Feral Jundi

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Publications: Innovation In War–COIN Operations In Anbar And Ninewa Provinces, Iraq, 2005-2007

 The standing operating procedure (SOP) for the unit typically focused on: (1) Planning and establishing the COP; (2) Ensuring route security so each outpost could be kept resupplied; (3) Clearing operations after the COP had been stood up to clear IEDs and find weapons caches; and (4) Census patrols to follow after the clearing operations to consolidate the position and gradually work its way into the human terrain of the area – the real target of MacFarland’s campaign. 

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     This is an excellent paper that discusses some of the key innovations of the war.  The main theme that I am getting from all of this, is intelligence, intelligence, and intelligence.(jundism hint)

     If you notice in the publication, there are some themes that keep getting repeated.  The importance of networks or fusion is one of them.  To bring together different groups of experts, and have them contribute to actionable intelligence. And feeding these fusion groups requires interaction with the terrain, population and the enemy.

    Hence why COPS or combat outposts are so important.  It allows a unit to insert itself into the heart of a population/insurgency center and get as much information as they can via census patrols, sensors, raids, attacks against and by the enemy, etc. All of this is fed into a searchable database that can be cross referenced and searched by other units and organizations, and future deploying units and organizations. In other words, all actions and collected information is fed into the machine.

    I also liked the reference to ‘continuous improvement’. Too bad the author didn’t use the term Kaizen in the paper though. I also saw hints of ‘learning organization’, which is also an incredibly important concept for developing winning TTPs and strategies. Because once you have all of this great information and experience, you have to build a snowmobile out of it so you can win the fight. A rigid organization that doesn’t seek feedback internally and externally, work together and with others, or doesn’t innovate, will not succeed.

    Now here are my ideas to further the concepts into our industry.  Right now we are witnessing the African Union stumbling along in Somalia and trying to gain a foothold.  My thoughts on the whole thing is that you could take a PMC that was composed of former military leaders familiar with these concepts, and help the AU to organize accordingly. Or AFRICOM could send a leadership team in there to help organize the effort.  Either way, I see no reason why the AU forces could not replicate this strategy in Mogadishu right now.

    I also think that PMC’s could learn a lot from these types of strategies. PMC’s have had to set up remote sites that are very similar to ‘COPS in a box’. The CMC projects are a prime example. But what was missing with those operations was deliberate census patrols or the other means of intelligence collection that the Marines and Army could use.

    The way human intelligence was collected for these projects was often through the process of hiring and working around locals for guard positions and general labor projects. You learn all sorts of things about the locals when you work around them all day, day in and day out.

    Imagine though that if PMC’s actually did census patrols as part of the contract? Or planted sensors in abandoned buildings in their area? That data could not only be useful to that PMC, or future replacement PMC’s, but could also be added to a much larger database that the military could use? A PMC remote site and the routes they travel daily could be an excellent source of intelligence for the military units of that area, but unless that PMC is brought into that fusion process, it will simply be another lost chance at crucial data collection.

     It would also be nice if PMC’s could take advantage of that fusion process as well, and access the COPLINK or whatever database that is established locally. It could save lives and win wars, but it also requires both the military and civilian equivalents to talk and work with each other. Stuff to think about as we continue the fight and learn new ways of doing our thing in this war. –Matt

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Innovation in War: Counterinsurgency Operations in Anbar and Ninewa Provinces, Iraq, 2005-2007

James A. Russella

August 2010

To cite this Article: Russell, James A. ‘Innovation in War: Counterinsurgency Operations in Anbar and Ninewa Provinces, Iraq, 2005–2007’, Journal of Strategic Studies, 33:4, 595 – 624

Abstract

This article analyzes operations by three battalions conducting counterinsurgency, or COIN, operations in Iraq over the period from July 2005 through March 2007: the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment (1-7) along the Iraq-Syrian border in the first half of 2006; the 1st Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment (1-37) battalion operating in south-central Ramadi in the fall of 2006; and the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, or 2-1, operating in eastern Mosul in 2005-06. The empirical evidence presented in these cases suggest that, contrary to popular perceptions, the units successfully innovated in war – a process largely executed organically within the units themselves. Innovation is defined here as the development of new organizational capacities not initially present when the units deployed into the theater. The evidence presented in these cases suggests that the innovation process enabled these units to successfully transition from organizations structured and trained for conventional military operations to organizations that developed an array of new organizational capacities for full-spectrum combat operations. The units in this study developed these new capacitites largely on their own initiative.

