Small Wars Journal

Military to Unveil New Counterinsurgency Field Manual

Tue, 01/29/2013 - 7:04pm

Military to Unveil New Counterinsurgency Field Manual - Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes.

The Army is updating the counterinsurgency field manual developed by Gen. David Petraeus that has served as the basis for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The current version of the field manual incorporates lessons learned from Western nations’ experiences with colonial insurgencies and outlines tactics such as placing troops among the local population and building stable government to win hearts and minds rather than prioritizing killing and capturing enemy fighters.

The new 200-page version of the document, which is under review and likely to be released later this year, takes account of lessons learned over the past six years in Afghanistan...

Comments

Hammer999

Tue, 01/29/2013 - 7:14pm

Probably not worth the paper it is written on. Before you can accomplish anything in a counter insurgency you have to defeat it. Once this is done you secure the population, while conducting FID etc. Once the locals are ready, you turn it over.