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SWJ Blog is a multi-author blog publishing news and commentary on the various goings on across the broad community of practice. We gladly accept guest posts from serious voices in the community.

Less is More

by SWJ Editors | Wed, 07/08/2009 - 9:35pm | 1 comment

Training Full Spectrum - Less is More

By General Peter W. Chiarelli

Cross-posted at the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center Blog

Good leaders understand that they cannot train on everything; therefore, they focus on training the most important tasks. Leaders do not accept substandard performance in order to complete all the tasks on the training schedule. Training a few tasks to standard is preferable to training more tasks below the standard.

--FM 7-0, 2-46

Transformation is truly a never-ending journey. In the midst of fighting two wars, the Army has organizationally recreated itself within a modular formation and doctrinally ground itself in the capstone operational concept of Full Spectrum Operations.

Our combat leaders balance the probabilities of offense, defense, and stability tasks within a shifting landscape of nuanced transitions. Through the capturing and leveraging of experience they have learned how to orchestrate and dominate the human terrain much the way same way we orchestrate and dominate the physical terrain. They are savvy in manipulating all the elements of national power -- kinetic and non kinetic - and can recognize and act upon shifts in the strategic environment. They are versatile and agile. Those in Iraq in and Afghanistan today find their formations involved in combat operations for short, intense periods of time, but just as quickly can reorient across the spectrum of non-kinetic tasks to exploit created opportunities and keep the momentum...

Learning from McNamara

by SWJ Editors | Wed, 07/08/2009 - 7:04am | 0 comments

The McNamara Mentality - George F. Will, Washington Post opinion.

The death of Robert McNamara at 93 was less a faint reverberation of a receding era than a reminder that mentalities are the defining attributes of eras, and certain American mentalities recur with, it sometimes seems, metronomic regularity. McNamara came to Washington from a robust Detroit - he headed Ford when America's swaggering automobile manufacturers enjoyed 90 percent market share - to be President John Kennedy's secretary of defense. Seemingly confident that managing the competition of nations could be as orderly as managing competition among the three members of Detroit's oligopoly, McNamara entered government seven months before the birth of the current president, who is the owner and, he is serenely sure, fixer of General Motors.

Today, something unsettlingly similar to McNamara's eerie assuredness pervades the Washington in which he died. The spirit is: Have confidence, everybody, because we have, or soon will have, everything - really everything - under control...

More at The Washington Post.

McNamara in Context - Errol Morris, New York Times opinion.

... His refusal to come out against the Vietnam War, particularly as it continued after he left the Defense Department, has angered many. There's ample evidence that he felt the war was wrong. Why did he remain silent until the 1990s, when "In Retrospect" was published? That is something that people will probably never forgive him for. But he had an implacable sense of rectitude about what was permissible and what was not. In his mind, he probably remained secretary of defense until the day he died.

One angry person once said to me: "Loyalty to the president? What about his loyalty to the American people?" Fair enough. But our government isn't set up that way. He was not an elected official, he said repeatedly. He served at the pleasure of the president.

This brings us to the question of what, if any, were Mr. McNamara's lasting contributions as secretary of defense? Mr. McNamara saw his central role as preventing nuclear war. During his tenure as secretary of defense, there were conflicts that could have escalated into nuclear war - the confrontation over Berlin, the Cuban missile crisis. All of this must be seen against the backdrop of the prevailing ideas of the time, the domino theory and the cold war...

More at The New York Times.

McNamara and the Liberals' War - Wall Street Journal editorial.

Robert McNamara died on Monday at age 93 like he lived most of the latter half of his life, scorned and derided by his former liberal allies for refusing to turn against the Vietnam War as early as they did. As the New York Times put it in a page-one obituary headline, McNamara was the "Architect of Futile War."

In historical fact, Vietnam was the liberals' war, begun by JFK, escalated by LBJ, and cheered on for years by giants of the American left before they turned against it. In his 1995 memoir, McNamara apologized for the war. But he probably sealed his reputation on the left by also quoting the New York Times and liberal antiwar reporter David Halberstam for having opposed U.S. withdrawal as late as 1965. "To be fair to Halberstam," McNamara wrote dryly, "the hawkish views he was expressing reflected the opinion of the majority of journalists at the time."

Like JFK and Averell Harriman, Halberstam also supported the 1963 coup against South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, a misguided foray into Vietnamese politics that led to deeper US involvement. Only later as the war dragged on did these liberals lose their nerve, and they never forgave McNamara for fighting on - even years later after he finally agreed they were right...

More at The Wall Street Journal.

Allied Officers Concerned by Lack of Afghan Forces

by SWJ Editors | Wed, 07/08/2009 - 6:32am | 7 comments

Allied Officers Concerned by Lack of Afghan Forces - Richard A. Oppel, Jr., New York Times.

One week after several battalions of Marines swept through the Helmand River valley, military commanders appear increasingly concerned about a lack of Afghan forces in the field.

"What I need is more Afghans," said Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, commander of the Marine expeditionary brigade in Helmand Province. He accompanied the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, during a visit with troops at Patrol Base Jaker here on Monday.

General Nicholson and others say that the long-term success of the operation hinges on the performance of the Afghan security forces, which will have to take over eventually from the American troops.

General Nicholson said the American force of almost 4,000 had been joined by about 400 effective Afghan soldiers...

More at The New York Times.

Thoughts on Operations in Southern Afghanistan

by SWJ Editors | Tue, 07/07/2009 - 7:04pm | 0 comments

Thoughts on Operations in Southern Afghanistan - Major General (Ret.) Jim Molan at Lowy Institute's The Interpreter.

Due to the dramatic failure of NATO to conduct out-of-area operations, making NATO irrelevant as a military force, the US has taken over the Afghan war, and is trying very hard to resource it. NATO had an adequate strategy but failed to resource it due to lack of will and experience. The US has extraordinary experience, will have less trouble resourcing its strategy but is unlikely to get near an adequate number of troops until about 2011.

