UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

As of 8 Jan 09

Leadership in COIN Operations

An Old Concept in a New Age or Delegating to the Point of Discomfort

US Army Combined Arms Center

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

Purpose

As of 8 Jan 09

To highlight the unique challenges of leadership in a COIN environment.

US Army Combined Arms Center

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

Areas of Discussion

As of 8 Jan 09

Traditional Leadership Insurgent Strategy The moral/ dimension of Counterinsurgencies Conventional VS COIN Environment Leadership Issues in Coin The ABCs of COIN Leadership Suggested Best Practices
US Army Combined Arms Center
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UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

Leadership Traits
Competent Honest Selfless Trusts his/her Subordinates

As of 8 Jan 09

What are the traits of a great leader?

US Army Combined Arms Center

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

As of 8 Jan 09

It is far more effective to attack an opponents strategy than his Army . - Sun Tzu

US Army Combined Arms Center

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

As of 8 Jan 09

Fighting to the Taliban's Game Plan What the Taliban wants us to do:
Chase illiterate teenage boys around the countryside (waste thousands of manpower hours on sweep operations). Kill them inside villages with collateral damage. Make cultural mistakes, lose hearts and minds. Lose sight of our game plan to win. Get tired and go home.

US Army Combined Arms Center

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

As of 8 Jan 09

The core of the difficulty is neither military nor political but moral.
Martin Van Creveld the The Changing Face of War 2007

Russian forces 1980 Russian forces 1989 US Army Combined Arms Center
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UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

As of 8 Jan 09

"When a child is killed in one of these villages, that village is lost for 100 years. These places run on revenge."
2003 Pakistani diplomat, ICG Report, August

...burning Taliban bodies, Koran desecration, Abu Graib, Iraq invasion, Bagram deaths, shooting up wedding parties, Guantanamo, Haditha, civilian casualties...

US Army Combined Arms Center

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

COIN Failure Ireland 1922

As of 8 Jan 09

TheBritishinreprisalstarta counterterrorprogrammatching terrorforterror.Reprisalsaretaken againstthepopulation,homesare burned,crowdsarefiredupon.The IRAarebattledtoastalemate,but theBritishpublicabandonsthe fightsickenedbywhattheyhad become. TheIrishrebelin1916 butfail.Keyleadership escapesandtheIRA beginsarenewed insurgency,with bettertraining,tactics andintelligence.
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US Army Combined Arms Center

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

COIN Success Story Ireland 2007

As of 8 Jan 09

FirstClasstraining strictdiscipline,high professionalism,and superbleadership.

MartinVanCreveldtheThe ChangingFaceofWar2007

TheBritishdidnotalienatethe peoplebythemid90stheIRA hadbeguntoexperiencedifficulty innewrecruitingtoreplacethose whohadbeenkilledorjailedorleft oftheirownaccord.MartinVan

CreveldtheTheChangingFaceofWar2007

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US Army Combined Arms Center

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

Conduct of Troops During Operations

Rules of Conduct: 1. There shall be no confiscation whatever from the poor peasantry. 2. If you borrow anything, return it. 3. Replace all articles you damage. 4. Pay fairly for everything that you purchase. 5. Be honest in all transactions with the peasants. 6. Be courteous and polite to the people and help them when you can. Mao Tse-tung, 1928

As of 8 Jan 09

US Army Combined Arms Center

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UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

Leadership Issues in COIN

As of 8 Jan 09

Commanders and other leaders will be challenged by the unique demands of counterinsurgency. In-depth understanding of the operational environment is an absolute necessity to recognize who is the enemy, when and where to fight, and when other activities are more valuable.