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Sunday, January 24, 2010

Military News: Marines’ Iraq Command Ends–Job Well Done!!!

Filed under: Iraq,Military News — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 4:11 AM

   Well to make up for Avatar, or the lack of coverage by the media, I hope I can at least spread the good word here on FJ. Seven years of blood, guts and tears, fighting their way through the insurgent infested towns of western Iraq, and getting the job done with some authority.  That is the kind of awesomeness I would like to see the film industry take on.  The work the Marines did in the Anbar was close to miraculous, and here is a big Semper Fi to all of you hard chargers that made that happen. –Matt

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Marines’ Iraq command ends

By Adam Schreck

Saturday Jan 23, 2010

RAMADI, Iraq — The Marines marked the end of nearly seven years in Iraq on Saturday by handing the Army their command of Anbar province, once one of the war’s fiercest battlefields but now a centerpiece of U.S.-Iraqi cooperation.

The changing of the guard — overseen by military brass and some of Anbar’s influential Sunni sheiks — signals the start of an accelerated drawdown of American troops as the U.S. increasingly shifts its focus to the war in Afghanistan.

American commanders are trumpeting security gains in places such as the western Anbar province as a sign that their partnership with Iraqi security forces is working, and that the local troops can keep the country safe.

But fears are growing about a possible resurgence in sectarian tensions — fed by the Shiite-dominated government’s plans to blacklist more than 500 parliamentary candidates over suspected links to Saddam Hussein’s regime.

In Baghdad, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden met with Iraq’s leaders Saturday to try to alleviate the pressures. While he kept expectations of a breakthrough low — telling reporters after a meeting with President Jalal Talabani it was up to the Iraqis, not him, to resolve the issue — his visit alone underscored Washington’s concern.

The White House worries the bans could raise questions over the fairness of the March 7 parliamentary election, which is seen as an important step in the American pullout timetable and a way to break political stalemates over key issues such as dividing Iraq’s oil revenue.

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Saturday, January 3, 2009

Iraq: Quick Response By Armor Group in Iraq Helps Stranded Marines

Filed under: Industry Talk,Iraq — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 1:02 PM

    This story is about a year old, and came out before I started this blog.  I want to thank Scott for sending me this, so I could post it here for everyone to check out.  Most would be surprised how often contractors have come to the aid of the military in the war, and vice versa.  It comes from a mutual respect and a sense of helping out one another as best we can.  The military has saved numerous contractor lives through medevac operations in this war or coming to our defense during some bad deals, and contractors always remember how important that relationship with the military is.  The military are the ones with the big guns and air support as well, and there is no competition with them–they are king in this war.  So this myth that some how contractors and military don’t get along out there, or we are a threat to the military, is just stupid.  Besides that, most of us are all prior military anyways, and we understand the military mindset and culture very well.  Semper Fi.  –Matt

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Marines

Somewhere out in western Anbar. 

Quick response by munitions clearance team in Iraq helps stranded Marines

Jan 24, 2008

BY Kim Gillespie, USACE

Huntsville Center’s Coalition Munitions Clearance program personnel assist at the scene of a Marine Corps tank accident in Western Iraq. The accident left the Marines’ communication equipment and main guns inoperative. CMC personnel secured the area and called a Medical Evacuation helicopter for one seriously injured Marine. Photo by Tim Bohannon (USACE)

The Soldier’s Creed states, “I will never leave a fallen comrade.” Army Civilian and contractor employees feel the same way.

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