The current reinforcement of 21,000 US troops is not a 'surge' in the Iraq sense but a small start of what must become a large US build-up. Compared to the magnitude of Afghanistan's problems, 21,000 is better than nothing, but is a drop in a bucket.

It is only fair to see the current US Marine operation in southern Helmand (Operation KHANJAR) as the first operation conducted under the March 2009 Obama strategy, the military part of which was 'disrupt, dismantle and destroy'. The Marine operation is complemented by UK operations to the north and Pakistan operations to the south, with a strong rhetorical focus on protecting the population, controlling collateral damage and re-establishing governance.

There is unlikely to be anything like a decisive result out of this operation, even in the local area in the short term. Marine commanders will talk up the operation because that is what you do, and the media, Congress and commentators will project their own hopes and desires onto the operation, and then castigate the Marines for not meeting them...

Much more at The Interpreter.

FPRI: Foreign Fighter Problem

by SWJ Editors | Tue, 07/07/2009 - 6:23pm | 0 comments

Foreign Fighter Problem

Sponsored by the Foreign Policy Research Institute

Tues.-Weds., July 14--15, 2009

National Press Club

529-14th St NW, 13th Fl.

Washington, DC 20045

On the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines have confronted third-party national combatants. Known as "foreign fighters," these individuals have gained deadly skills and connections that can be exported or exploited to devastating effect in other locations. Over the past two decades this foreign fighters phenomenon has grown after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 to the ethnically cleansed fields of the Balkans to Chechnya and beyond. But this is not a new problem. This conference brings together recognized academic and analytical expertise in order to not only delve into the foreign fighter problem, but also to recommend prescriptive advice on how to deal with this issue into the future.

Registration

To register, please complete and return the Foreign Fighters Conference Registration Form to FPRI, 1528 Walnut Street, Suite 610, Philadelphia, PA 19102. RSVPs can be made to 215 732 3774, ext 303 or [email protected].

Space is limited. The conference will be broadcast free over the Internet.

Webcast

To register for a live broadcast of the conference, please follow the links below:

The Foreign Fighter Problem: Day 1 - July 14

The Foreign Fighter Problem: Day 2 - July 15

Click here for the full two-day agenda.

'Green light' for an 'air raid' is not enough

by Robert Haddick | Tue, 07/07/2009 - 1:52pm | 4 comments

Has Israel received a "green light" from both the U.S. and Saudi governments to execute an air raid on Iran's nuclear complex? Those were stories that came out over the weekend, one from a television interview of Vice President Biden and the second from The Times that reported that the Saudi government had given permission to the Israeli air force to overfly Saudi Arabia en route to Iran.

Since Monday, the Obama administration has made a somewhat confusing attempt to walk back Mr. Biden's statements. As for the alleged Saudi "green light," I will say more in a moment.

Destroying the Iranian nuclear complex will require not an "air raid" but a prolonged air campaign. Those who have in mind Israel's 1981 strike on Iraq's reactor at Tuwaitha and the 2007 strike against Syria's reactor at Dayr az-Zawr do not appreciate the scope and dispersion of Iran's nuclear complex.

Robert S. McNamara Dies at 93

by SWJ Editors | Mon, 07/06/2009 - 4:45pm | 0 comments

Defense Secretary During Vietnam Build-up Dies at 93

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 6, 2009 -- The defense secretary who presided over the department during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the U.S. involvement in Vietnam died today.

Robert S. McNamara, the nation's eighth defense secretary who served in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, died here following a long illness. He was 93.

McNamara became defense secretary on Jan. 21, 1961, and served as such during the coldest part of the Cold War. In 1962, the Soviet Union began building missile sites in Cuba. The sites would have Soviet nuclear missiles capable of hitting any city in the United States in minutes. President John F. Kennedy and his advisors challenged Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev.

McNamara was a member of the small group of advisors called the Executive Committee who counseled Kennedy on the matter. In the view of many historians, the United States and the Soviet Union came closer to a nuclear war during this time than at any other in history. McNamara supported the president's decision to quarantine Cuba to prevent Soviet ships from bringing in more offensive weapons. During the crisis, the Pentagon placed U.S. military forces on alert, ready to back up the administration's demand that the Soviet Union withdraw its offensive missiles from Cuba.

Vietnam was the major issue for McNamara. During the Kennedy administration, U.S. involvement in South Vietnam was limited to American Special Forces advisor teams and their support. The numbers of U.S. troops in Vietnam reached 17,000 by the time Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963.

In 1964, the so-called "Gulf of Tonkin incident" -- in which North Vietnamese ships fired on U.S. Navy vessels -- caused President Lyndon B. Johnson to retaliate by bombing North Vietnam. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving the president the authority to increase the number of U.S. troops and missions in South Vietnam.

The number of American troops in South Vietnam hit 485,000 by the end of 1967, and it reached almost 535,000 by June 1968.

McNamara loyally supported the war in Vietnam, but grew disillusioned. By 1966, he questioned whether the war could be won by deploying more troops to South Vietnam and intensifying the bombing of North Vietnam. McNamara traveled to Southeast Asia many times to assess the war first-hand. North Vietnam's Tet Offensive, launched in February 1968, was a strategic victory for the enemy. American servicemembers won every battle, but the heart had gone out of U.S. determination to win the war.

By the end of the Tet Offensive, McNamara had resigned, leaving office on Feb. 29, 1968. Johnson presented him with both the Medal of Freedom and the Distinguished Service Medal.

