Feral Jundi

Sunday, June 2, 2019

Books: To Stop A Warlord, By Shannon Sedgwick Davis

This is very cool and I wanted to get this book out there for folks to check out. It is on Kindle and hardcover and would be a great addition to your library on all things PMSC. What makes this story unique is that Eeben Barlow’s company STTEP was brought in by the author of this book to help in the hunt for Joseph Kony of the LRA.

Awhile back I was able to write about the deal and check out this post for more information. Eeben also filled in a few of the blanks about this contract and it was quite unique. STTEP was training Ugandan military to conduct pseudo-operations against the LRA! –Matt

 

 

One woman’s inspiring true story of an unlikely alliance to stop the atrocities of a warlord, proving that there is no limit to what we can do, even in the face of unspeakable injustice and impossible odds

“This compelling and inspiring book beautifully moves each of us to take action to help the most vulnerable among us.”—Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu 

Late one night in the summer of 2010, Shannon Sedgwick Davis, a lawyer, human rights advocate, and Texas mom to two young boys, first met a Ugandan general to discuss an unconventional plan to stop Joseph Kony, a murderous warlord who’d terrorized communities in four countries across Central and East Africa.

For twenty-five years, Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army had killed over a hundred thousand people, displaced millions, and abducted tens of thousands of children, forcing them to become child soldiers. After Sedgwick Davis met with survivors and community leaders, aid workers and lawmakers, it was clear that the current international systems were failing to protect the most vulnerable. Guided by the strength of her beliefs and convictions, Sedgwick Davis knew she had to help other parents to have the same right she had—to go to sleep each night knowing that their children were safe.

But Sedgwick Davis had no roadmap for how to stop a violent armed group. She would soon step far outside the bounds of traditional philanthropy and activism and partner her human rights organization, the Bridgeway Foundation, with a South African private military contractor and a specialized unit within the Ugandan army. The experience would bring her to question everything she had previously believed about her role as a humanitarian, about the meaning of justice, and about the very nature of good and evil.

In To Stop a Warlord, Shannon Sedgwick Davis tells the story, for the first time, of the unprecedented collaboration she helped build with the aim of finally ending Joseph Kony’s war—and the unforgettable journey on an unexpected path to peace. A powerful memoir that reads like a thriller, this is a story that asks us just how hard we would fight for what we believe in.

100 percent of the author’s net proceeds from this book will go to organizations seeking justice and protection for civilians in conflict zones.

“This is an extraordinary memoir by an extraordinary leader—it’s impossible to read without feeling moved to do more to help those with less.”—Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take

Buy the book here.

 

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Industry Talk: Pseudo Operations And The Relentless Pursuit Of Kony

But then she reminds herself of the numbers. In the past two years, L.R.A. violence has dropped by ninety-three per cent, from seven hundred and six killings in 2010 to only fifty-one in 2012. According to Resolve, a U.S.-based analysis and advocacy group, the L.R.A. had approximately four hundred fighters in 2010; by June, 2013, they were down to a hundred and eighty Ugandan fighters and fifty armed zande—abductees from Congo and the Central African Republic.
“It was only ninety-three per cent because of relentless pursuit,” Davis said. “If we pulled out, that would plummet. I know that is something to celebrate. And if Kony dies a natural death under a mango tree someday, I’m O.K. with that—I know he’ll see justice, as long as he is not hurting kids and women.”
“We don’t need accolades,” Davis told me. “We are not bleeding at the end of the spear, getting pursued by crocodiles and killer bees. The Ugandans are.” And they show no signs of letting up.

Thanks to Adam for sending this one, and a big congrats to Eeben Barlow and his team for all the work they did on this contract. Also, I have much respect for Shannon Sedgwick Davis and her crew for actually taking action and having the courage to contact Eeben and funding this contract. You did the right thing. A hat tip as well to the Ugandan forces who embraced this training and made it work for them out in the field.

What makes this story significant is the fact that pseudo operations was taught to the Ugandan military by a private company, and there are actual tangible results that we can point to after they received this training.  Although I wouldn’t mind seeing a more academic study applied to how much of  an impact pseudo operations really had, it would seem to me that these initial findings are encouraging.

The other really cool aspect of this story is that for those of you that follow the blog and read the discussions I had with Eeben Barlow a couple of years ago about the concept of pseudo operations here and here,  you will quickly realize that in fact, something positive did come about from those conversations. That someone reading those conversations and posts over at his blog, whom actually had the money to fund such a contract, came forth and embraced the idea for the relentless pursuit of Joseph Kony and the destruction of his LRA. Here is a quote referencing how this group came to Eeben via his blog.

