Western military forces should be capable of adopting the approach necessary for a specific context, opponent, and time, whether employing a mixture of conventional or unconventional means. In conventional warfare, you physically smash your enemy, thereby reducing his physical ability to smash you. 6. As mentioned earlier, current strategic thinking tends to disregard the counterinsurgency experiences of Iraq and Afghanistan. The Difference between Conventional and Unconventional Warfare. , unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, counterinsurgency, and stability operations. As the contemporary Dutch colonial officer A. Struivenberg noted in a study [in Dutch] of operations during the Aceh War of 1873-1904, “The failure to recognize that the outcomes of European [conventional] warfare cannot be directly transferred to the fight against the indigenous enemy with his very specific character, [led the Dutch colonial army] to give great credit to the use of massive fire.” Thus, it seems that Western military forces are doomed to reinvent the wheel every time they are confronted with insurgencies, despite their extensive — if often forgotten — historical record of operations against such irregular enemies. I would not want to lose that hard-won experience and expertise. When unconventional warfare ends in overthrow of a state or liberation of occupied territory and leads to a new government, Phase VII will include those activities contributing to the promotion of the new government’s legitimacy. The state was first advocated by Plato, then found more acceptance in the consolidation of power under the Roman Catholic Church. Nadia Schadlow’s War and the Art of Governance is a great reminder of the military’s role at the end of combat operations. Second, I suspect that every single President has “yelled” at his military – when presented with a clear and present danger – “I need more options!” Most famously in my lifetime was the story in the ’60s of JFK yelling at us that he needed more options than LeMay’s and Rickover’s MAD forces to combat Cuban and Dien Bien Phu style dangers. Review of the 2009 force design update (FDU) for the Band V It is time to get rid of the unhelpful, dichotomous conceptual framework that presents conventional and unconventional – or regular and irregular – war as antipodal opposites. In modern warfare, the lines between regular, conventional and irregular, unconventional warfare are increasingly blurred. Joint Publication (JP) 3-05.1 defines UW as: The National Defense Strategy of 2008 states that the conventional warfare dominance of the United States will remain unchecked for the foreseeable future. What does conventional warfare mean? The common thread of many of the weapons systems and tactical changes brought about by the Vietnam war was the need to adapt to unconventional warfare. Overthrowing a governing power is the clearest and in many ways simplest outcome that can be sought through the use of unconventional warfare. According to the Department of Defense Dictionary of Military Terms (J oint Pub 1-02) the cu rrent definition of UW, approved by USSOCOM in 2009, is:. Instead, we should start considering these forms of warfare as complementary and making up a continuum to be deployed against highly capable hybrid threats. But we’d have to hold our temper as “brilliant” Congressional staffers suggest missiles the next five years, then maybe propellant the next, next five. They are blooded Soldiers/Sailors/Airmen/Marines. If they had, “Hanoi could never have won the war;” Austerity has functioned as a catalyst for forgetting, as militaries have prioritized preserving conventional capabilities above all else. Unconventional warfare is the opposite of conventional warfare. Discussion: The United States of America is no stranger to unconventional warfare. And, if we are good at implementing their social experimentation, some cheap plastic missile fins in the interim. When President Ford failed to respond to the attack of Phuoc Long in January 1975, the North knew that their overall victory was at-hand; A similar pattern can be observed in other NATO member countries, as well as within NATO structures. Yet the contemporary security situation is complex and requires a broader approach than simply mimicking Cold War strategy. 12. The latest period of counterinsurgency has ended and Western militaries are once again moving towards the downside of the cycle. Sustainment is a major component of that required conventional support. U.S. ground forces were not allowed to interdict the Ho Chi Minh Trail. We didn’t knock out the railroad lines between China and North Vietnam; And other nations the same before that. While history never repeats itself literally, patterns can be discerned in the past. Before the Vietnam War even ended, the US Army rushed to put the experience learned to the background while reembracing the Cold War themes, such as the Fulda Gap scenario. Way before that. The conference began with a keynote address by General (Retired) David Petraeus, in which he warned that “you cannot just throw away counterinsurgency lessons and act if you are in the Cold War.” Yet this casting away of lessons is exactly what I have been witnessing in my own country, the Netherlands, as well as within NATO in general. Military thinkers … have repeatedly warned that counterinsurgency might not