This monograph focuses on the gap in operational command and control for unconventional warfare operations (UW), and the organizational elements required to mitigate this gap. In the 20th Century and beyond, the United States conducted UW in the...
This monograph examines the potential roles of indigenous forces in the transition period from decisive combat through post conflict reconstruction. More specifically, should Unconventional Warfare doctrine assess, train and develop suitable...
There is an ongoing debate within the Special Forces community whether unconventional warfare and foreign internal defense are applicable in the contemporary and future Special Operations environments, based on current doctrinal definitions and...
Considering the history of unconventional warfare in the United States, and specifically, during the Civil War, it begs the question: Did the Confederacy’s strategy to engage in unconventional warfare significantly contribute to its conventional...
This monograph investigates whether the U.S. military should establish joint doctrine for unconventional warfare. Since the passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986, joint doctrine has become central to...
United States Special Forces have established a well-deserved reputation as experts in direct action operations to kill or capture high-value targets over the course of the Global War on Terror. In doing so, they have neglected their core mission...
This monograph seeks to determine the adequacy of national security strategies, policies, and doctrine for the use of surrogate forces in pursuit of U.S. strategic objectives. The insufficiency in the current guidance for waging warfare by, with,...
Since 1999, the European Union has significantly increased its effort to create a viable military force. A natural part of a military force in the contemporary environment is Special Operations Forces. The purpose of this monograph is to determine...
This monograph examines the operational concept of Force XXI, the U.S. Army of the 21st Century, to determine if it will be applicable against an enemy employing an unconventional warfare strategy. The study suggests that the concept, as it is...
Detachment 101 of the Office of Strategic Services’ development of unconventional warfare doctrine in the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II presents the practitioner of unconventional warfare a worthy model of consideration for our...
The Sunni tribal uprising against Al Qaeda in Iraq, known as the Anbar Awakening, was the decisive event in the counterinsurgency campaign in Iraq. To capitalize on discontent between the Sunni population and Al Qaeda, U.S. commanders on the ground...
United States Army Special Forces (SF) has played a critical role in prosecuting the Global War on Terror. Their ability to wage unconventional warfare remains their trademark. Operations in Afghanistan and northern Iraq demonstrated SF's ability...
The emphasis on special operations and specifically unconventional warfare (UW) has grown significantly since the end of the Gulf War. The contemporary operational environment (COE) in which the U.S. military operates today is dictating this...
This monograph examines the doctrinal mission focus of U.S. Army Special Forces to determine if it is appropriate to prepare the force to meet the requirements of the post-Cold War environment. The study suggests that current doctrine, largely...
This monograph examines the use of Foreign Internal Defense (FID) and Unconventional Warfare (UW) as the primary means of preventing global insurgency. The paper is broken into four sections. The History section gives a basic background of Special...
This monograph examines the impact of future trends in warfare on operational art, the key concept in the U.S. Army's current fighting doctrine. Operational art, which translates the effects of battles and engagements into the attainment of...
The Arab Spring has demonstrated the power and potential of social mobilization and collective action as a form of political warfare in support of unconventional warfare strategies. This power and potential is not isolated to the Arab Spring or to...
The US Air Force, and the U.S. armed forces separate service air arms, have historically wrestled with how to apply air and space power to non-traditional forms of warfare, such as insurgency and counterinsurgency. While the airplane was used as...
This study traces the development of Special Forces (SF) missions from the OSS in 1944 to the present to determine how the doctrinal missions evolved. Five specific operations/events are examined; including the Jedburghs and Operational Groups in...