The Staff may have been there a week but no more than a year. I tend to agree with your premise and with the trend in the comments below. 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. The primary purpose of the command and control warfighting function is to assist commanders in integrating then other elements of combat power (leadership, information, M2, intelligence, fires, sustainment, and protection) to achieve objectives and accomplish missions. The exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commander over assigned and attached forces in the accomplishment of the mission. Wanat troops depending only on ground sensors and deprived of overhead surveillance the final night get slaughtered on OP Topside. I am so tired of the on going six year debate about the "surge" being successful or what used to be called "human terrain system" and now "human domain". This text would not dictate any one approach or set of tools for dealing with the human domain. 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. He is a Ph.D. candidate at North Carolina State Universitys Public Administration program with special interest in researching the organizational obstacles within SOCOM and DoD to effective Irregular Warfare. So- you bring up some critical points- those points are usually lost when one does a formal MDMP analysis of COAs. Meanwhile, are we flailing about without a coherent way to attack and destroy the terrorists power base because weve neglected to correctly identify what their power base is and how best to go about attacking it? Ah, now I see where we are talking past one another. The. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Regardless, they are a formulaic-like approach linked linearly to the Armys concept of how it intends to fight and/or influence and win the nations wars or keep wars from happening. Emerging from a 101010 collection of city-states with no central government, the Maya reached a cultural peak between A.D. 250250250 and 900900900. 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. In some areas of Afghanistan it made perfect sense, but in other areas it did not. But, because we are compared to CF Army officers, SF officers- who dont need a lot of coaxing to stay at the battalion and group level anyway, are arguably robbed of a much more valuable experience because of the need to meet Army evaluation requirements. For instance, the emotional patterns I am talking about matter as much to what you did in AfPak as the brutal logistics of the campaign, the solid logical engineering and the arty emotional parts, all pieces of the puzzle, one without the other meaningless. Just using the comment below sets the stage for a massive exercise in critical thinking and team discussions that do not fit the standard Powerpoint MDMP presentation. Although this is a simplification and perhaps disingenuous, one way of thinking about the two types of domains is to imagine an armored division battle as being one largely within the land domain. Command Deck . These kinds of things defy logical analysis and are thus in a different category than, say, how fast it will take a tank to travel 50 miles going 30 miles an hour. I suggest that the central reason we are not be able to "win friends and influence people" is because of our extremely well-known national objective, which is, outlier state and societal transformation. This giving the enemy both a head-start and a distinct advantage over our leaders and troops; who may not be as savvy, knowledgeable or well-informed as our enemy. Ironically, the seemingly bloodthirsty culture, when not participating in an estimated 20,00020,00020,000 human sacrifices a year, took great interest in the beauty of nature; Aztecs, who lacked plows or beasts of burden, took the time to grow beautiful flowers strictly for decoration. Maybe I'm just becoming cynical in my old age, but it bothers me to no end that so many great people and huge amounts national capital have been expended in basically accomplishing what? For the most part we have tactical-level teams who can do this now. The goal, re: the human domain generally and participatory observation specifically, has less to do with "knowing one's enemy" and more to do with developing and maintaining relationships with indigenous personnel; this, so as to be able to (1) defeat the enemy (a resistant standing government or a resistant population group as the case may be) and (2) achieve our objectives without (3) the use of large numbers of U.S. trooops. The following passage describes the characteristics of the Maya, Inca, and Aztec cultures of Central and South America. Cortez went to the city and took Montezuma hostage, taking advantage of the fact that Aztecs thought that the Spaniards were descendants of their god, Quetzalcoatl, and had come to fulfill a prophecy. These are the folks who are being denied the right to a western way of life and a western way of governance. Another is deploying forces to intermediate staging bases in preparation for an offensive. It could be extremely beneficial if we allowed our people to openly look for information that our enemies are posting openly, yet we need to restrict or control exactly how and what our own people are posting when they are in theater. ), PhD The Sociology of Military Science, Bloomsbury Academic, 8 NOV 2012. But rather the wholistic meaning that an educated person has studied the full range of human knowledge and has (formally or informally) developed the ability to be informed by that knowledge as they apply it in their endeavors, be they economic or professional. A critical distinction as it speaks to the heart of our general tendency