currently be the preferred approach, but that it will nonetheless be necessary in the future. Website created by. Regional and Popular Forces (Ruff/Puff) were in control of 90% of the populace countryside by 1972; 11. In fact, the industry has grown to a whopping value of US $100 billion per year ().It is not going away any time soon and because of this the traditional notions of security and the legality surrounding unconventional warfare are changing rapidly and are still in the beginning phases. Conventional warfare is the use of conventional - traditional -- means to wage war. The anti-war movement “was essential to our strategy.” The senior leadership followed the anti-war movement in the U.S. and “were elated” when Jane Fonda, Ramsey Clark and others visited. In such cases, the unconventional warfare effort transitions to foreign internal defense at some point. You consent to our cookies if you continue to use our website. CONVENTIONAL AND UNCONVENTIONAL WAR ARE NOT OPPOSITES, CULTIVATING INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS ONE STUDENT AT A TIME, START WITH BOOK THREE: FINDING UTILITY IN CLAUSEWITZ’S ON WAR, LEADERSHIP ROLE MODELS IN FICTION REVISITED: A WHITEBOARD. Other factors also play a role, such as each country’s strategic circumstances, historical experiences, intellectual and cultural climate, and general Zeitgeist. I would like to think that a low and slow approach to defense reinvestment and modernization could work: missiles this year, MP4s the next, etc. That said, as our participation in the ME is waning, we must now re-balance the books and spend a bit more on conventional forces while keeping our unconventional forces intact, and more than likely in contact. Unconventional warfare has proven to be a force to be reckoned with in recent years. interests and threats. The straight-line approximation is almost always wrong. When seeking this outcome the UW sponsor provides support to a resistance movement such that it enables the resistance to first subvert, then overthrow the governing power, and to install a new political leadership in its place. Unconventional Warfare Pocket Guide The purpose of this document is to provide a pocket reference of Unconventional Warfare (UW) doctrine, concepts, academic inquiry, and suggested supplementary reading for military leaders and planners. Thus, it is essential that we stop thinking of conventional and unconventional warfare as a dichotomy. U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has publicly acknowledged that special operations forces (SOF) require conventional force support. 7. Following the completion of the overthrow, resistanc… The U.S. military should prepare for both conventional and irregular warfare, while prioritizing conventional warfare, recognizing irregular warfare as the most significant short term threat to national interests and conventional warfare the most threatening in the long term. The forces on each side are well-defined, and fight using weapons that primarily target the opponent's military. That said America has given the Presidents since JFK a wide range of options and most recently used those options from USAF drones to SOC units in every conceivable location except really, really cold. Unconventional Warfare (UW), the bread and butter of Army Special Forces teams. Instead, we should develop an approach that will enable us to quickly adapt to a specific situation in order to fight in a way that best matches whatever form of warfare is adopted by our enemies. Whereas conventional warfare is used to reduce the opponent's military capability directly through attacks and maneuvers, unconventional warfare is an attempt to achieve victory indirectly through a proxy force. What we regularly define as unconventional warfare, often thought of as both violent and non-violent use of all five domains against legitimate military targets and the civilian populace, will definitely be incredibly prevalent in the future. Therefore, the lessons of the recent counterinsurgency campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan should be properly captured, understood, and learned. Meanwhile, non-state actors, such as the Islamic State, have demonstrated their capability to launch conventional operations. This so-called hybrid warfare is embraced by states and non-state actors alike, as seen in Russia’s use of irregular tactics to destabilize its neighbors. Years of rebuilding compelled them to use NVA troops to fill the ranks of the VC. This makes determining the types of capabilities required to fight unconventionally challenging. Petraeus urged in his address that Western militaries must overcome this tendency if they are to cope with the complex hybrid threats posed by both state and non-state adversaries. Thereby, lessons from the experience are often forgotten before they are properly captured and understood. 