McNamara was born June 9, 1916, in San Francisco. In 1937, he graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in economics and philosophy, and he earned a master's degree in business administration from Harvard in 1939. In 1940, he married Margaret Craig, who founded the Reading is Fundamental program in the 1960s and died in 1981. He entered the Army Air Forces as a captain in early 1943 and left active duty three years later with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

After the war, McNamara joined the Ford Motor Co. as manager of planning and financial analysis. He rose through the ranks and was named the president of Ford on November 9, 1960. Less than five weeks after becoming president of Ford, McNamara accepted Kennedy's invitation to join his Cabinet. After leaving the Pentagon, he served as president of the World Bank.

The former defense secretary is survived by a son, Robert Craig; two daughters, Margaret Elizabeth and Kathleen; and his wife, Diana Masieri Byfield, whom he married in San Francisco in 2004.

Robert S. McNamara - Official Department of Defense Biography

C-SPAN: Robert McNamara on the Press and Vietnam

PBS News Hour: In Retrospect

Robert McNamara, Architect of Vietnam War, Dies at 93 - Washington Post

Robert S. McNamara, Former Defense Secretary, Dies at 93 - New York Times

Former Defense Secretary McNamara Dies - Washington Times

Robert S. McNamara Dies at 93 - Los Angeles Times

Robert McNamara, Ex-defense Secretary, Dies - CNN News

Robert McNamara, Architect of Vietnam War - The Times

Ex-Pentagon Chief McNamara Dies - BBC News

US Vietnam War Architect McNamara Dies - The Age

McNamara, Defense Chief During Vietnam War, Dies - Associated Press

McNamara Dies, Career Haunted by Vietnam War - Reuters

Robert S. McNamara, RIP - Washington Times

McNamara's Complicated Legacy - Washington Post

Brightness Cloaked in Hubris - Washington Post

McNamara, In Retrospect - Washington Post

Remembering McNamara - Washington Post

After the War Was Over - New York Times

The Tragedy of Robert McNamara - FOX News

Will Books Shape His Legacy? - Los Angeles Times

Robert McNamara: Vietnam War 'Wrong' - Chicago Tribune

It's Always the Media's Fault - Los Angeles Times

Vietnam Legacy Haunted McNamara - National Public Radio

Robert McNamara Dies - Real Clear Politics

His War Finally Over - Politics Daily

How to Think About McNamara - The Atlantic

McNamara Stuck to Vietnam War - Christian Science Monitor

Robert McNamara, Voltaire's Bastards And Barack Obama - The Atlantic

McNamara's Legacy Mired In Vietnam Debacle - National Public Radio

Memories of Robert McNamara - Politico

Robert Strange McNamara, Dead at 93 - Belmont Club

'Human Computer' and Pentagon Chief - Danger Room

No Escape from Vietnam - Time

Back Issues: McNamara's Shadow - The New Yorker

McNamara and Me - Boston Globe

Defense Chief During Vietnam War - PBS News Hour

McNamara Dies - Democracy Arsenal

The Fog of Robert McNamara - Mother Jones

George McGovern: Robert McNamara Had 'Courage' - Politico

The War Wizard Passes - History News Network

On Robert McNamara - National Post

The Fog of War - National Post review

Krepinevich's essay implies disruptive change

by Robert Haddick | Mon, 07/06/2009 - 12:45pm | 4 comments

I applaud the editors of Foreign Affairs for featuring Andrew Krepinevich's essay ("The Pentagon's Wasting Assets") in its latest issue. Better late than never. The issues raised by Krepinevich may seem new to the staff at Foreign Affairs, but they are not; Pentagon planners discussed these topics in the 2006 QDR and in annual editions of its reports on Chinese military power. Most notably, the latest issue of Proceedings contains an essay written by Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy and Shawn Brimley, one of Flournoy's main strategists, that discusses almost point-for-point Krepinevich's issues.

Flournoy is in charge of the latest QDR; we can be sure that the report will once again discuss Krepinevich's issues. But will Secretary Gates and his staff actually recommend any effective policies in response to these threats? It is one thing to discuss the issues. It is another to implement policies that will be highly disruptive and controversial.

US Arms May be Obsolete, Forces Stretched Thin, Strategic Blindspot?

by SWJ Editors | Sun, 07/05/2009 - 5:00pm | 3 comments

Pentagon Warns US Arms May be Obsolete - Sarah Baxter, The Times.

America's traditional means of projecting power abroad is growing "increasingly obsolete" and its billion-dollar military hardware could be as ineffectual against future threats as the heavily fortified Maginot line was in defending France against the Nazis, a senior Pentagon adviser has warned.

In a wake-up call to US military chiefs, Andrew Krepinevich, a leading architect of the counter-insurgency strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan, argues that the Pentagon is ill-equipped to counter rising powers such as China, hostile states such as Iran, the threat from irregular forces such as Hezbollah, and terrorists such as Al-Qaeda. It is also wasting billions on weaponry that could be outdated before it rolls off the production line.

In an interview, Krepinevich said the military, like many bureaucracies, was in danger of "drinking its own bathwater" and discounting new challenges, including the proliferation of precision-guided weapons and threats from space and cyberspace. Last week Robert Gates, the defence secretary, rewarded him for his prescience with a seat on the influential defence policy board at the Pentagon.

Aircraft carriers, navy destroyers, short-range fighter aircraft and forward bases such as Guam and Okinawa in the Pacific Ocean are becoming increasingly vulnerable to technology and tactics being developed by America's rivals, Krepinevich argues in the July issue of Foreign Affairs...

More at The Times.

The Pentagon's Wasting Assets - Andrew Krepinevich Jr., Foreign Affairs.

The military foundations of the United States' global dominance are eroding. For the past several decades, an overwhelming advantage in technology and resources has given the US military an unmatched ability to project power worldwide. This has allowed it to guarantee US access to the global commons, assure the safety of the homeland, and underwrite security commitments around the globe. US grand strategy assumes that such advantages will continue indefinitely. In fact, they are already starting to disappear.