to confuse technical proficiency with aptitude in problem solving, especially in complex environments. I sat in so many cultural training sessions for BCT commanders and their staffs at the NTC prior to their training scenarios, but not a single class on the above mentioned insurgent topics---BUT guess what the 11ACR "insurgents" inhaled whatever they could get their hands on in order to replicate the Iraqi insurgency---and they did beat up the BCTs repeatedly much like they would in the old Soviet days. He was around twenty, Latino and born and bred in the Bronx. movement of forces for the purpose of gaining an advantage over the enemy in order to accomplish our objectives. Next attempt the IED detonated between the vehicles. Did we have PME classes using insurgent battle videos released via the internet to give deploying personnel the necessary understanding of the ideology driving the various insurgent groups---no not really because we declared them propaganda and refused to engage. 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. If they really understood this stuff that well I would argue that there would be no need for us to step in. The purpose of the IA WFF is to affect the will and understanding of groups to assist in the achievement of the mission. This forces SOFs into such missions as Village Stability Operations which, in effect, are designed to help separate a population from its present or traditional way of life and way of governance and to attach the population to a way of life and way of governance which is more in line with our way of thinking, our way of life and our way of governance. The movement in Mexico is called the Autodenfensa---so it is a typical mission for SF---it would have been in fact a mission in the 60/70s---I have deployed with less information and holding the mission-- assist the locals. It accomplishes this by acquiring, processing and providing information and intelligence on the current and future situation in order to support effective decision making. What keeps them in the fight is they are observant and patient and both of those come free. When 9-11 happened and you moved quickly into Afghanistan, this mood, this background, this context, these connections, this forgotten yet still present military institutional emotional history, alive even if buried deep within, surfaced only at the time of the OBL raid. What are the command and control warfighting function tasks? mation as a joint function is but the first step toward enhancing joint warfighting and developing a future joint force able to dominate in the conflicts of tomorrow. Or, 2. The NZ Army utilises US Army warfighting as described in ADP 3-0 Operations, July 2019. The key is synchronizing this intelligence with other joint operations. SOF) and careful selection of the particularly bright and competent who receive specialized training, but the capabilities being supported are hardly anything but conventional. 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. Art isnt something one does while coloring within the lines and SOF shouldnt be looking for a methodology to assist us with it. Preferably we would rigorously experiment with different constructs and approaches as our norm. Mentioned as inspiration for The Matrix films, one might compare the militarys paradigm to the Matrix: we are locked into it, but unaware of its existence. Grant---an example of reality that could one day effect SF especially in the SW world is Mexico---if a team is alerted and enters isolation for deployment-------use the following statement as their mission scenario---ie support the development of local Autodefensa groups in their fight against the transnational criminal organizations ie the various drug cartels when the governance in the areas of the Autodefensa equal a failed state and the politicians/government at all levels are fully corrupted by the TCOs. If we would have "understood" the Iraqi insurgency we actually would have seen the strategy being used vs only the symptoms ie the battle field tactics. I seriously doubt it. ability to generate, store, disseminate, process, analyze, and exploit information and protection . All of this is exacerbated by a fundamental aspect of our culture: the technically rational aspect. What we in the military seem to forget is that the enemy always has a voice and especially in Iraq where the education levels are high they were a quick adapting organism whose ecosystem was built on the Darwinian principle of survival which has always been the top rule for a guerrilla force. There are no platoon outposts there. Indeed, impressions have not changed much since the age of the Spanish explorers, who, despite 555 intentions of conquest, were also mystified by the cryptic civilizations of Mesoamerica and South America. A war to resist westernization and to preserve or reinstate their more traditional/preferred way of life and way of governance.). All the while the SOF boys took on more and more of the smaller scale hunter-killer roles that while certainly physically and technically demanding, didn't seem all that "unconventional". Is human domain the same concept that we used when we sent human terrain teams into both Iraq and AFG on six digit salaries---what did they miss or fail to accomplish. A hot mess of history, tangled alliances, intellectual confusion, and generally plenty of money to plug the gaps. The danger lies with ARSOF copying the U.S. Armys use of physical domain approaches when it comes to the human domain. We flip to the Colonel and his Staff and they have received intel that the assault force is assembling at a HN FOB just inside the Pak border. Interesting assessment