9. The focus of this stit conveys the salient udy is threefold: first Yet the stubborn hybrid character of modern war is a reason to row against this tide. Thus, despite the readily apparent non-linear nature of modern warfare, the confluence of these other influences suggests an inevitable neglect of counterinsurgency by Western militaries. Meanwhile, non-state actors, such as the Islamic State, have demonstrated their capability to launch conventional operations. In the wake of the troubled campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, the political will to put boots on the ground to confront insurgencies in faraway countries is severely diminished, while Western armed forces are focusing on conventional warfare. Many in the U.S. military thought of the time after major combat operations in Iraq as not war and someone else’s job. Military thinkers like David Kilcullen and David Ucko have repeatedly warned that counterinsurgency might not currently be the preferred approach, but that it will nonetheless be necessary in the future as “any sensible enemy will choose to fight us in this manner.” Moreover, as expeditionary land forces will inevitably operate among foreign populations, there is a broad, obvious relevance to maintain the ability to interacting with the people in non-Western societies. The preoccupation of Western militaries with creating advantages in conventional weapons succeeded in deterring the conventional use of force but leaves them under-prepared to deal with unconventional warfare strategies. This so-called hybrid warfare is embraced by states and non-state actors alike, as seen in Russia’s use of irregular tactics to destabilize its neighbors. (EISENHOWER SERIES), SOCIAL MEDIA: GOOD MEDICINE OR A BAD PILL (EISENHOWER SERIES), INCLUSIVITY, DIVERSITY AND THE MILITARY AS A LEADER OF CHANGE (EISENHOWER SERIES), THAT NEVER HAPPENED: A WATER COOLER DISCUSSION ABOUT MOVIES, It seems that Western military forces are doomed to reinvent the wheel every time they are confronted with insurgencies. We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. As Sir Hew Strachan (one of the organizers of the St. Andrews conference) notes in The Direction of War: Contemporary Strategy in Historical Perspective, one of the best-known examples of this recurring cycle is the U.S. military’s troubled adaptation to counterinsurgency during the Vietnam War and the neglect of those experiences in its aftermath. Unconventional warfare is perceived as a temporary, undesired, annoying aberration. This adaptation process, however, is hampered by the dominant Western military culture that emphasizes the defeat of an enemy through a decisive battle in which massive firepower, technology, and maneuvering by large formations are key to victory. Login . Fighting in 1968 had decimated communist forces in the South. 5. HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT: RADICALS IN THE RANKS, LIKE YOUR BRAIN HAS JUST GONE TO THE GYM (WARGAMING ROOM), A LABORATORY FOR MILITARY PROFESSIONALS (WARGAMING ROOM), A FATAL DOSE IN 2 MILLIGRAMS: FENTANYL AND NATIONAL SECURITY, SERVICE TO THE NATION: CLOSING THE CIVIL-MILITARY DIVIDE (EISENHOWER SERIES), NEW WEAPONS FOR NEW DOMAINS? The Netherlands’ Royal Army, for instance, has almost completely reoriented towards interstate combat. There are two answers to this question: the technical and the practical. This forgetting left the U.S. military ill-prepared to counter the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan. Unconventional warfare (UW) is the support of a foreign insurgency or resistance movement against its government or an occupying power. The North only had to win the American media in order to eventually be victorious because they sway politicians (who love to be loved and, of course, reelected) and feeble-minded university professors who love to pontificate and sell their books). There is little political will to again embark on such a costly and uncertain adventure, while senior military commanders, most of whose formative years as young officers were spent during the latter period of the Cold War, are increasingly regarding the recent counterinsurgency era as a “wrong turn” from the core business of high-end conventional warfare. Bombing of North Vietnam, if it had been concentrated (as in the Christmas bombing), “would have hurt our efforts.” Piecemeal bombing gave the North time to reshuffle and rebuild; antonym of unconventional warfare is conventional warfare, which means a battle between states’ regular armed forces. “We had the impression that American commanders had their hands tied by political factors. It would be instructive historical research and wider-ranging than our normal battlefield level maneuver reprising which is particularly useful to regimental and wing level folks, but less so to Corps, Air Forces, Fleets and the NCA.). Unconventional warfare (UW) is the support of a foreign insurgency or resistance movement against its government or an occupying power.Whereas conventional warfare is used to reduce the opponent's military capability directly through attacks and maneuvers, unconventional warfare is an attempt to achieve victory indirectly through a proxy force. In The Utility of Force, the retired British general Rupert Smith explained the non-linear character of modern war with his concept of “war amongst the people.” Smith not only notes that “there is no secluded battlefield upon which armies engage” in isolation of civilians, but that indeed “civilians are the targets, objectives to be won, as much as an opposing force.” Therefore, even a temporary farewell to counterinsurgency is far from appropriate in this security environment characterized by hybrid — both state and non-state — threats and in which engagement of effected populations is key to success. © 2017 U.S. Army War College. 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