World Affairs Board - View Single Post - US Wants To Transform War From Massed Armies To Guerilla Warfare

Militarythinker · 02-27-2007, 18:28 PM

I agree that transforming the U.S. military into a "guerilla type" force is not only impractical but also stupid.

I also however think that there should be a greater focus on either training our forces in how to appropriately deal with these terrorist strategies or changing a part of the military. Like it has been said, special forces without firepower to back it up is cool and can do fun stuff, but will not win wars. Again one key ability special forces have is to call in air strikes or coordinate attacks.

If the US can alter their structure to allow for more mobile units while still maintaining our firepower, we should be in good shape against terrorist strategies. Imagine if we increased the number of small units capable of calling in air strikes and organizing coordinated attacks by providing Intel. It is obvious how effective and useful air strikes are but I think that the information would be even more valuable.

The way I see it, the hardest part about fighting a terrorist force is that we don't know enough about them. It is hard to find their bases of operation, distinguish who is fighting with them and how to catch them before they can dissolve into the population.

If the military were to train more units in this type of recon we would be able to learn more about the locations and patterns of the terrorists without sacrificing firepower. Teams could still call in bunker busters or provide Intel to help coordinate a crushing assault with ground troops.

However I can't say where these new units would come from or who would train them because I lack a strong understanding of the US military structure.

And as heartless as it sounds, I think you have a valid point Mike. These guys are trained to destroy the enemy. Even the most basic man in the military knows that. Perhaps unleashing them with a bit less restraint may show the terrorist, and civilians that either harbor them or simply allow them to operate in their village, that we mean business.

I know that if I was a father in Iraq with my kids to look after, and I knew that there was a terrorist cell in my village, I would want them out if I thought that the Americans were going to blow the place apart searching for them.

That would be where the Spec Ops guys come in. It has been pointed out that Spec Ops do a lot of counter terrorism work. Going into villages, befriending the locals and perhaps suggesting to the village leader that the US would be willing to help him remove this cell from his village. Suddenly we have some of our dirty work being done by locals.

A great advantage to this, if it works, is that the villages will feel self liberated. Instead of the big bad US army smashing through their front yard, they took care of their own business and helped protect their own families. By creating a threat of violence to anything near a terrorist operation, we can turn the terrorists into the villager's enemies.

Eventually I would imagine that the terrorists would catch on and realize that being near civilian populations was a bad idea. My guess is that they would either A) start to harm the civilians or force themselves upon them or B) move away from civilian populations.

Both of these options work to our advantage. If they went with A, this would only anger the civilians more and would increase their likelihood to help us if not give us outright support. If we get the terrorists to focus more on trying to maintain their positions forcefully, they will not only waste resources but also further anger the civilians.

If they went with B, then they are away from any collateral damage that would bring bad PR to the US and slow down our efforts. Terrorist installations that are remote can be bombed into dust with those dumb bombs Mike mentioned without worrying about one landing on a school house. If this happened, the civilians would see how wise it was to get the terrorists out of their villages, continuing the cycle.

I apologize for the length of my post. I had a train of thought and just went with it. Hope I made sense and my conclusions were logical.

02-27-2007, 18:28 PM	#61 (permalink)
Militarythinker Regular Join Date: 02-27-07 Posts: 44	I agree that transforming the U.S. military into a "guerilla type" force is not only impractical but also stupid. I also however think that there should be a greater focus on either training our forces in how to appropriately deal with these terrorist strategies or changing a part of the military. Like it has been said, special forces without firepower to back it up is cool and can do fun stuff, but will not win wars. Again one key ability special forces have is to call in air strikes or coordinate attacks. If the US can alter their structure to allow for more mobile units while still maintaining our firepower, we should be in good shape against terrorist strategies. Imagine if we increased the number of small units capable of calling in air strikes and organizing coordinated attacks by providing Intel. It is obvious how effective and useful air strikes are but I think that the information would be even more valuable. The way I see it, the hardest part about fighting a terrorist force is that we don't know enough about them. It is hard to find their bases of operation, distinguish who is fighting with them and how to catch them before they can dissolve into the population. If the military were to train more units in this type of recon we would be able to learn more about the locations and patterns of the terrorists without sacrificing firepower. Teams could still call in bunker busters or provide Intel to help coordinate a crushing assault with ground troops. However I can't say where these new units would come from or who would train them because I lack a strong understanding of the US military structure. And as heartless as it sounds, I think you have a valid point Mike. These guys are trained to destroy the enemy. Even the most basic man in the military knows that. Perhaps unleashing them with a bit less restraint may show the terrorist, and civilians that either harbor them or simply allow them to operate in their village, that we mean business. I know that if I was a father in Iraq with my kids to look after, and I knew that there was a terrorist cell in my village, I would want them out if I thought that the Americans were going to blow the place apart searching for them. That would be where the Spec Ops guys come in. It has been pointed out that Spec Ops do a lot of counter terrorism work. Going into villages, befriending the locals and perhaps suggesting to the village leader that the US would be willing to help him remove this cell from his village. Suddenly we have some of our dirty work being done by locals. A great advantage to this, if it works, is that the villages will feel self liberated. Instead of the big bad US army smashing through their front yard, they took care of their own business and helped protect their own families. By creating a threat of violence to anything near a terrorist operation, we can turn the terrorists into the villager's enemies. Eventually I would imagine that the terrorists would catch on and realize that being near civilian populations was a bad idea. My guess is that they would either A) start to harm the civilians or force themselves upon them or B) move away from civilian populations. Both of these options work to our advantage. If they went with A, this would only anger the civilians more and would increase their likelihood to help us if not give us outright support. If we get the terrorists to focus more on trying to maintain their positions forcefully, they will not only waste resources but also further anger the civilians. If they went with B, then they are away from any collateral damage that would bring bad PR to the US and slow down our efforts. Terrorist installations that are remote can be bombed into dust with those dumb bombs Mike mentioned without worrying about one landing on a school house. If this happened, the civilians would see how wise it was to get the terrorists out of their villages, continuing the cycle. I apologize for the length of my post. I had a train of thought and just went with it. Hope I made sense and my conclusions were logical. __________________ MT . . .