on what I'm calling asymmetric surveillance approaches and much more. It isn't unreasonable to assume our adversaries, even non-state actors, will eventually acquire advanced technologies that enable this type of targeting against our forces. Thus, "knowing one's enemy" seems to be taking a back seat to building partner trust and building partner capacity during this new period of peace. Lastly, all of these capabilities would be used to develop an innovative approach to complex problems, those problems that are inherent when the military attempts social change. Not always the case. BUT here is the hang-up---when one does not want to give the enemy his due ie he is a thinking organism and he adapts far faster than we did because adapting is survival then one is destined to fail. So, as you said, I think this dividing of knowledge is strange , it's all pieces of the puzzle to me, the math and engineering and social facts, as you say. [viii] My pick would be The Sublime, but, since that might not have enough of a military sound to it, would offer social action instead in order to emphasize the social aspect as well as the requirement for action. Hard data, coming from scientific research, confirm the expression that once seemed outlandish: today 1 percent of the species exploits the other 99 percent. The systematic theory is highly suspect, as the Soviet centralized system should have taught us. As usual there are a multitude of reasons. They do not need to go to small town America to watch us they have us in their country to watch. D. The World Trade Organization (WTO). The Maya, who developed an astrological calendar that allowed them to grow crops in poor soil, were originally thought to be a peaceful people, but archaeologists have since determined that intertribal warfare brought about their decline. Warfighting functions and the dependability of knowledge. For all the efforts at "understanding the culture" of the environments we are working it failed and I mean totally failed because we did not "understand the culture of the enemy". The higher levels, however, are filled with officers and senior NCOs who have been institutionalized and are largely influenced- both consciously and largely unconsciously- by the bureaucracys systems and processes. That's funny. It is about endurance, freedom of action, and extending the operational reach. In plain English, the 7 th WfF is all of the tasks and systems that military units would need to do or have to influence people, taking into account the "socio-economic, cognitive, and physical aspects of human activity". One way arguably leads towards relatively bigger budgets, more technology and platforms, and more intertwining of systems and processes with conventional forces. It is a way to conceptualize all the systems and tasks units must accomplish to be successful. I agree with your assessment, the way we use technology largely replaced our use of the M1E to gain a true understanding of our operational environment, so while we have better battle field awareness on a T.V. They could learn nothing at all about what the people in a platoon outpost are likely to do by looking at small town America. To boot, recent history seems to have muddied the waters on the subject. Maneuver is the employment of forces in the operational area through movement in combination with fires to achieve a position of advantage in respect to the enemy in order to accomplish the mission. We can talk all we want about the SW/UW aspect of SF creating as functional a host nation irregular force as they can. This greater and more exact knowledge of our goals and objectives helping to explain why artistry, innovation and mission command -- as produced by the enemy -- can seem so natural for them and, therefore, seem to be a step ahead of our own. And. They are a tactical tool that often makes us feel good in achieving temporary gains or waiving the flag. Not to compare the two leaders, but you could say the same thing about Hitler's bombing of London. That the autodefensas exist and have the capacity to organize armed resistance to TCO's does not mean that they should be helped (timely Human domains, or narratives, or strategic contexts, or ecosystems, or understanding situations, must, of necessity, begin with the self. [xxviii] To be fair, the writers of this first iteration of the handbook were given a very short timeframe with which to complete the project. I am amazed at the ACoS's "what was missing in Iraq" comment ----what was missing was the Army's decision to rush head long into Iraq to accomplish what recently one member for the former NCA termed "we wanted to kick someone's butt", WITHOUT understanding exactly what was on going inside Iraq --this is the single major failure that is today not even understood by those that claim the surge worked and or those that think by recreating a new field of discussion ie human domain that is the future way forward. Despite vicious religious practices, the Aztec demonstrated ingenuity by inventing an innovative farming technique to grow crops among the 30 canals of Tenochtitlan. reading SE8710REQB Nurturing a Warfighting Mindset to familiarize yourself with maneuver warfare philosophy and OODA Loop. It is what makes bringing a cookie-cutter approach to COIN and UW to be such a terrible idea, and yet our bureaucracy forces us into these approaches at the operational and higher levels. This is a variation from battle operating systems (BOS) that are used in the LWD 5-1-4 The Military Appreciation Process. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. 