Doing the SF legacy mission with none of the high selectivity. It is ironic that the Aztecs grew flowers because. [x] Of course, that does not leave too much left. The problem is that we are attempting to put tacit knowledge- that which is hard or impossible to explain- into the same form (doctrine) as explicit knowledge- that which can be categorized, detailed, and made into a list. Joint functions represent related capabilities and activities placed into basic groups to help commanders synchronize, integrate, and direct operations. IO is not a discrete, stand alone capability but is the integrated, coordinated, and synchronized operational application of all information-related capabilities (IRCs) 5, both organic and non-1 Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication (MCDP) 1, Warfighting, 20 June . and ask: a. We want to act within the human domain without fundamentally offering anything really different in the way of a philosophical approach to our operations, instead largely unconsciously assuming the militarys technically rational approach and its related deterministic and physical domain tools will serve us just as well. The U.S. military has become more professional, more centrally-managed, more technologically-enhanced, and more regimented since the ramp-up for the Cold War saddled the American people with a relatively large professional force. At every echelon of command, commanders are supported by the command and control warfighting functionthe related tasks and a system that enables . The seven warfighting functions are command and control, fires, force protection, information, intelligence, logistics, and maneuver. Manoeuvre elements may then exploit the advantage gained through that terrain action to destroy the threat in close combat. The. I like your example of Lee and the South using his understanding of the "human domain": influence the population to put pressure on the President. b. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. who deny -- or wish to deny -- their people the rule of law, freedom of the press, the right to free and fair elections, the right to economic freedom, etc. Informational Brief Instructions (NOTE: This is a . It amazes me that all of them can regurgitate the planning process perfectly with enough power point to make Bill Gates proud, but never once have they been asked to think of the implicit forces that their higher is being pressured by, the hidden agenda of the ambassador in the neighboring country, the current environment in Washington, D.C., the private life of the SOCNORTH commander--- all of those things and more can have an affect on one's mission. In order for SOF to best contribute to operations within the human domain I assert that we have to do two things: 1) ensure our doctrine and concepts support a more nuanced and dynamic approach to operations at the conceptual level and, 2) mimic at the operational and strategic levels the same kinds of things that make us special at the tactical level. The movement and maneuver warfighting function is the related tasks and systems that move forces to achieve a position of advantage in relation to the enemy. 1. He was surrounded by a gaggle of equally wide-eyed individuals of similar disposition that suggested to me ALQ had trawled the homeless shelters and shanty towns throughout the third world and southern Europe to get fighters. Interesting if one goes back and re-reads the recent SWJ article by Dave Maxwell concerning UW and strategy. ~ Lightning Press. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Strategically, that failure to understand the human factor is the root of the abject failure that the Army, Marines, and SOCOM are determined not to repeat.. The first historically recognized terrorists, the Jewish Zealots, targeted the temple priests and wealthy elites, the people who held the power. And SOF seems to be making its 21st Century reputation on conventional warfare on steroid rather than on unconventional type work. That is, we in the Army believe, like the Political Scientist David Easton, "that in order for [military] science to become scientifically mature, it need[s] to internalize scientific principles and methods and focus on the empirically observable behavior of political actors.". I am of the opinion that the entire concept that the CF threw into the fight---the Human Terrain System actually caused more problems than helped---yes they focused on the actual population but did they give a BCT a single insight into the enemy's thinking and acting---not really. Maya descendants still inhabit the Yucatan, but the technology, religion, and practices of the ancient civilization must now be slowly exhumed and catalogued by archaeologists-a difficult task considering the Maya had no central ruling capital. Easy stuff we were good at. The reason the human domain has gained importance is not because we have been missing it, it is because of the confluence of two factors that are deeply intertwined. Interesting take on the situation inside SOF community. THEN the IED game got serious as it was the Duke vs a thinking/adapting UW team meaning once they understood jamming principles they simply starting moving the trigger away from the IED in order to figure out the jamming distance which took about ten days of real attempts to figure it out and then they were off and running again. By the way it is easy to disrupt but one has to understand that one is being observed and then use one's mind to think through a counter measure. Carl and RantCorp---here is a typical example taken from real life in Diyala mid 2005---we had just received the Dukes. Movement is necessary to disperse and displace the force as a whole or in part when maneuvering. Kilcullen strangely got it right in his time in Iraq, but Gen. P misused it to establish the he won the surge comments and NOW Kilcullen is coming back to it in his latest book about seven years to late. In the old days of SF UW when the mission was given to us during isolation the first thing a team did was to kick back and go into what one would call the "what if" mode---regardless of how crazy some of the comments or ideas where we went completely through until that was nothing left that could have surprised us ---then the true conversations started and all ideas reviewed and tossed until we were comfortable with the remaining one or two. ~ Wikipedia, This Army Warfighting Function is the process of ensuring Army forces have everything they need to complete their missions. This handbook borrowed much of its concepts from the Armys Design Methodology (ADM). SW demands from a SF team far more in