Poole had been reading a military and security blog written by Eeben Barlow, who had been a commando and a covert agent for the South African apartheid regime’s most notorious squads. He was also a visionary and a dreamer. Back in 1997, he told me that his goal was to create the best and biggest military consultancy in the world. The private army he founded, Executive Outcomes, hired itself out, in the late nineties, to end civil wars in Sierra Leone and Angola in exchange for lots of cash and access to diamond and oil fields.
Davis went to meet Barlow in South Africa, and, after a family dinner with his wife and son, he told her he would take the job—and that he did not want a fee. He did not want to make money on this, he told her; she would just have to pay his trainers and underwrite his expenses. This was the kind of partner she was looking for.

 Pretty cool. Here is a quote about the pseudo operations training the Ugandan’s received.

The effects of the training were evident. Charles, a lieutenant from West Nile, told me that in the old days they would unleash a thousand bullets every time they encountered the L.R.A. Now, he said, they would wait and track in silence. The South Africans had taught them tactics for crossing rivers with logs and ponchos, how to swim and how to avoid crocodiles, which had killed one soldier and attacked another. “The South Africans taught us ‘pseudo,’ ” Charles said. “You behave like your enemy so you can approach him, or even infiltrate inside the camp. We pleated our hair like they do, put on civilian shirts, uniform pants. Sometimes we went barefoot. We used to travel forty or forty-five in a team; now we can go six.”

Here is the quote about the raid that missed Kony. It certainly hit intel pay dirt though!

In September, 2011, the first special-operations group trained by the South Africans crossed into South Sudan and caught Kony by surprise at a meeting with all his commanders. He escaped, but the Ugandans took back a haul of valuable intelligence: satellite phones, a computer, and diaries. Defectors later revealed that the L.R.A. fighters were baffled by the attack: Was this some new Ugandan army? After the raid, Kony lost contact with his entourage. He roamed the bush alone with one of his pregnant Sudanese wives, and helped deliver her baby—one of probably more than a hundred small Konys now in the world. When he reëmerged, he was so furious that he demoted all his commanders. According to defectors, he had moved to a new camp, in southern Darfur.

And this is what DoS thought about the whole thing.

By the end of 2011, Barlow and his trainers were gone. “Even folks at State and the Department of Defense acknowledged the training Bridgeway offered was very helpful in advancing the Ugandan Army’s capacity,” a Washington-based analyst told me. But they are not yet willing to say so publicly. When I asked a State Department official about the significance of Davis’s work, he refused to comment beyond noting that “the Bridgeway Foundation is an independent organization that does not have an official relationship with the U.S. government.”

So with that said, I think Eeben and his crew deserve a great deal of recognition and thanks for a job well done. He has proven once again that private industry can indeed produce amazing results through innovation, dedication and hard work. That pseudo operations or PO can be taught and it can be effective in some types of warfare. As Sun Tzu would say, ‘all warfare is based on deception’, and PO is an excellent deceptive tactic. –Matt

 

shannon-sedgwick-davis-1-465

Shannon Sedgwick Davis.

How a Texas Philanthropist Helped Fund the Hunt for Joseph Kony
October 21, 2013
Posted by Elizabeth Rubin

One night in July, 2010, Shannon Sedgwick Davis, a lawyer and activist from San Antonio, Texas, and the mother of two young boys, found herself seated across from the chief of the Ugandan Army, General Aronda Nyakairima, at his hilltop headquarters, in Kampala. “It was one of those out-of-body experiences,” Davis told me. Davis was on the verge of becoming deeply involved in the campaign to capture Joseph Kony. In the course of a quarter century, Kony abducted tens of thousands of people, mostly children, and conscripted them into the Lord’s Resistance Army (L.R.A.), which was conceived as a Ugandan rebel force but whose primary target has been civilians in several African nations. “I am a full-blown mom, sitting here with this Ugandan general,” Davis said. “And I can’t believe I have an audience with this man, and that he didn’t write me off as crazy.”
Davis had two questions for Aronda: Would military trainers and communications make it easier for the Ugandan Army to chase down Kony—who is wanted by the International Criminal Court—in the jungles of Congo, the Central African Republic, and Sudan, where he and his commanders have scattered, and, more important to her, rescue the women and children still in his clutches?
Yes and yes, said the general. His eyes looked so tired, Davis recalled, that she hadn’t been sure she had his attention. “You almost want to pry them open so you make sure he’s still listening. But he said they would welcome any assistance, and that it was their problem to solve.” It was late, and in that first meeting Aronda seemed unsure what to make of this passionate, small blond woman from Texas. But the meetings persisted. Together, they began to map out what the general wanted and the guarantees that Davis would require from the Ugandans before embarking on an unorthodox venture: the charitable organization she heads, the Bridgeway Foundation, would hire private military contractors to train an African army.