COIN103 US Army Combined Arms Center REF:FM324,Chap7

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UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

Traditional Leadership Environment

Shoot Move Communicate

As of 8 Jan 09

Technology as the force multiplier

US Army Combined Arms Center
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UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

COIN Leadership Environment

As of 8 Jan 09

Presence Patience Persistence

Afghanistan 1830s

"It seems this place hasn't changed very much since Kipling. This place is like the last frontier." Private Gary Holt 1-87, 10th MD

Afghanistan 2004

Winning is a Western concept; progress can be made, but it takes time

US Army Combined Arms Center
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UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

As of 8 Jan 09

What to expect in a COIN Environment What youll see What youll be doing What youll think

COIN103 US Army Combined Arms Center

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UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

What youll see

As of 8 Jan 09

Leadership challenges that never surfaced in pre-deployment preparation Third world squalor, disease, dysfunction, animosity

US Army Combined Arms Center

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UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

Stressors

As of 8 Jan 09

Exposure to a strange and unfamiliar culture Work with people whom you dont understand and who dont understand you Work with forces outside of your unit with whom you have had little exposure or experience Work with NGOs, IO and HN organizations Jobs that you think are outside your MOS/career field
US Army Combined Arms Center
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UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

Other Players

As of 8 Jan 09

US Army Combined Arms Center

18

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

Preconceived Notions

As of 8 Jan 09

Technology is king Ill never get it Nothing can be done HN soldiers/police/civilians are lazy/stupid/corrupt The unit you RIP are idiots

US Army Combined Arms Center

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UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

The Era of Persistent Conflict

As of 8 Jan 09

The Army will need leaders of uncommon agility, resourcefulness and imagination, leaders willing and able to think and act creatively and decisively in a different kind of world and a different kind of conflict than we have prepared for over the last six decades
-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates West Point, 22 April 2008

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US Army Combined Arms Center

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

As of 8 Jan 09

The

s
Of COIN Leadership

Adaptive Balanced Creative

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US Army Combined Arms Center

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

As of 8 Jan 09

AdaptiveLeaders
CulturallyAttuned SituationallyAware ActiveCommunicators CriticalReasoners FullSpectrum

On a recent afternoon, he checked on refurbished water pumps for farmers and approved money to connect the pumping station there were soccer uniforms to be dropped off for a community team, heated disputes to resolve, an influential sheik to visit. "It is purely my fight in my area of operation," [CPT] Gilbert said. - NYT 3/21/08 22

US Army Combined Arms Center

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

As of 8 Jan 09

BalancedWarriors
PersonalBalance ExperientialBalance

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US Army Combined Arms Center

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

As of 8 Jan 09

CreativeThinkers
Innovative ProblemSolvers

"They give us a chunk of land and say, 'Fix it," said Captain Rich Thompson, 36, who controls an area east of Baghdad. - NYT 3/21/08

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US Army Combined Arms Center

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

The Company Fight

As of 8 Jan 09

The complexity, unpredictability, and ambiguity of postwar Iraq is producing company grade officers who are accustomed to operating independently, taking the initiative, and adapting to changes. the Army must now acknowledge and encourage this newly developed adaptability in our junior officers or risk stifling the innovation critically needed in the Armys future leaders.
Developing Adaptive Leaders Dr. Lenny Wong, 25 2004
US Army Combined Arms Center

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

Best Practices

As of 8 Jan 09

Delegate to the point of discomfort Task and purpose Dont stand in the way of a solution Resource to succeed Do less, mentor more Professional development Underwrite reasonable risk

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US Army Combined Arms Center

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

Best Practices

As of 8 Jan 09

Be a role model for you troops and HN Be ethical, you set the tone Get out amongst your soldiers, the people in your AOR Be agile and adaptive Be self aware/360 degree assessment

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US Army Combined Arms Center

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

As of 8 Jan 09

Questions?

US Army Combined Arms Center

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UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

As of 8 Jan 09

Leadership in COIN
Tactical Decision Game

US Army Combined Arms Center

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

Scenario
IED

As of 8 Jan 09

A market bordering the MSR that supplies your company is the site of increasingly frequent IED attacks. You have canvassed the merchants, but none claims to have seen anything, even though some attacks have occurred in broad daylight. Your company wants to take decisive action. How do the operational environment and leadership principles influence your course of action?
US Army Combined Arms Center

IED IED

IED

IED

MSR

IED

IED

0 .5km

1km

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

Scenario

As of 8 Jan 09

Your unit operates area of operations with a strong Al Qaeda presence and few host nation forces. An insurgent leader approaches, requesting amnesty for his fighters in exchange for information. You know that this insurgent leader is responsible for the deaths of soldiers in your unit and units that preceded you? What do you do?

US Army Combined Arms Center

UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO

One Solution

As of 8 Jan 09

US Army Combined Arms Center

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