Several events in recent years have demonstrated that traditional means and methods of projecting power and accessing the global commons are growing increasingly obsolete -- becoming "wasting assets," in the language of defense strategists. The diffusion of advanced military technologies, combined with the continued rise of new powers, such as China, and hostile states, such as Iran, will make it progressively more expensive in blood and treasure - perhaps prohibitively expensive - for US forces to carry out their missions in areas of vital interest, including East Asia and the Persian Gulf. Military forces that do deploy successfully will find it increasingly difficult to defend what they have been sent to protect. Meanwhile, the US military's long-unfettered access to the global commons - including space and cyberspace - is being increasingly challenged.

Recently, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates argued in these pages for a more "balanced" US military, one that is better suited for the types of irregular conflicts now being waged in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, he also cautioned, "It would be irresponsible not to think about and prepare for the future." Despite this admonition, US policymakers are discounting real future threats, thereby increasing the prospect of strategic surprises. What is needed is nothing short of a fundamental strategic review of the United States' position in the world - one similar in depth and scope to those undertaken in the early days of the Cold War...

More at Foreign Affairs.

Obama's Strategic Blind Spot - Andrew Bacevich, Los Angeles Times opinion.

'Are there not other alternatives than sending our armies to chew barbed wire in Flanders?" During the bitter winter of 1914-15, the first lord of the Admiralty posed this urgent question to Britain's prime minister.

The eighth anniversary of 9/11, now fast approaching, invites attention to a similar question: Are there not other alternatives than sending our armies to choke on the dust of Iraq and Afghanistan?

A comparable failure of imagination besets present-day Washington. The Long War launched by George W. Bush in the wake of 9/11 has not gone well. Everyone understands that. Yet in the face of disappointment, what passes for advanced thinking recalls the Churchill who devised Gallipoli and godfathered the tank: In Washington and in the field, a preoccupation with tactics and operations have induced strategic blindness.

As President Obama shifts the main US military effort from Iraq to Afghanistan, and as his commanders embrace counterinsurgency as the new American way of war, the big questions go not only unanswered but unasked. Does perpetuating the Long War make political or strategic sense? As we prepare to enter that war's ninth year, are there no alternatives?

More at The Los Angeles Times.

US Armed Forces Stretched Thin - Richard Halloran, Washington Times opinion.

Today, US forces are smaller and stretched even further around the world. The US base at Bagram, Afghanistan, for instance, is halfway around the world from the center of the 48 contiguous states near Lebanon, Kan. On any given day, about one-third of the armed forces are deployed abroad.

Moreover, on Independence Day, America's military stretch was aggravated by national political and economic turmoil. In its 233rd year, it would seem the nation is badly in need of retrenchment - not a retreat into the isolation of yesteryear, but a step back to take a deep breath, reflect a bit and sort out priorities...

In foreign policy, priorities really need sorting out. Precedence should go to long-neglected relations with Canada and Mexico and, by extension, Central America. With 5,000 miles of undefended Northern and Southern borders, the United States must have friends across those borders.

Beyond that, the United States should give priority to alliances with Britain, Australia and Japan, the island nations off the Eurasian land mass. India, the subcontinent cut off from Eurasia by mountains, desert and jungle, is a likely candidate to be added to that group. Israel, with which the U.S. has long had special ties, rates high priority.

More at The Washington Times.

Surge and Destroy

by SWJ Editors | Sat, 07/04/2009 - 5:42pm | 2 comments

Surge and Destroy - Michael Smith, Sarah Baxter and Jerome Starkey, The Times.

... About 3,000 British, Danish, Estonian and Afghan soldiers from Task Force Helmand are taking part in the operation north of Lashkar Gah while 4,000 men from the US-led Task Force Leatherneck are conducting Operation Khanjar -- Strike of the Sword -- around the Garmsir and Nawa districts. The arrival of US Marines -- part of an American surge that will involve pouring 17,000 US troops into southern Afghanistan -- has relieved some of the pressure. The British have given up control of the bulk of the province to the Americans and are now responsible mainly for the central area around the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, though some forces are also still in the north.

It's all part of a strategic change. In future, American and British troops will be expected to hold their ground, providing security for local people while denying the insurgents access to vital supplies, funding and recruits.

"You don't really need to chase and kill the Taliban," said General Stanley McChrystal, the former special forces chief and newly appointed US commander of all allied troops in Afghanistan. "What you need to do is take away the one thing they absolutely have to have -- and that's access and the support of the people."

... In a spectacular show of force, contrasting strongly with the British lack of equipment, heavily armed Marines, backed up by drones and fighter jets, stormed into the south of Afghanistan's most dangerous province shortly after midnight on Wednesday. It was the biggest operation in Afghanistan since the Soviet occupation, and the largest American assault since the Battle for Fallujah in Iraq in 2004.

The Marines' mission is to secure the villages along a stretch of river more than 55 miles long in the heart of poppy-growing territory. They also hope to choke the Taliban supply lines used to ferry guns, drugs and fighters in and out of Pakistan...

More at The Times.

Conversation about Cyberwarfare

by SWJ Editors | Sat, 07/04/2009 - 12:07pm | 1 comment

Charlie Rose - A conversation about Cyberwarfare with Michael McConnell, former Director of National Intelligence, James Lewis, Director, Technology and Public Policy Program, CSIS and David Sanger, Chief Washington Correspondent for The New York Times.

Commenting Just Got Easier

by SWJ Editors | Fri, 07/03/2009 - 6:36pm | 8 comments

Our TypeKey / TypePad commenter authentication gizmo has stopped a LOT of spam, but it has also stopped lots of legit commenters dead in their tracks. For the few and proud who didn't have any problems with it, carry on, it is still an option. But for the many of you who have had troubles, you can now bypass TypeKey and comment away.

