Improving Counterinsurgency: An Auxiliary Training Program for Special Forces
Abstract
The U.S. military has proven its strengths many times over through its ability to dominate opponents on the conventional battlefield. However, when it comes to irregular wars and insurgent conflicts, which are defined by enemies who conduct war from the shadows and refuse to meet on the open field, achieving success has been far more difficult. The nature and dynamics of these unconventional wars are dramatically different from the conventional warfare realm, and they require innovative approaches and rethinking of many long-held conceptions of waging war. Conducting unconventional warfare has been the core mission of U.S. Army Special Forces (USSF) since they were founded in 1952. Throughout a relatively short history, USSF have shown a broad utility in conducting operations with indigenous military, paramilitary, and civilian personnel in irregular wars and low intensity conflicts. Now more than ever, the capabilities of USSF are invaluable in supporting U.S. national security strategy, continuing the Global War on Terror, and supporting efforts to transform military capabilities for unconventional conflicts. USSF are now faced with a difficult challenge: high demand and operations tempo require that USSF must find new ways to more effectively and efficiently employ their skills in unconventional environments. To enhance the capabilities of USSF in conducting unconventional warfare and counterinsurgency, this thesis proposes that USSF develop a training program that allows the recruitment and selection of both indigenous personnel and U.S. foreign-born citizens as auxiliaries and surrogates to USSF operations. Training would take place in the United States and would be for the explicit purpose of creating indigenous cadres for assisting Special Forces Operational Detachment Alphas (SFODAs) in developing operational/security forces and intelligence networks at the local level to create long-term stability in unconventional conflict areas.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA457692
Entities
People
- Armin K. Windmueller
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School