Assessing the Parameters for Determining Mission Accomplishment of the Philippine Marine Corps in Internal Security Operations

Abstract

The Philippines Marine Corps has been fighting a war against internal threats who have achieved some degree of success in derailing Philippine prosperity for the past 38 years. The Marine Corps has perceived internal security operations (ISO) primarily as a mere force on force employment (combat operations) against armed internal threats and, to some extent, the occasional use of noncombat means (civil-military operations) to mitigate community life disruption as a result of the combat operations. The Marine Corps' ISO are guided by the government-issued National Internal Security Plan (NISP) as well as the Operation Plan "Bantay Laya" that was crafted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as the security component to the NISP. "Bantay Laya" prescribes the use of three lines of operations to defeat the Communist Terrorist Movement (CTM), the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), and the Jemaah Islamiyah (II). Lines of Operations prescribed by "Bantay Laya" include combat operations, intelligence operations, and civilian-military operations (CMO). Although the most violent and extreme of all activities employed in counterinsurgency, the Marine Corps puts a premium on combat operations over other lines of operations in ISO. Military response is vital and necessary, but it is not a stand-alone solution to deter and crush insurgency. The success of the counterinsurgency against the HUKBALAHAP in the 1950s and the Indirect Approach to the Basilan Model in 2002 serve as lessons that winning the hearts and minds of the people from whom the insurgents derive their strength is the key to successful ISO. And winning hearts and minds can only be attained through robust civilian-military operations. Using a MOE for counterinsurgency set forth by U.S. Field Manual Number 3-24, CMO offers a measurable, discrete, relevant, and responsive approach to ISO.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2009
Accession Number
ADA509218

Entities

People

  • Eugenio V. Hernandez

Organizations

  • Marine Corps University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Combat Operations
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Employment
  • Governments
  • Information Operations
  • Insurgency
  • International Organizations
  • Marine Corps
  • Military History
  • Military Operations
  • Military Organizations
  • National Security
  • Security
  • Special Operations Forces
  • Students
  • Terrorists
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.