Small Wars Journal

'A Different Kind of War'

Mon, 08/09/2010 - 3:08pm
Via the U.S. Army's STAND-TO!: A Different Kind of War is the Army's first comprehensive study of its campaign in Afghanistan. Based on hundreds of oral interviews and unclassified documents, this study offers a comprehensive chronological narrative of the first four years of Operation Enduring Freedom.

A Different Kind of War tells the story of how the coalition planned the campaign against the Taliban regime and then used its military forces to overthrow that regime in 2001. The study then focuses on how The U.S. Army came to take a leading role in a campaign that evolved after the establishment of a new government for Afghanistan in 2002. That new campaign slowly evolved into a counterinsurgency effort that featured combat missions, reconstruction operations, and training programs for a new Afghan army. The study closes with a chapter that highlights the implications for The U.S. Army of these four years of operations in Afghanistan.

Download A Different Kind of War at the U.S. Army Combat Studies Institute.