Learning the Hard Way: Force Protection 1983-2000
Abstract
The October 2000 terrorist attack on the guided-missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG 67) in the port of Aden, Yemen, is commonly viewed in the larger context of al-Qa'ida's September 11th campaign. Beyond the initial official investigations, the military force-protection context of the attack has largely been overlooked as analysts have traced the movements of al-Qa'ida operatives who were traversing the globe at the time. But the proper context of the Cole bombing is a series of terrorist attacks against U.S. military forces abroad that started in 1983. The 1983 Beirut bombings, the Khobar Towers attack in 1996, and the Cole attack in 2000 have striking similarities, though their perpetrators were different. A comparison of these three cases highlights three trends concerning organizational learning in the military about force protection: organizational change (command and control), intelligence support, and recognition of the threat. This article assesses, on the basis of the investigations conducted after the attacks, what the military has learned about force protection, and how well. These three cases are illuminating with respect to casualties suffered and lessons learned. They also illustrate the military's organizational change over time with respect to the three underlying themes. By the late 1990s, the military had acknowledged that command-and-control structures were inadequate in the Beirut barracks and Khobar Towers bombings and had begun to address them formally. Second, it had learned that while relevant intelligence was collected, analyzed, and disseminated, warnings went unheeded in both earlier cases. Third, the military's understanding of the terrorist threat was by that time evolving from the relative ignorance of the 1980s to dim recognition. More generally, and as the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing represented a "failure to learn" from the 1983 Beirut barracks attack.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA519328
Entities
People
- John Callaway
Organizations
- Naval War College