covers the waterfront pretty well.

    I found COL McCuen's brief bio (in the 2008 MR article) to have an interesting entry - that he was in Indonesia, where he was chief of the U.S. "military assistance group" (U.S. Defense Liaison Group, Indonesia). Indonesia at all times pertinent has been more important to SE Asia than Vietnam.

    Regards

    Mike

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    Quote Originally Posted by davidbfpo View Post
    In the first post I mentioned the 1988 book Koevoet by Jim Hooper (a US photographer / journalist based in the UK, who had embedded with SW African COIN unit, in the conflict over nowadays Namibia).

    Today I found his website: http://jimhooper.co.uk/ which has a mass of photos: http://jimhooper.co.uk/gallery3.html, three short video clips and other subjects covered.
    In a moment of whimsy, I Googled the title of my first book and was surprised to see it mentioned here. My thanks go to DavidBFPO.I hope those who have read Koevoet or its American edition Beneath the Visiting Moon found the story of passing interest.

    Another first-hand account of the unit will be published in July 2011 by Zebra Press, an imprint of Random House-Struik. Written by Arn 'Jim' Durand, one of my first mentors when I was embedded with Koevoet, Zulu, Zulu Golf covers his seven years of COIN operations on both sides of the Namibia-Angola border. My six months covering the bush war, during which I managed to get winged twice, pale by comparison with Durand's 120+ contacts.

    In the meantime, if anyone has questions about the most effective COIN unit ever to have operated in Africa I'm happy to answer them as best I can.

    Jim Hooper
    www.jimhooper.co.uk

    "There's no such thing as a small battle or tiny war at cockpit, squad or platoon level."
    Colonel Jack L. Mullen
    Road Runner 6
    Last edited by Jim Hooper; 03-07-2011 at 08:06 PM. Reason: making it better

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Hooper View Post
    In a moment of whimsy, I Googled the title of my first book and was surprised to see it mentioned here. My thanks go to DavidBFPO.I hope those who have read Koevoet or its American edition Beneath the Visiting Moon found the story of passing interest.

    Another first-hand account of the unit will be published in July 2011 by Zebra Press, an imprint of Random House-Struik. Written by Arn 'Jim' Durand, one of my first mentors when I was embedded with Koevoet, Zulu, Zulu Golf covers his seven years of COIN operations on both sides of the Namibia-Angola border. My six months covering the bush war, during which I managed to get winged twice, pale by comparison with Durand's 120+ contacts.

    In the meantime, if anyone has questions about the most effective COIN unit ever to have operated in Africa I'm happy to answer them as best I can.

    Jim Hooper
    www.jimhooper.co.uk

    "There's no such thing as a small battle or tiny war at cockpit, squad or platoon level."
    Colonel Jack L. Mullen
    Road Runner 6
    Hi Jim, welcome.

    Any input you may have with regard to the Koevoet operations and tactics in northern SWA/Namibia would be useful and appreciated. The Koevoet operation was a unique concept successfully developed and used there. There are lessons to be learned from Koevoet specifically.

    Regards

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