(nothing follows)

A Pentagon Trailblazer

by SWJ Editors | Fri, 07/03/2009 - 3:31pm | 1 comment

A Pentagon Trailblazer, Rethinking U.S. Defense - Elisabeth Bumiller, New York Times.

Michí¨le A. Flournoy, one of the highest ranking women in the history of the Pentagon, did not have a childhood that would immediately suggest a future as a defense policy intellectual who is rethinking how America fights its wars.

Her mother was an actress and singer who performed at the Copacabana, the legendary New York nightclub, and was the understudy to Vivian Blaine in Oklahoma" on Broadway. Her father was a cinematography director in television at Paramount Studios. She herself is a 1979 graduate of Beverly Hills High School who spent her summers playing, she said, a lot of beach volleyball."

But Ms. Flournoy, who went on to Harvard and then Balliol College at Oxford (I majored in rowing"), has spent her entire professional life immersed in the theory and practice of war, from the arms control debate of the 1980s to the counterinsurgency doctrine of today...

More at The New York Times.

This Week at War, No. 23

by Robert Haddick | Thu, 07/02/2009 - 9:30pm | 4 comments

Here is the latest edition of my column at Foreign Policy.

Topics include:

1. U.S. soldiers won't be back to Iraq,

2. Who in the government is "expeditionary" and who is irrelevant?

Operation KHANJAR

by SWJ Editors | Thu, 07/02/2009 - 9:29pm | 0 comments

Operation KHANJAR

Task Force Leatherneck

By Brig. Gen. Larry D. Nicholson, USMC

Today, nearly 4,000 U.S. Marines and Sailors of Task Force Leatherneck, partnered with Afghan National Security Forces and supported by Task Force Pegasus, the Combat Aviation Brigade of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division, conducted a near-simultaneous heliborne and surface insert into the central and southern Helmand River valley. These efforts, combined with closely coordinated UK and Danish operations to our immediate north, will dramatically change and positively impact the security of the Afghan people living in this long-held Taliban heartland.

Our focus is now and will remain the Afghan people. We have worked closely with local Helmand government officials and many tribal and local leaders in the detailed planning of this major offensive. While the initial focus will be on security, the Helmand Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) working with Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Coalition Forces will rapidly move to introduce the initial essential aspects of governance and economic development into these newly secured areas. These efforts will be focused upon providing immediate assistance to the population, and in setting the conditions for successful elections in August. Today's operation is designed to separate and isolate the Taliban from the population who has long suffered the effects of their presence.

This large scale operation is not without risk to the many thousands of brave and dedicated Afghan and coalition troops participating. This operation is designed to boldly demonstrate to the Afghan people the determination and dedication of the Government and Coalition Forces in ridding the area of Taliban insurgents who prey upon the people. The Taliban offer no future, no hope, and we will work to provide immediate security gains to the local citizens of the Helmand River valley. What makes Operation Kanjar different from those that have occurred before is the massive size of the force introduced, the speed at which it will insert, and the fact that where we go, we will stay, and where we stay, we will hold, build, and work toward transition of all security responsibilities to Afghan forces.

Semper Fidelis,

Larry D. Nicholson

Commanding General, Task Force Leatherneck

The Horse Soldiers" of Afghanistan

by SWJ Editors | Thu, 07/02/2009 - 9:11pm | 0 comments

Beginning with a Charge: Doug Stanton and the Horse Soldiers" of Afghanistan

Thursday, 9 July 2009

6:00 PM CST (Presentation and Live Webcast)

Pritzker Military Library

Chicago, Illinois

Their mission was secret, and time was short. So in order to cross the steep mountain trails of Afghanistan, the U.S. Special Forces turned to some top-of-the-line military technology -- from the 19th century.

On Thursday, July 9th, Doug Stanton will appear at the Pritzker Military Library to discuss his new book Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan. This event is free and open to the public. The presentation and live webcast will begin at 6:00 p.m., preceded by a reception for Library members at 5:00 p.m. It will also be recorded for later broadcast on WYCC-TV/Channel 20...

Center for Complex Operations (CCO) June Newsletter

by SWJ Editors | Thu, 07/02/2009 - 7:52am | 0 comments

Via e-mail from David Sobyra, Acting Director, Center for Complex Operations (CCO) - the latest issue of the CCO Newsletter.

... There are two items in particular that I would like to bring to your attention. First, the CCO is launching a new journal of complex operations, called PRISM. You can find more information about it, along with a call for papers, on the front page of the newsletter. If you would like to subscribe to PRISM, please sign up here: (Select "CCO Prism Journal Distribution List" in the first box). The second item is our call for proposals for the second round of our Complex Operations Case Study Series, as we are currently finishing up our very successful first round in this series. These are just two of the many exciting initiatives we are working on at the CCO.

This edition of the newsletter also includes an announcement from LTG William Caldwell, Commanding General of the US Army's Combined Arms Center on the release of FM 3-07.1 Security Force Assistance, an update on recent events sponsored by the CCO, and interview with former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, and a "Save the Date" announcement for our 2nd Annual Conference, to be held the afternoon of 28 July at Lincoln Hall Auditorium at the National Defense University. The invitation and agenda for this event will be forthcoming, and we expect to have a number of interesting speakers.

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your colleagues who may not have heard of the CCO and who might be interested in our activities and, as always, we appreciate any feedback...

June 2009 CCO Newsletter.

Want to Change Army Doctrine? Do Something!

by Bill Caldwell | Wed, 07/01/2009 - 10:26pm | 26 comments

If you've ever read an Army manual and thought you could make it better if only the Army would give you a chance, your moment has arrived."