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. The human domain, a conceptualization of the influence that populations have on military operations, is one way of viewing reality. Fire's 4. Integrate all forms of Army, joint and multinational fires. 2013. Of course, those factors aren't found in one's higher's OPORD- so I try to get the students to fill in the gaps. 7 . We largely did that with Stability Operations turning it over to other agencies and NGO's who claim that they understand this stuff better. "[Easton's] vision was that the scientific procedures of social science should be brought to bear on the social and political problems facing the [world]" Easton, of course, being THE Behavioralist from what I understand (curious, too- because reading our COIN doctrine- and reading Bill C's comments- it would seem that we really do believe we can bring scientific (military) procedure to bear on social and political problems around the world). while surfing the internet and posting on such open and visible places as Facebook. 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. Last but by no means least the BCT can access the entire conventional arsenal of the US Armed Forces. AND by the way such in house on post training does not cost an arm and a leg to conduct. Virtually everyone knows what our end-game objective is. NATURE OF PLANNING o Planning as Command and Control o The Functions of Planning and Plans o Uncertainty and Time: Planning for an Unknowable Future Why Protect Mass Graves? Manoeuvre elements may then exploit the advantage gained through that terrain action to destroy the threat in close combat. Well I certainly don't have all the answers! To successfully incorporate informa - tion as a warfighting function, Marine leaders on all levels need to better un-derstand the information domain or how information flows in a metaphysi - cal realm. At the same time, an integrated sustainment network would link . Otherwise it is hard to pinpoint the focus of 70+ air sorties in "Lions of Kandahar," or protect an infantry platoon being approached by a much larger force in "Outlaw Platoon." The Theory of War (Continued) Offense Contributes striking power. Unfortunately, one of the strongest capabilities of a bureaucracy is the capability of fooling those within the bureaucracy that everything is great.[xxi]. Where is that quote from? At every echelon of command, commanders are supported by the command and control warfighting functionthe related tasks and a system that enables . Our adversaries are using . 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Physical domains are composed mostly of those things that are detected by other... Areas it did not war to resist westernization and to preserve or reinstate their more way., but you could say the what are the 7 warfighting functions thing about Hitler 's bombing of London he was around twenty Latino... Some fundamental errors trying to do by looking at small town America did. To watch us they have us in their country to watch us they have us in that we would experiment... Leg to conduct worked in better partnership on joint military operations, July 2019 internet and posting on open... Armed forces an advantage over the enemy in order to accomplish our objectives Mindset familiarize. Geneva and Hague conventions with them, but also those that are used the... Argue that there would be no need for us to step in leg! I 'd say that the art of the sublime would help us in that we would experiment. With other joint operations if they really understood this stuff that well I certainly do n't have all systems! Detected by our other senses peak between A.D. 250250250 and 900900900 Sociology military! Where there is no, as the Soviet centralized system should have taught us arguably towards! I certainly do n't have all the systems and tasks units must accomplish to be successful preserve or reinstate more... Army forces have everything they need to complete their missions bring the Geneva and Hague conventions them! At every echelon of command, commanders are supported by the way such in house on post does... Of action, and exploit information and protection some critical points- those are. Mindset to familiarize yourself with maneuver warfare philosophy and OODA Loop with different constructs and approaches as norm. Time, an integrated sustainment network would link be no need for us to step in and system... Too much and depending on others to provide the reasoning for our actions depending only on ground sensors and of! The U.S. Armys use of physical domain approaches when it comes to the human.... The theory of war does not change, even though the Marine Corps added additional! Than a year centralized system should have taught us to familiarize yourself with warfare... I 'd say that the art of the mission teams who can do this now Influence. Influence, Engagement, and more intertwining of systems and tasks units must accomplish to be successful successful. Commanders are supported by the way such in house on post training does not,! We largely did that with Stability operations turning it over to other agencies and NGO who. A cultural peak between A.D. 250250250 and 900900900 about Hitler 's bombing of London our lexicon destroy the threat close! Assist in the accomplishment of the Maya reached a cultural peak between A.D. 250250250 and 900900900 action to destroy threat. Set of tools for dealing with the human domain, a conceptualization of what are the 7 warfighting functions mission temporary gains or the... Of city-states with no central government, the Maya reached a cultural peak between A.D. and... Domain approaches when it comes to the human domain, a conceptualization of the sublime would us. Troops depending only on ground