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Thursday, June 23, 2011

History: The Jessie Scouts–The Contractor/Military Covert Warriors Of The Civil War

“The Jessie Scout was a Federal soldier, dressed and armed a la Rebel.  He was named after Mrs. Jessie Fremont, wife of the General of that name, who first suggested that mode of obtaining information.?“When a Rebel was captured, his furlough or pass was taken from him, and also his outer garments.  A soldier was then found, who resembled him in size, age, and general appearance.  The Rebel’s uniform, from hat to boots, was put upon this man, who assumed the name of the prisoner, and the Federal left the camp, a soldier of the Confederacy…. These Jessie Scouts generally preceded the advance of the army, and they frequently picked up a great many prisoners, without creating any alarm.  I made the acquaintance of many of them, and found them bold, dashing, reckless, good fellows.  I met Major Young, Sheridan’s chief of scouts, and found him eminently fitted for outpost duty and border warfare.”-John Opie, 1899

Every once in awhile, I will come across some history that I have to share. If you are a reader of the blog, you will know that I am particularly interested in history that involves contractors and their contribution to that particular war. During the Civil War, there were privateers and camp followers, but there was also a very unique type of contractor that was used for incredibly dangerous missions. These were the civilian scouts. Specifically, the Jesse Scouts are the group I would like to focus on.

I like to refer to them more as pseudo operators, as opposed to just spies.  These guys would purposely wear the uniform of the enemy as a means to operate behind enemy lines. Their missions varied from spying to conducting raids, and the risks associated with getting caught could result in torture and death. They were very much hated, and definitely earned their higher pay. They also provided crucial intelligence for the war, and they were pretty damned good at ‘capturing flags’. lol

Now what is interesting about the Jesse Scouts, or any of the other scouts/spies of either side, is the fact that these were blended work forces. Meaning they had enlisted scouts mixed with civilian scouts. I imagine the civilian scouts were used because they brought a special skill set to the table–like the ability to guide folks through enemy country, smuggle things, or whatever capability a force at that time might need.

I should also bring up how I stumbled upon the Jessie Scouts. During my research into the 8 civilian recipients of the Medal of Honor during the Civil War and Indian Wars, I had perked up when reading about a certain civilian scout named William Woodall. I was curious about the unit he served in as a ‘Chief Civilian Scout’. Here is the citation:

William H. Woodall
Rank and Organization: Civilian scout, U.S. Army, Major General Philip H. Sheridan’s Headquarters, during Civil War.
Place and Date: Virginia, Appomattox campaign, Sailors Creek, March 29 to April 9, 1865. Entered service at Winchester, Virginia. Birthdate: unknown.
Date Of Issue: 25 April 1865.
Place: Washington, D.C., 3 May 1865.
Note: Was Chief Civilian Scout for Major General Philip H. Sheridan’s Cavalry Corps, which consisted of VI and XIX Corps.
Citation:
Captured flag of Brigadier General Rufus Barringer’s headquarters brigade.
The following flag is listed as headquarter flag of General Rufus Barringer. After the promotion of James B.Gordon to Brigadier General, Barringer was put into command of the 1st NC Cavalry. When Gordon was killed, Barringer received his promotion to General and was now in charge of the North Carolina Brigade in the Cavalry Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia. So this is probably the last flag the 1st NC Cavalry followed into battle. At least US archives list this flag together with the regiment.
On morning of April, 6, 1865, a small party of federal soldiers, dressed as Confederates, captured General Barringer and his guard. Together with the General this flag was captured also.
Remarkable is that this flag, although used by cavalry, has with 47×47 inches the size of an Infantry Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia. The blue cross bars are 5inches wide, the white stripes are 0.5 inches. The flag has 13 white applied five pointed stars on both sides, at 3.25 – 3.5 inches in diameter. The white frame arround the flag has a width of 2 inches. The flag is made of so called Bunting, with only the white parts being cotton. The flag is now in the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh, NC.