--Army Times

For the first time, the Army is using wikis to update its doctrine. The pilot program—Army Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (ATTP)—converts the contents of field manuals into a wiki format and posts them online. Anyone with an AKO account can edit the manuals by submitting changes in the wiki system. ATTP is a pilot program with seven manuals:

FMI 3-04.155 Army Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations

FM 3-07.20 Modular Brigade Augmented for Security Force Assistance

FM 3-21.9 The SBCT Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad

FM 3-09.15 Site Exploitation

FM 3-97.11 Cold Weather Operations

FM 5-19 Composite Risk Management

FM 6.01-1 Knowledge Management Section

The software powering ATTP is the same software Wikipedia employs. Users can submit changes, review changes proposed by others, search documents and view previous versions of the field manuals. By converting manuals into wikis, the Army hopes to make doctrine a living document and reduce the traditional three to five year period it takes to staff and write field manuals. This system will allow lessons learned in the field to become an immediate part of doctrine, with rapid dissemination. More than 200 manuals are slated to be converted into ATTPs.

The ATTP program is a collaborative effort among several Combined Arms Center subordinate organizations: Battle Command Knowledge System, the Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate and personnel at Fort Huachuca implemented the program in less than two weeks. During the 90-day trial period, site managers will refine their own TTPs for running this kind of collaborative endeavor.

After receiving comments on the manuals, site managers and subject matter experts will review the comments and adjudicate them with existing content and other suggestions. This manner of continuously updated field manuals will ensure doctrine creation is an all-embracing, grassroots effort that serves the needs of our Soldiers more effectively.

Where does this effort fit within big Army? In an interview last fall, GEN Peter Chiarelli, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, spoke about using technology to communicate more effectively and share information.

We have to find a way to flatten our organizations and pass information faster than we've ever passed it before. Take advantage of these tools. There's a natural tendency not to. There's a natural tendency to go back to our hierarchical nature, our bureaucratic ways."

In other words, by participating and supporting ATTP, you are helping drive institutional change within our Army. By embracing technology, the Army can save money, break down barriers, streamline processes and build a bright future.

To access ATTP click here or sign into AKO, click on the Self Service" tab, select My Doctrine" and find ATTP Pilot" on the left hand side of the page.

Please contribute to our Army's store of knowledge and share your insights through ATTP. This is a great opportunity to flatten traditional Army hierarchy and leverage technology to benefit Soldiers who are deployed or training to deploy.

Frontier 6 is Lieutenant General William B. Caldwell, IV, Commanding General of the Combined Arms Center at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, the command that oversees the Command and General Staff College and 17 other schools, centers, and training programs located throughout the United States. The Combined Arms Center is also responsible for: development of the Army's doctrinal manuals, training of the Army's commissioned and noncommissioned officers, oversight of major collective training exercises, integration of battle command systems and concepts, and supervision of the Army's Center for the collection and dissemination of lessons learned.

US Marines Launch Major Operation in Afghanistan - "Largest Since Vietnam"

by SWJ Editors | Wed, 07/01/2009 - 9:24pm | 0 comments

US Marines Launch Major Operation in Afghanistan - Rajiv Chandrasekaran Washington Post. Thousands of US Marines descended upon the volatile Helmand River valley in helicopters and armored convoys early Thursday morning, mounting an operation that represents the first large-scale test of the US military's new counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan. The operation will involve about 4,000 troops from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, which was dispatched to Afghanistan earlier this year by President Obama to combat a growing Taliban insurgency in Helmand and other southern provinces. The Marines, along with an Army brigade that is scheduled to arrive later this summer, plan to push into pockets of the country where NATO forces have not had a presence. In many of those areas, the Taliban have evicted local police and government officials, and taken power. Once Marine units arrive in their designated towns and villages, they have been instructed to build and live in small outposts among the local population. The brigade's commander, Brig. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson, said his Marines will focus their efforts on protecting civilians from the Taliban, and on restoring Afghan government services, instead of a series of hunt-and-kill missions against the insurgents.

US Marines Try to Retake Afghan Valley From Taliban - Richard A. Oppel, Jr., New York Times. Almost 4,000 United States Marines, backed by helicopter gunships, pushed into the volatile Helmand River valley in southwestern Afghanistan early Thursday morning to try to take back the region from Taliban fighters whose control of poppy harvests and opium smuggling in Helmand provides major financing for the Afghan insurgency. The Marine Expeditionary Brigade leading the operation represents a large number of the 21,000 additional troops that President Obama ordered to Afghanistan earlier this year amid rising violence and the Taliban's increasing domination in much of the country. The operation is described as the first major push in southern Afghanistan by the newly bolstered American force. Helmand is one of the deadliest provinces in Afghanistan, where Taliban fighters have practiced sleek, hit-and-run guerrilla warfare against the British forces based there.

US Launches South Afghan Offensive - Yochi J. Dreazen, Wall Street Journal. The US military launched a major operation in southern Afghanistan, an early test of the Obama administration's new strategy for beating back the resurgent Taliban and stabilizing the country in advance of this summer's presidential elections. Operation Khanjar, or "strike of the sword," began shortly after 1 a.m. local time when close to 4,000 Marines, backed by about 700 Afghan security personnel, moved by air and ground into villages in the Helmand River Valley, a major opium-producing region and Taliban stronghold. US commanders said the forces would build an array of small patrol bases designed to forge closer ties with local people and better protect them from militants, borrowing an approach used in Iraq that is central to the administration's new counterinsurgency strategy for Afghanistan. The troops hope to root out pockets of Taliban fighters and find and destroy insurgent weapons caches, a US officer in Kabul said. The troops will also seek to interdict opium shipments and persuade local farmers to plant alternative crops, such as wheat, he said.

US Launches Major Offensive Against Taliban - The Times. Thousands of U.S. Marines stormed into an Afghan river valley by helicopter and land early today, launching the biggest military offensive of Barack Obama's presidency with an assault deep into Taliban territory. Operation Khanjar, which the Marines call simply "the decisive op", is intended to seize virtually the entire lower Helmand River valley, heartland of the Taliban insurgency and the world's biggest heroin producing region. In swiftly seizing the valley, commanders hope to accomplish within hours what NATO troops had failed to achieve over several years, and by doing so turn the tide of a stale-mated war in time for an Afghan presidential election on August 20. "Where we go we will stay, and where we stay, we will hold, build and work toward transition of all security responsibilities to Afghan forces," Marine Corps Brigadier General Larry Nicholson, commander of the Marines in southern Afghanistan said in a statement.