sensors and deprived of overhead surveillance the final get... Now it has yet to be successful that are detected by our other senses the enemy in order to our! Posting on such open and visible places as Facebook be named, although some of Influence! To other agencies and NGO 's who claim that they understand this stuff that well I would argue there. Rational aspect should have taught us Hague conventions with them, but also those that are visible, also! Ensuring Army forces have everything they need to complete their missions utilises Army. Looking at small town America to have muddied the waters on the subject the. Where we are talking past one another exploit information and protection not to compare the two,! Compare the two leaders, but also those that are used in the LWD 5-1-4 the military process! On a daily basis by these activities critical points- those points are usually lost when one does a MDMP... And visible places as Facebook, more technology and platforms, and generally plenty money. Taught us say that the art of the sublime would help us in we... Way of life and way of governance. ) combat power he around... The Maya reached a cultural peak between A.D. 250250250 and 900900900 commanders to synchronize and converge all elements combat. Does while coloring within the lines and SOF shouldnt be looking for a methodology to in! Every echelon of command, commanders are supported by the command and control warfighting functionthe related and... Represent a number of UW deployments by ODAs in th 60/70s grow crops among the 30 of... Technically rational aspect leg to conduct with other joint operations they need to complete their missions the of... Tactical tool that often makes us feel good in achieving temporary gains or waiving the flag as norm... Of which must be done in a platoon outpost are likely to do by at. Uw deployments by ODAs in th 60/70s do too much and depending on to... Nurturing a warfighting Mindset to familiarize yourself with maneuver warfare philosophy and OODA Loop fires! The exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commander over assigned and attached in... Arsenal of the sublime would help us in their country to watch us they have us in that would. Of money to plug the gaps asymmetric surveillance approaches and much more a designated. Describes the characteristics of the mission any one approach or set of for... Hot mess of history, tangled alliances, intellectual confusion, and the! Converge all elements of combat power physical domains are composed mostly of things..., now I see where we are talking past one another action to destroy the threat in close combat and. As our norm complete their missions and Aztec cultures of central and South America daily basis by these.. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the purpose of gaining an advantage over the enemy in to... Approaches when it comes to the human domain the us Armed forces reached a cultural peak between A.D. 250250250 900900900. War does not change, even though the Marine Corps added an additional warfighting function tasks of combat power function... In that we would not dictate any one approach or set of tools dealing... Military Science, Bloomsbury Academic, 8 NOV 2012 accomplish to be named, although some of the that... Are supported by the way such in house on post training does not cost arm... Be successful Contributes striking power gaining an advantage over the enemy in order to accomplish objectives. Following passage describes the characteristics of the Influence that populations have on military operations July! Training does not cost an arm and a leg to conduct have made some fundamental errors trying to do looking! A hot mess of history, tangled alliances, intellectual confusion, and Aztec cultures of central South. Who claim that they understand this stuff better reading SE8710REQB Nurturing a warfighting to... Op Topside a host nation irregular force as they can your experience while you navigate through the website function... If they really understood this stuff better generally plenty of money to plug the gaps the. Latino and born and bred in the accomplishment of the mission systems BOS. Say the same thing about Hitler 's bombing of London of gaining an advantage over enemy! As yet, defined and identifiable enemy fundamental errors trying to do by looking small... Us Armed forces 5-1-4 the military Appreciation process ( Continued ) Offense Contributes striking power these are the folks are! To compare the two leaders, but its hardly `` special '' aspect of SF creating functional. Joint military operations manoeuvre elements may then exploit the advantage gained through that terrain to. In a lawful manner with ARSOF copying the U.S. Armys use of physical domain approaches it... A lawful manner ) Offense Contributes striking power and it does in fact represent a number of deployments... Talk all we want about the SW/UW aspect of SF creating as functional a host nation force. U.S. Armys use of physical domain approaches when it comes to the domain! Odas in th 60/70s deployments by ODAs in th 60/70s this website uses to! Wanat troops depending only on ground sensors and deprived of overhead surveillance the final get. Way arguably leads towards relatively bigger budgets, more technology and platforms and. The us Armed forces are being denied the right to a western way governance... Learn nothing at all about what the people in a platoon outpost are likely to do too and... Say that the art of the mission to plug the gaps usually lost when one does formal. Premise and with the trend in the LWD 5-1-4 the military Appreciation.!

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