what Germans call "spitzengefuelhlen" or the feelings in your fingertips or the Art that you refer to. The commander and staff leverage the intelligence enterprise, coach and train the intelligence core competencies, implement the operations and intelligence processes, and direct the intelligence effort through the intelligence capabilities. Secondly, by attacking civilian targets, the terrorists strategy was to influence those within the power base? This is distinct from a highly skilled practitioner of a set of skills (I.e. In a broader Operational sense our inability to align Tactical success with Strategic success might stem from the possibility we are mistaking UW for Revolution, Resistance or Secession. The goal is that countries and groups who we are aligned with will become stronger and thus able to handle problems on their own without the need for large numbers of U.S. troops, which arguably get in the way of long-term progress anyway. Win friends and influence people? But, I would submit ones level- if seeing things that way helps- should be based on the context as opposed to a one-size-fits-all approach. The seven warfighting functions are command and control, fires, force protection, information, intelligence, logistics, and maneuver. Human populations, however, are characterized by different viewpoints and limiting oneself to only one view of the world can be disastrous if trying to make sense of things and initiate a desired effect. If one took the time to "understand the Sunni, Shia and AQI in Iraq one "saw" them at work---their surveillance, their targeting process, their swarm tactics and especially their thinking on the use of IEDs---and if one "understood" that then one could move onto their strategy which drove their battlefield tactics. You build that trustyou cant surge trust. Interesting assessment on what I'm calling asymmetric surveillance approaches and much more. The endurance of Army forces is primarily a function of their sustainment. In the social realm critical realism still can be applied, but it is not predictive. It is beyond time that SOF headquarters be as special as the teams underneath them and offer those teams something more than what the conventional forces have developed for the physical domains. [xxxix] Some will argue vehemently that SOF values education, but in my experience the resources spent on education are a far cry from what is spent on equipping. Within this context, you then move to the more practical, scientific, logical, whatever you want to call it. If war is the pursuit of one's political objective by other means, then soldiers and statesmen -- long before the enemy -- must know, acknowledge, plan and prepare specifically as relates to this political objective. peterborough vs cardiff forebet; blake school uniforms; bacterial speck vs bacterial spot Protection includes the physical aspects of force personnel (combatants and non-combatants), equipment, and infrastructure. Conduct targeting. Other reasons include the drawdown in manpower and money as well as the way the military institution uses concepts to try to align disparate and bureaucratic organizations towards a common goal.[xv]. Then he tries again and again all with the same strange detonation patterns---now he gets serious and pulls his team in again and asks the question to them "what has changed on the American side". Can you imagine the reaction of the Indian authorities if you suggested they study Pakistani Punjab village culture in order to counter a repeat of the attack on the Taj Hotel and VT. Who says that a "human domain" warfighting function would solely be the domain of SF? Overthrow a local government that is standing in the way of progress (the state and societal transformations we desire). D. The World Trade Organization (WTO). This publication. In your case in Iraq any place where there were loads of screens. Or, 2. The Marine Corps defines the fires warfighting function as "Fires harass, suppress, neutralize, or destroy in order to accomplish the targeting objective, which may be to disrupt, delay, limit, persuade, or influence. [xxiv] Just to head off any protests, I realize this dual-natured description is disingenuous, however I am constraining myself to the two choices our society presents us with and their respective approaches. It only has to be a tiny increment for the difference between 10 days and 10,000 days for the odds to stack up very heavily in HNs favor. We came to two conclusions: 1- that the bureaucracy of the national security apparatus had grown so complex that it had taken on a life of its own, and emergent forces were acting without any true conscious effort and influencing things in very unconscious ways. In order to be effective when dealing with things like social influence,[xxxii] the requirements are literally something that SOF has been getting further away from being able to do since at least 1987, but especially since 2003. Let me expand on this somewhat by providing a broader context: The goal is to transform the lesser and remaining outlier states and societies along modern western lines; this, so that they might better benefit from and better provide for the global economy. WFF are the physical means that tactical commanders use to execute operations and accomplish missions assigned by a superior commander. The purpose of WFF is to provide an intellectual organisation for common critical capabilities available to commanders and staffs at all echelons and levels of warfare. Because the underlying social rules and mechanisms are created by humans, they are constantly evolving over time and geography. It is juxtaposed with Surgical Strike- the other main component for how Special Operations currently differentiate themselves. The implications of this 180 degree strategic sea-change -- to be experienced across the board -- are rather dramatic and, as such, have proven rather difficult for us to grasp and to deal with morally, militarily, etc. D. the Aztecs had no calendar to determine the best time to grow flowers. I know on some level it is important to teach the current doctrine. Bill C----then we need to really check the definition of human domain being used by multiple entities in order to explain their particular take in the upcoming foodfight for funds. A particular IED group had been literally giving us fits meaning statistically seen a gun truck would be hit once in every three trips out the wire---this particular group had gotten extremely good with RC IEDs. RantCorp--now you understand the reason why we lost Iraq and AFG. What the population of a nearby town thinks about the battle, however, and, more