Small Wars Journal

US Army

A Scout Leader’s Primer (On Earnest Preparation)

Thu, 10/17/2019 - 3:27am
Utilizing a future fictional war against a near-peer adversary, reconnaissance and security fundamentals are presented in the manner of “The Defence of Duffer’s Drift.” Unique in addressing both the interconnectedness of reconnaissance and security and tying them to concrete examples of failure, this paper attempts to present plausible ways to integrate said concepts into an iterative tactical decision-making exercise.

About the Author(s)

Trained But Undeveloped: Rethinking Combat Medic Sustainment

Tue, 10/08/2019 - 8:57pm
Currently the development of Combat Medics is too heavily focused within the Institutional domain and needs the immediate introduction of the Operational domain to improve the abilities of Army medics. Offering supporting materials for Self-Development could further optimize the performance of Combat Medics on the modern battlefield.

About the Author(s)

True Civil Affairs Integration: From Three Tribes to One

Mon, 10/07/2019 - 12:31am
The Army published its Army Total Force Policy in 2012 to define steps and guidance to integrate all components to meet DoD’s goal for a total force. U.S. Army Civil Affairs should take the NCFA recommendations and the lessons learned by other services and from those Army units participating in the AUPP to develop a Civil Affairs Total Force Policy.

About the Author(s)

Civil Reconnaissance Teams: The Expeditionary Arm of Civil Affairs Forces

Thu, 10/03/2019 - 12:32am
The unfortunate truth is that supported commands are not nearly as aware or informed of what Civil Affairs offers as other branches. Every commander knows that the role of the Infantry is to close with and destroy the enemy. Not every commander knows that Civil Affairs Soldiers and Marines are his or her sensors on the battlefield.

About the Author(s)

Officer Specialization in the United States Army: The Solution to the Junior Officer Brain Drain and Generals Who Over-Generalize is One and the Same

Mon, 09/30/2019 - 6:30am
The exodus of Junior Military Officers (JMO) from the service, colloquially known as the “brain drain,” represents one of the more slow-burning problems facing the United States Army. Beyond the immediate results on planned force structure and end-strength, the subtler effects of these departures will take decades to manifest.

About the Author(s)

Civil Affairs 2.0: Breaking the Circular Logic

Fri, 09/27/2019 - 1:35am
Army Civil Affairs (CA) faces an existential conundrum. The Army’s renewed focus on peer competition and lethality in Large Scale Combat Operations challenges how the branch defines itself and how the Army perceives its role. The inability of CA to define itself in relation to the Army’s operating concepts and doctrine is an enduring problem.

About the Author(s)

Beyond Tacit Approval: Embracing Special Operations Civil Affairs Support to the Intelligence Information Report

Fri, 09/27/2019 - 1:14am
When Special Forces train foreign partners, I can know how many bullets exited a rifle and how many foreign partners eventually qualified on the weapons range. I’m just not sure I can see what your Civil Affairs Teams accomplished during their deployment. What can you show me?

About the Author(s)

Tactical Advising is Not the Problem: How to Get Security Force Training Right

Thu, 09/12/2019 - 1:29pm
Advising foreign forces is hard, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be doing it. Since the inception of the Military Transition Team (MiTT) early in the Iraq war people who were disgruntled by the fact they had to serve on one or didn’t understand how they worked would rail against their existence.

About the Author(s)