After putting together the pieces, I was directed toward the unit he was in. Not only did he serve as a civilian scout in this famous unit, he was also called upon for a covert operation in Mexico in which he was killed. Here is the story I found while at David Phillip’s excellent website on the subject:

Why America took interest in what was happening in Mexico
Following Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Grant knew that a large Confederate army remained in Texas. Of equal concern, a large European army composed of French, Austrian, and Belgian troops were fighting among side Imperial Mexican soldiers supporting Maximilian, an Austrian prince. Grant’s fear involved the creation of an allied army of former Confederates, Europeans, and Imperial Mexicans that would continue the Civil War out of Mexican territory. He quickly ordered Sheridan and a large number of veteran Union troops to move west.
While the records are vague and confusing, there are indications that two separate – and compartmented – programs were developed. The first was encouraged, if not ordered, by Grant that resulted in a former general, Lew Wallace, managing an essentially civilian-mercenary effort. The second program involved US Army officers and enlisted soldiers serving as advisors, trainers, and in some cases they may have participated in combat operations.
The Jessie Scouts involved arrived in the theater of operations in mid-1865 and their operations apparently concluded in early 1867 with Sergeant Jim White delivering a diplomatic note deep inside Mexico to Benito Juarez’s provisional government in an effort to prevent the execution of Maximilian.
Scout casualties were heavy. Available Union army records indicate that Lieutenant-Colonel Henry H. Young and four enlisted scouts were involved under Sheridan, but this was probably the advance party. Scout Arch Rowand’s letters from New Orleans indicated that several scouts requested discharges with their parent regiments, but available evidence exists to show that 12-15 enlisted scouts and Young entered Mexico by boat from New Orleans in late October 1866 and most were killed under relatively mysterious circumstances. Young was definitely a casualty and former Confederate, William H. Woodall, also a Medal of Honor recipient, was probably killed. The identities of the remaining scouts who lost their lives are unknown.
The scouts delivered intelligence to Sheridan’s headquarters that enabled him to understand what was occurring throughout northern Mexico. They also developed individual operations against Imperial Mexican commanders and may have recruited two former Confederate officers to kill the Mexican commander at Matamoras. Currently, it is difficult to assess overall the impact the scouts had in supporting Sheridan’s operations into Mexico as much of their reporting has not been discovered.

Pretty interesting history, and William was a stud. Definitely check out the links below that I have provided, to include a PDF of William G. Beymer’s book about the Jessie Scouts called On Hazardous Service. My take away from all of this is that during that war, every resource and able bodied man and woman was essential to both sides. At the time, using private industry to help accomplish the mission was certainly a part of the strategy.  And recognizing men and women civilian contractors for their heroism was also something we did back then.

The Jessie Scouts were also the special forces of the Union.  You could easily compare them to MACV SOG who would drop special forces behind enemy lines during the Vietnam War, or to the Selous Scouts who would operate behind enemy lines in their war in Africa. The common tactic of all of these units was to blend into their environments by wearing the uniform of the enemy, and use every ounce of their wits and capabilities to survive and accomplish the mission. They also depended upon captured and turned enemy combatants to further give them an edge behind enemy lines. Anything it took to accomplish the mission, these forces did it.

The most profound point the reader can take away from this history is that contractors were used for ‘offensive operations’ in past US wars.  That they were right there with the military, doing the extremely dangerous work of war fighting. These contractors also paid a horrible price when they got caught by the enemy. The contractors back then were even used to protect Lincoln (Pinkertons), which also makes a pretty amazing statement as to the public/private relationship back then. Pretty cool history, and check it out. –Matt

The flag William Woodall captured.

The pay of a civilian scout.
Shortly after the beginning of the Civil War, he became a civilian “Scout” for the Union Army. Civilian “Scouts” were very well paid, sometimes as much as $1-$3 per day or $30-$90 or more a month depending on the hazardous nature of their mission in enemy territory. (Note: The base pay of a private soldier in the Union Army was $13 a month).
Link to source here.
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Jessie Scouts – Special Operations Forces (SOF) of the American Civil War.
The Jessie Scouts, dressed in Gray, raised havoc behind Confederate lines.
The Jessie Scout did in the American Civil War what US Military Special Operations Forces do today
By David L. Phillips
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Jessie Scouts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jessie Scouts were irregular soldiers during the American Civil War on the side of the Union who operated in territory of the Confederate States of America in the southern United States in insurgency missions. The unit was created by John C. Frémont and named in honour of his wife, rather than of a Colonel Jessie, who was himself a myth. The initial Jessie Scout unit was formed in St. Louis, Missouri early in the war as the plan to develop independent scouts was implemented. The first man to command the scouts was Charles C. Carpenter. The Jessie Scouts wore Confederate uniforms with a white handkerchief over their shoulders to signify their allegiance to friendly troops, and number around 58 for much of the war, commanded by Major Henry Young.
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From the book, On Hazardous Service
By William G. Beymer
Archibald Rowand Jr.
To Major H. H. Young, of my staff, chief of scouts, and the thirty or forty men of his command, who took their lives in their hands, cheerfully going wherever ordered, to obtain that great essential of success, information, I tender my gratitude. Ten of these men were lost.—From Gen. Philip H. Sheridan’s report of the expedition from Winchester to Petersburg, Virginia. February 27— March 28, 1865. Official Records, Vol. 46: I: 481. “THIRTY or forty men, of whom ten were lost.” It was not chance which worded that phrase. Sheridan has chosen his words well. Of the ten, no one of them died as do men in battles; two were found by their comrades hanging by their own halter-straps; several more died like trapped animals, fighting desperately, at bay. And the others—never returned. Until the Great Book opens it will never be known where, or how, they died; they never returned, that is all. Of the ten, not a man was wearing the uniform of the country for which he died.

