Niel Smith

		

				 
  	
		 		

			

	Major Niel Smith is an active duty Army officer with experience in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan.  He is the author of numerous articles on modern counterinsurgency.  He holds a M.A. in Security Studies from Kansas State University.

			
		

		

	

	


  

  

  

      


  
  

    

    
  
  
      

      


  

    	  
  

                
Dept. of Winning Friends and Influencing People

  

  
  

                
 by Niel Smith 

  

  
  

                
Posted On March 1, 2010 06:45 PM | Comments(0)

  

  
  

                
Major Nate Springer, the current operations officer at the U.S. Army Counterinsurgency Center, penned an excellent blog post about the need for Soldiers and Marines to develop personal relationships...


  

		  
  

                
A Response to Dr. Moyar on COIN in Army PME

  

  
  

                
 by Niel Smith 

  

  
  

                
Posted On December 11, 2009 10:01 AM | Comments(6)

  

  
  

                
Dr. Mark Moyar's response to "Overdue Bill" is exactly the kind of discussion I hoped the essay would engender.  Dr. Moyar correctly points out the difficulty of creating change in academic...


  

		  
  

                
Understanding Lawrence's Article 15

  

  
  

                
 by Niel Smith 

  

  
  

                
Posted On November 28, 2009 07:33 PM | Comments(7)

  

  
  

                
"Do not try to do too much with your own hands. Better the Arabs do it tolerably than that you do it perfectly. It is their war, and you are to help them, not to win it for them." 
- T.E. Lawrence,...


  

	  





  

    	  
  

                
New Video of Wanat Attack from Taliban Perspective

  

  
  

                
 by Niel Smith 

  

  
  

                
Posted On November 13, 2009 05:16 PM | Comments(5)

  

  
  

                

 ABC News has procured Taliban video of the 2008 attack on COP Wanat.  
For background, see here, here, and here.



  

		  
  

                
Fort Leavenworth Counterinsurgency Center Seminar Begins

  

  
  

                
 by Niel Smith 

  

  
  

                
Posted On October 27, 2009 10:28 PM | Comments(2)

  

  
  

                
The great folks at the U.S. Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Center have launched their completely revamped Counterinsurgency Leaders Workshop, which runs through Thursday.  They've lined up...


  

		  
  

                
Sri Lanka's disconcerting COIN strategy for defeating the LTTE

  

  
  

                
 by Niel Smith 

  

  
  

                
Posted On August 27, 2009 01:48 AM | Comments(31)

  

  
  

                
In the comments section of this SWJ post, Phil Rittendorf highlights a very interesting and disconcerting article in the Indian Defence Review containing lessons learned from Sri Lanka's defeat of...