From the MIME-NET information section on YouTube:
'Human Terrain' is two stories in one. The first exposes the U.S. effort to enlist the best and the brightest of American universities in a struggle for the hearts and minds of its enemies. Facing long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military adopts a controversial new program, 'Human Terrain Systems', to make cultural awareness a key element of its counterinsurgency strategy. Designed to embed social scientists with combat troops, the program swiftly comes under attack by academic critics who consider it misguided and unethical to gather intelligence and target potential enemies for the military. Gaining rare access to wargames in the Mojave Desert and training exercises at Quantico and Fort Leavenworth, 'Human Terrain' takes the viewer into the heart of the war machine and the shadowy collaboration between American academics and the armed services.
The other story is about a brilliant young scholar who leaves the university to join a Human Terrain team. After working as a humanitarian activist and winning a Marshall Scholarship to study at Oxford, Michael Bhatia returned to Brown University to conduct research on military cultural awareness. A year later, he left to embed as a Human Terrain member with the 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan. On May 7, 2008, en route to mediate an intertribal dispute, his humvee hit a roadside bomb and Bhatia was killed along with two other soldiers.
Asking what happens when war becomes academic and academics go to war, the two stories merge in tragedy.
Comments
To echo LongTabSigO, we have too many active duty and reserve dinosaurs that want to fit a round peg into a square hole when it comes to training, deploying and utilizing the expertise resident in the HTS program. WTF? The whole idea is not to bring them into our world; but rather bring us into their world.
Is HTS a multiplier? As individuals and teams, yes. It is a critical enabler. Its ability to help spans the whole staff and therefore can help commanders at all levels understand the people around them. I'd caution strongly against pigeon-holing them into one S/G/J shop.
Message to commanders and staff guys: give the HTT you get a chance to make the case for how they think they can help you and you will likely benefit from the experience. The HTT members you will meet out there in the OEF or OIF battlespace will work hard and give you the best products possible. The more you integrate them into your units, the more you will benefit. They will be successful despite the trainup they've received, not because of it.
HTS as a program is a mess. Straight up. It needs a lot of help and serious adult leadership at the program level. While there are a few good folks involved (I saw one depicted in the clip), for the most part it is amateur hour.