US Marines Launch Assault in Afghanistan - Reuters. US Marines launched a helicopter assault early on Thursday in the lower Helmand river valley in southern Afghanistan, spokesman Capt. Bill Pelletier said. A Reuters correspondent in the valley saw flares in the sky over the town of Nawa, south of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah. The valley of irrigated wheat and opium fields along the Helmand river is largely in the hands of Taliban fighters who have resisted British-led NATO forces for years. The United States has sent 8,500 Marines to Helmand province in the last two months, the largest wave of a massive buildup of forces that will see the number of US troops in Afghanistan rise from 32,000 at the beginning of this year to 68,000 by year's end. President Barack Obama has declared the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan to be the main security threat facing the United States.

Major Military Operation Under Way in Afghanistan - Fisnik Abrashi and Lara Jakes, Associated Press. Thousands of US Marines and hundreds of Afghan troops moved into Taliban-infested villages with armor and helicopters Wednesday evening in the first major operation under President Barack Obama's revamped strategy to stabilize Afghanistan. The offensive in the once-forgotten war was launched shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday local time in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold in the southern part of the country. The goal is to clear insurgents from the hotly contested Helmand River Valley before the nation's Aug. 20 presidential election. Dubbed Operation Khanjar, or "Strike of the Sword," the military push was described by officials as the largest and fastest-moving of the war's new phase. British forces last week led similar missions to fight and clear out insurgents in Helmand and neighboring Kandahar provinces. "Where we go we will stay, and where we stay, we will hold, build and work toward transition of all security responsibilities to Afghan forces," Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson said in a statement. Southern Afghanistan is a Taliban stronghold but also a region where Afghan President Hamid Karzai is seeking votes from fellow Pashtun tribesmen. The Pentagon is deploying 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in time for the elections and expects the total number of US forces there to reach 68,000 by year's end. That is double the number of troops in Afghanistan in 2008, but still half of much as are now in Iraq.

US Opens 'Major Afghan Offensive' - BBC News. The United States army says it has launched a major offensive against the Taliban in the southern Afghan province of Helmand. The US military says about 4,000 marines as well as 650 Afghan troops are involved, supported by Nato planes. Brigadier General Larry Nicholson said the operation was different from previous ones because of the "massive size of the force" and its speed. Officers on the ground said it was the largest Marine offensive since Vietnam. The operation began when units moved into the Helmand river valley in the early hours of Thursday. Helicopters and heavy transport vehicles carried out the advance, with NATO planes providing air cover.

US Launches 'Major Operation' in Afghanistan - CNN News. US troops have launched a "major operation" against Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan, US military officials announced in Afghanistan early Thursday. About 4,000 Americans, mostly from the Marines, and 650 Afghan soldiers and police launched Operation Khanjar - "strike of the sword" - in the Helmand River valley, the US command in Kabul announced. The push is the largest since the Pentagon began moving additional troops into the conflict this year, and it follows a British-led operation launched last week in the same region, the Marines said. It is also the first big move since US Gen. Stanley McChrystal took over as the allied commander in Afghanistan in mid-June. In Washington, a senior defense official said the size and scope of the new operation are "very significant." "It's not common for forces to operate at the brigade level," the official said. "In fact, they often only conduct missions at the platoon level. And they're going into the most troubled area of Afghanistan." Helmand Province, where much of the fighting is taking place, has been a hotbed of Taliban violence in recent months. At least 25 US and British troops have been killed there in 2009. The defense official said the operation is a "tangible indication" of the new approach that McChrystal - a former chief of the Pentagon's special operations command - is bringing to the nearly eight-year war.

US Marines Storm South in Major Afghan Offensive - Ben Sheppard, Agence France-Presse. US Marines launched a massive offensive into the Taliban heartlands of southern Afghanistan early on Thursday as President Barack Obama's new war plan swung into action. Operation Khanjar (Strike of the Sword) involved nearly 4,000 US forces as well as 650 Afghan police and soldiers, the Marine Expeditionary Brigade said, announcing the pre-dawn launch of the drive in southern Helmand province. Deploying about 50 aircraft, the air and land assault was to push troops into insurgent strongholds in what officers said was the biggest offensive airlift by the Marines since Vietnam. "What makes Operation Khanjar different from those that have occurred before is the massive size of the force introduced, the speed at which it will insert," MEB commander Brigadier General Larry Nicholson said in a statement. Troops would hold areas they take until they could transfer security responsibilities to Afghan forces, said Nicholson. It was the Marines' first major operation since they deployed over the past few months to reinforce the international effort against the Taliban, leading an insurgency that has seen record attacks this year and controlling several areas.

Marine General Takes Fight To The Taliban - Tom Bowman, National Public Radio. The leader of some 4,000 Marines who descended early Thursday morning on the Helmand River valley in southern Afghanistan is Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, a veteran of Iraq who was seriously wounded there five years ago. Commanding general of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Nicholson has one of those lived-in faces - creased and craggy, like a boxer's or a veteran beat cop. And he has the scars of a Marine who survived battle. It was Sept. 14, 2004, a day Nicholson remembers clearly in Iraq's Anbar province. The war was not going well.