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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Publications: The Use Of Pseudo-Operations In The AFPAK Theater, By Dr Ronald Holt

     Awesome stuff and these are the topics I really dig discussing.  The more we talk about this concept, the more people can start looking at the pieces and make a ‘snowmobile’ out of it. What I really like about this paper is that it talks specifically about Afghanistan and Pakistan, which will help us to focus the discussion and make it more relevant. Especially check out the comments section at Small Wars Journal for this topic. –Matt

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The Use of Pseudo-Operations in the AFPAK Theaterby Ronald Holt

September 15, 2010

Download the Full Article: The Use of Pseudo-Operations in the AFPAK Theatre

What would be the effect if we had small integrated groups of former Taliban and US Special Operators working together, masquerading as Taliban, living off the villagers as the Taliban do, and feeding USSOCOM actionable HUMINT?

This short paper is designed to be a “thought-piece” with the purpose of stimulating “out of the box” ideas. Pseudo Operations involve recruiting and training ex-insurgents to operate as insurgents and produce intelligence, cause enemy casualties, and create distrust between the local population and the insurgents. Such on the ground intelligence gives a deeper picture of enemy intentions, infiltration routes and support amongst the local population. Real- time intelligence can lay the groundwork for successful direct actions missions. Sometimes pseudo-operators will disguise themselves as members of adjacent countries’ military in order to operate in enemy sanctuaries. In this paper I will argue that Pseudo-Ops might be of use given the current situation in AFPAK and particularly in southern Afghanistan and in areas of Pakistan such as North Waziristan or even Baluchistan.

Download the Full Article: The Use of Pseudo-Operations in the AFPAK Theatre

Dr. Ronald Holt is a tenured Professor of Anthropology and Fulbright Scholar. He was the senior social scientist for Human Terrain Team AF-1 at FOB Salerno Afghanistan in 2008. Dr. Holt has done fieldwork in several Islamic countries and with Native American tribes.

Link to post at Small Wars Journal here.

Military News: In Memory Of Ron Reid-Daly, Founder Of The Rhodesian Selous Scouts

      I had posted this on the Facebook Page for FJ and I wanted to put this on the blog as part of the archives.  Ron Reid-Daly and his Selous Scouts have been very influential to the thinking here at the blog, and I will always regret the fact that I was never able to meet the man.

     One thing is for sure though, and that is his work and the accomplishments of the Selous Scouts will live on in military history books, and future discussions about modern warfare. I am constantly going back to the concepts of pseudo operations developed by this famous military unit as an element that is missing in today’s wars. That, and their version of light infantry and what being a ‘military scout’ really means continues to impress me to this day. Rest in peace to a warrior that did well. –Matt

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Ron Reid-Daly

22nd September 1928 – 9th August 2010

This memorial website was created in the memory of Ronald Reid-Daly, born in Rhodesia, Salisbury on the 22nd September 1928 and passed away on the 9th August 2010, 81 years of age.

Biography

Full Name: Ronald Reid-Daly

Born: 22nd September 1928

Passed Away: 9th August 2010

Age: 81 years of age

Country: South Africa

Birth Place: Rhodesia, Salisbury

Colonel Ronald “Ron” Francis Reid-Daly  founded and commanded the elite Selous Scouts special forces unit that fought during the Rhodesian Bush War

Born in South Africa, Reid-Daly entered military service in 1951 and served with the C (Rhodesia) Squadron of the British Special Air Service (SAS) in operations against insurgents in Malaya. Rising to the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major in the Rhodesian Light Infantry, he was later commissioned and achieved the rank of Captain. He retired from the Army in 1973.

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