One more thought on training
The claim made by the Powerline correspondent that “the Army is not trained for counterinsurgency” also deserves another answer.
In war one is frequently forced to deal with situations one did not plan on and was not “trained” to deal with. There is no question United States forces spent much more time training to fight traditional maneuver warfare. To say though , we are untrained and that we rely on a formal program of instruction is weak. As officers and NCOs we are responsible for seeking out training we anticipate we might need.
Check out this post at Badgers Forward to see some of the things I did to prepare my unit for counterinsurgency operations. I led an OPD based on the COIN reading.
And any training is created based on what? Experience.
5 years ago, there was no manual on how to counter IED’s, was there? I take it there is one now.
Pablo (08e1e8) — 4/4/2007 @ 4:38 amPablo makes an excellent point. It’s like Dilbert’s boss demanding a schedule for all future unplanned server outages.
Scott Jacobs (e3904e) — 4/4/2007 @ 5:29 amWe have fought counterinsurgencies before, but there are very few people that are or at least were prior to this experience in the Army and Marine Corps. That’s why one goes to the text and attempts to learn what they can. Moreover, the roadside bomb is not a new invention, the insurgency here though has virtually perfected it.
Additionally units coming over here now have no excuse. People in all walks of life teach themselves how to do things all of the time. The Army has been woefully in adequate in coming to terms with teaching COIN for some reasons the author of the original piece mentioned. It is no defense though for an officer or NCO to rely merely on the “school solution.”
Badger 6 (9ec024) — 4/4/2007 @ 7:09 amIED is a new name for a land mine. Millions upon millions of land mines have been laid by the enemy in WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the First Iraq war. The US Army has been clearing land mines for many, many decades. Land mines (IEDs) are now high profile because their use is frequently videotaped and shown on American TV. They are one of few methods the enemy has to kill Americans.
I wonder if the Powerline “Correspondent” had proper training as a combat reporter.
Perfect Sense (b6ec8c) — 4/5/2007 @ 7:48 am