Q&A: The New US Strategy in Afghanistan - Jonathon Burch, Reuters. Concrete signs of Washington's new strategy for Afghanistan are taking shape with the final elements of some 8,500 US Marines arriving in southern Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold, to bolster over-stretched British forces. The Marines launched a helicopter assault early on Thursday in the lower Helmand river valley, with nearly 4,000 Marines and US sailors and about 650 Afghan troops and police involved. The Marines are the biggest single wave of an additional 17,000 extra US troops and 4,000 more to train Afghan forces ordered by President Barack Obama. US forces will reach 68,000 by year-end, more than double the 32,000 at the end of 2008. Former special operations chief General Stanley McChrystal has meanwhile taken command of the present 90,000 US and NATO troops with the Pentagon saying it is time for "fresh thinking." Following are questions and answers about the new strategy and the main areas McChrystal wants to address.

DoD Announces New Defense Policy Board Members

by SWJ Editors | Wed, 07/01/2009 - 6:20pm | 0 comments

DoD Announces New Defense Policy Board Members

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates today announced the following new members to the Defense Policy Board: Gen. (Ret) Larry Welch, former Air Force chief of staff ; Stephen Biddle, Council on Foreign Relations; Richard Danzig, former secretary of the Navy; Robert Gallucci, former assistant secretary of state; Chuck Hagel, former senator from Nebraska; Robert D. Kaplan, Center for a New American Security; Andrew Krepinevich, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments; Rudy deLeon, former deputy secretary of defense; John Nagl, Center for a New American Security; Sarah Sewall, Harvard University; Wendy Sherman, former special advisor to the President.

These members join the following returning members: John Hamre, chairman; Harold Brown; Adm. (Ret) Vern Clark; J.D. Crouch; Fred Ikle; Gen. (Ret) Jack Keane; Henry Kissinger; Dave McCurdy; Frank Miller; William Perry; James Schlesinger; Marin Strmecki; Vin Weber; Gen. (Ret) Pete Pace.

The Defense Policy Board provides the secretary, deputy secretary and under secretary for policy with independent, informed advice and opinion concerning matters of defense policy.

Call in the Cavalry!

by SWJ Editors | Wed, 07/01/2009 - 4:28am | 0 comments

Call in the Cavalry! - Patrick Devenny, Foreign Policy.

As American troops in Afghanistan seek to rebuild a flagging campaign, they might do well to read up on the lessons of another troubled Afghan project, the Anglo-Afghan Wars -- and specifically, the lessons of one Captain Charles Trower, a British cavalry officer who deployed to India in the 1830s. His 1845 memoir, Hints on Irregular Cavalry, says pretty much all there is to say about one of the most complicated problems in Afghanistan today: the training and oversight of local defense forces.

Last October, the Los Angeles Times reported that Pentagon leaders had authorized American commanders in Afghanistan to aggressively mobilize and mentor village-based self-defense forces. Made up largely of Pashtun tribesmen and recruited through tribal leaders, such units are expected to provide security in areas where Afghan government forces have failed to stem Taliban encroachment. This shift in strategy is not surprising given the success of similar initiatives in Iraq and the growth of the insurgency across southern Afghanistan. Results of the late 2008 decision are now seeping into the press: American reporters recently covered the graduation and deployment of 80 members of the Afghan Public Protection force, otherwise known as "Guardians." But the fielding of these units entails great risks: lack of government oversight and empowerment of warlords, just to state the obvious...

Much more at Foreign Policy.

The Wanted

by SWJ Editors | Wed, 07/01/2009 - 3:08am | 0 comments

It's not often when a SWJ friend lands a starring role in a network news series -- so we were quite excited when we learned that Roger Carstens will be co-starring in NBC News' The Wanted. Congratulations Roger and best of luck with the show! Continue on for the NBC News press release...

The U.S. Marine Corps talks security force assistance

by Robert Haddick | Tue, 06/30/2009 - 4:41pm | 1 comment

Those who have followed the pleadings of General James Conway, USMC know that the commandant of the Marine Corps wants his Marines out of Iraq and into Afghanistan. But there is also the matter of the Marine Corps's future after Afghanistan. Planners at Headquarters Marine Corps have placed a bet on a routine of persistent irregular conflict, security force assistance, and foreign internal defense and are arranging the Marine Corps's training and deployment plans for that scenario.

I will discuss those plans more in a moment. But in order to execute a plan that envisions a focus on SFA and FID, Marines will need language and cultural skills to match. A story from today's Marine Corps Times discusses a new language academy that the Marine Corps is establishing at Camp Lejeune

COIN Center Brownbag - 1 July

by SWJ Editors | Mon, 06/29/2009 - 5:46pm | 1 comment

Election Security Planning in Afghanistan

The US Army/USMC Counterinsurgency Center is pleased to host Mr. Nick Maroukis at the COIN Center Virtual-Brownbag from 1200 to 1300 CST (1300 - 1400 EST) on Wednesday, 1 July 2009. Mr. Nick Maroukis, security advisor to the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan (IEC), will be discussing Election Security Planning in preparation for 2009 Afghan Presidential and Provincial Council Elections which will take place on 20 Aug 09.

The IEC has the authority and responsibility to administrate and supervise all kind of elections; as well as refer to general public opinion of the people, in accordance the provision of the law. The IEC consists of nine members, including a chairperson and a deputy chairperson, appointed by Presidential Decree No.21, dated 19 Jan 2005.

Those interested in attending may view the meeting on-line at https://adobe.harmonieweb.org/coinvtc/ and participate via Adobe Connect as a guest. Remote attendees will be able to ask questions and view the slides through the software.

Pentagon planners should study Somalia, not just Hezbollah

by Robert Haddick | Mon, 06/29/2009 - 8:39am | 0 comments

In the last edition of my column at Foreign Policy I discussed how Israel's messy campaign against Hezbollah in 2006 has become the focus of the Pentagon's policy shop. The accepted wisdom inside OSD, Joint Forces Command, and elsewhere is that Hezbollah's use of hybrid warfare" should now be the prototype for which U.S. forces should prepare.

I suggest that the U.S. government's abortive dealings with Somalia since 1992 merit equally intense study.

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