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 conduct of [xiv] See COL Gian Gentiles many articles on-line criticizing COIN doctrine and the Surge Narrative in Iraq. In the past, it was the communists who denied various populations these benefits. Sustainment. Our adversaries are using . The art of Special Warfare is a creative use of special groups of professionals who are educated and trained to see things from multiple perspectives, to critically think about ones institutions flawed view of the world, create something new that is highly context-dependent across the resource spectrum, and learns while doing. This fundamental characteristic of the social world, characterized by tacit knowledge, is both the key to moving forward in the human domain as well as ironically the death knell of the term, the human domain. I also agree with your thoughts on how we misunderstand our enemy. 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. Atahualpa revealed the location of the treasure to Pizarro, and Pizarro promptly executed the ruler and seized control of Cuzco, the Inca capital. You cannot believe how many times I tried to explain that to MNF-I in countless HUMINT reports.. I have even gone so far as to suggest that in knowing oneself (specifically one's political objective) one can: b. c. If the conservative/anti-western reform elements are in power, then you are probably embarked upon war to convince, coerce, compel or overthrow this unfriendly/uncooperative government -- who is resisting western change -- and to replace this government with one that will pursue our political objective (outlined above). 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. It is not the silver bullet some see it as, but it is a tool to help us understand how to achieve political victory. Understanding human domain means understanding the environment one operates in has been a true fact since the beginning of warfare not just since Iraq and AFG. The HTS was a massively costly program for both the US Army and the taxpayer ---was a total waste of money---ie the Awakening was generated by AQI forking the Sunni insurgency not by anything Gen. P or Nagel did or what HTS provided in many badly written reports. Understanding the human domain, as well as how to apply its precepts, is an important mission for the military. Approaching the physical domain in more of an objective and logical manner may work, but approaching the social realm without relying more on multiple viewpoints and critical and creative thinking is a recipe for disaster. We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website . And all this still ignores the fact that none of this has anything to do with the general idea that the officers leading these organizations, conventional or otherwise, have to be educated. He stumbled across a Facebook entry from a soldier somewhere in Iraq who was in front of his gun truck boosting about the Duke---then he Googled more about jamming and then reported back to the team. Sabotage can be done by Cyber types. Eventually they actually do get attacked and the outcome is likely less than pretty without those external air attack and fires technical resources that some describe as micromanagement while others under fire appreciate as essential and lifesaving. All the BP and Customs personnel on the border has done nothing to stem this development---just as in Iraq and AFG the border is just something to develop "rat runs" around/through. c. And know the kind of war that one is embarked upon. This largely unconscious effect is to be expected: any large organization experiences it quite naturally. Indeed, in any stability op or war scenario beyond covert support/sabotage of an indigenous government it is the CF that will lead the main effort and take the majority of the blame for screwing it up (rightfully so). Warfighting Functions: The seven mutually supporting military activities integrated in the conduct of all military operations. ", Sparapet---more concerning the so called notional scenario--. CF was so wrapped up in getting the cultural thing correct they knew nothing about swarming, AQI/IAI strategy which was coupled to their fighting tactics and the interrelationships between the various insurgent groups. It synchronises intelligence analysis with the tactical tasks of intelligence operations, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) to drive the development of intelligence on threats, the operational environment and civilian situation. is one of education- great point. I must add that many would say that Special Operations is a separate Army Warfighting Function. 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For example, on the one hand the methodology implores professionals to critically think, but it then defines the specific ways in which one must think about war, a wholly uncritical approach. [viii] It is linked closely to the concept of the human domain, thus General Odiernos alleged comment within the context of the function. As in Michoacn, the human, urban and rural communities are realizing that existing institutions, overwhelmed by all kinds of problems, are non-functional and that organized citizens must take in their hand the management of resources, key decisions, justice, food production, education, prevention and so on. The American way of war places a premium on the physical aspects of conflict. Fire's 4. We must also firmly ground and continuously educate them in critical and creative thinking. What are the movement and maneuver warfighting function tasks? 1. The enemy forces you speak spend very much time watching every move our forces made and make in Iraq and Afghanistan-outside the wire. Sustainment determines the depth and duration of Army operations. And SOF seems to be making its 21st Century reputation on conventional warfare on steroid rather than on unconventional type work. But- point taken- and agree. I DO think all of this applies to CF as well, but change within the CF is a much bigger issue and one in which I'm not sure I understand all the factors. Furthermore the village you are attempting to save has a culture that has been severely affected by decades of conflict and is somewhat different to how it once was or aspires to be. It is focused on supporting the force during the operation, and is therefore closely tied to Logistics (see NZDDP 4.0). Also see his book: Wrong Turn: America's Deadly Embrace of Counterinsurgency. These two occurrences arguably have brought Special Operations to a level similar to the rest of DoD wherein the most important priority among the hierarchy is the growth of the bureaucracy. 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. Ah, now I see where we are talking past one another. The 7th Warfighting Function; What We Do; Who We Are; Contact Us; News Room; MCDP 8, Information; MCA Information Awards; Marine Corps Insider Threat Program; Director of the Marine Corps Staff; MCDAPO. Aztec prophets had prognosticated that bearded men would arrive from the east, or the land of the sun god-the Aztec conception of heaven. In my opinion the human domain is nothing more than observations on human nature and has always been a part of military thinking. SW forces would be engaged in social influence and, if savvy enough, they would be engaged in internalization efforts through participatory observation (encompassing action, observation, learning, and influencing- influencing both the observed and the observers). The Sustainment WFF is composed of all systems, elements and capabilities relating to the provision, movement, sustenance and well-being of personnel, materiel and installations. Going on offense (engagement and enlargement) re: the "different" lesser and remaining states and societies. [xxv] As headquarters become more systematic, process-driven, and assisted by technology, however, most units above the tactical level are forced into a technically rational way of operating and thus largely cannot apply a critical realist mindset to operations. What saved the remaining Groups after the massive 70/80s RIF was DA and strat recon-it was the difference between SF and the CF and something only SF could do--what the new SF forgot was that DA and SR were done even when SF had a deep/deeper understanding of UW---DA and SR were conducted by the various 5th SFGA Projects including Delta and the MACV-SOG programs at the same time that the 5th was driving the CIDG program and running the various Corp and National Mike Forces. 7 . 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". One note on the mission scenario your notional SOF team receives.it is not so much a mission as a policy statement. QUOTE: Ancient pyramids inscribed with weathered glyphs and characters from the most advanced ancient alphabet in the western hemisphere now sit abandoned, obscured by centuries of jungle growth. 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. We largely did that with Stability Operations turning it over to other agencies and NGO's who claim that they understand this stuff better. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. Multi-framing would be so ingrained as to be almost unconscious: a result of intimate familiarity with how humans make sense of their world through socially-constructed metaphors. MS 301: Training Management and the Warfighting Functions Revision Date: 31 March 2022 Lesson 20,23,26,29,32: Branch Orientation Briefings Student Handout 1 Information Briefing Sheet Cadets will prepare and present an information briefing concerning an assigned branch. Therefore many in SOF will call a Special Forces (SF) Group a tactical level organization. That the autodefensas exist and have the capacity to organize armed resistance to TCO's does not mean that they should be helped (timely