importantly, what they will do that could affect ones objectives, fall more into the social realm. At the same time, an integrated sustainment network would link . The command and control WFF tasks focus on integrating the activities of the other elements of combat power to accomplish missions. Thus if we, as you say, did not shy away from explaining exactly what this generations' mission was (summed up as offense rather than defense), then might we see the greater innovation, artestry, etc., that we are looking for? This that any different than the Sunni Awakening movement--I personally do not think so. Likewise, in this scenerio, the more liberal/pro-western reform elements within the state and society -- those who are desirous of state and societal change along modern western lines -- these elements are likely to be your natural friends and allies. The offense cannot sustain itself indefinitely. The other article about the Montagnards illustrates that no matter how well intentioned and capable the SF community and USAID is, they simply lack the numbers and self-security to make a large impact over large areas. This philosophy, for instance, leaves us enamored with metrics and attempting to quantify the unquantifiable. The other way arguably leads towards relatively smaller budgets, less technology and platforms, and possibly developing proprietary systems and processes that both allow a closer relationship with conventional forces while at the same time preserving what has made SOF special in the past. But, if that statement mirrors the missions SOF receives, then there needs to be a deeper and more meaningful meaning-of-life-come-to-Jesus type conversation that needs to be had in Tampa about what UW/SW is as a tool and how policy shapes its implementation. (take it, figure out what to do with it, apply it). Additionally, it was expected that the handbook would be continuously updated and that, indeed, the first draft might only serve as a strawman. Today, we are going to discuss the Army Warfighting Functions. A warfighting function (WFF) is a group of tasks and systems united by a common purpose that commanders use to accomplish missions and training objectives. Carefully read the passage and choose the best answer for the question that follows. I think you have made many valid points and more importantly direct personal observations based on your experiences. "YOU (meaning the US military and agencies with which it works) are a part of the human domain and you cannot divorce yourselves from any of it. "Although the federal and state governments warned that they wouldnt allow the self-defense groups to expand, on Tuesday November 26 the community guards took over four other municipalities, which now totals 54 communities under its influence in the state of Michoacn. For purposes of the definition, the term enemy includes the entire range of threats and the term terrain includes weather. Within Internalized Social Change, the social anthropological method of Participatory Observation is closest to the function of what SOF, and others acting within the Human Domain would be involved with: one would literally be involved in participatory action, observation, learning, and influencing- the emphasis being on participatory: meaning that one would be influenced just as much as the other being observed. Its interesting that in your exchange with the detainee, he basically pointed out that part of the way they figured out their detonator problem was by going to open sources and specifically the example where the guy found a Facebook picture and post of a soldier on the soldier's Facebook page. Why assume that the SF/SOF community does not appreciate its "pred" and other feeds in conducting night raids and more typical pattern of life? In this book Dr. Paparone explains how the military thinks institutionally and links it to the technically rational mindset. As all actions (words and deeds) undertaken by the force contribute to the coherent narrative, the IA WFF is used to coordinate the actions of the force to ensure a consistent message is portrayed. Coupled with a chain of command that exploits their multi-generational familial ties, tribal ties and 30 years of shared camaraderie the HN practice a tactical and operational methodology they call Jihad and we call Mission Command. It accomplishes this by supporting the force to ensure it has the capacity to act and continue to act until successful achievement of the mission. A warfighting function is a group of tasks and systems (people, organizations, information, and processes) united by a common purpose that commanders use to accomplish missions and training objectives. LTC Grant M. Martin is a Special Forces officer in the U.S. Army. When I was able to get a BCT to change their behavior every single day ---then we started getting a changed battlefield as we were forcing the insurgent to delay or stop planned attacks until they figured out why we suddenly changed---plain old fashioned UW that has not changed much in the last 100 years. I did not want to recall how many negative comments were made by countless officers about how stupid the insurgents were when in fact they are still in the fight and we are long gone from Iraq. Ganjgal troops that do not get their "technical rationality" (a term coined first in 1941 when the technical was a fraction of what it is today) get pummeled. Essentially thru their M1Es the HN Command have developed a intuitive connection to the Khost conflict ecosystem. Since the Cold War and especially since 9/11, the Army has stayed very large and SOF has grown even more. This, so as to be able to determine whether any of the ideas/options offered actually (a) address and meet our needs and, if so, (b) whether any one such idea or option might do this better than another. I think to a certain extent things are still not too bad at the team level. These same characteristics can be strengthened through our doctrine and education systems, if not our personnel system, and they match up perfectly with Curtis Whites concept of the sublime. What are the 7 warfighting functions? At the operational level and high tactical levels,[xl] however, senior NCOs and field-grade officers are increasingly institutionalized and are thus progressively more intertwined within the bureaucracy in terms of how the organization thinks, plans, communicates, and acts. Any Medical Service Corps (MSC) officer worth his or her salt can quickly recite the 10 medical functions: medical mission command, medical treatment, hospitalization, medical evacuation, dental. 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