Linda Robinson’s One Hundred Victories: Special Ops and the Future of American Warfare is a study of the changing role of America’s Special Forces. It shows how the role of Special Forces has changed during the war in Afghanistan. The book is a meticulous look at the difficulties faced by special operation forces in their effort to implement the strategy of counterinsurgency in Afghanistan. Additionally, it covers the general strategy of Village Stability Operations. Moreover, she explored what exactly Special Forces were and how they operated in Afghanistan. Finally, the author makes her prediction on the future role of Special Forces.
The author detailed the many of the difficulties faced by the special operations forces in Afghanistan. They made significant gains with the Village Stability Operations and a major concern for them was losing ground. However, certain factors threatened those gains. In particular, the wars unpopularity at home and President Obama 2014 timetable to withdraw were major hurdles. The author explained that this complicated the efforts of the special operations forces because; a counterinsurgency strategy takes time to cultivate. Many military leaders fear that their efforts will not hold up in their absence. They believe the assistance of the United States is crucial to continued success in the war. The biggest obstacle to this effort was the relationship between American and Afghani Leadership. President Karzai insisted Afghan Special Forces accompany U.S. Special Forces on night raids. Military leaders were hesitant at first nevertheless, president Karzai insisted. In addition, he wanted Afghan approval for every mission launched. The author concludes that the real intention for accompanying the U....
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...in technology and tactics have made Special Forces units more reliable. For example, the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan and the incident with the Somali pirates of the coast of Somalia show the capabilities of today’s Special Forces. The author asserts that, in the future the United States will shift away from major combat operations. These large engagements have proven to be costly in lives and treasure. For that reason, she infers that the US Military will choose the “go small, go long” model for future engagements in the Middle East. Special operation forces are uniquely suited for this model. Their conspicuous nature and low cost make them politically and strategically ideal. The author also suggests that future large scale operations may look like the conflicts in Libya and Somalia rather than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the Battle of Kamdesh and provide an alternate outcome based on the utilization of intelligence and intelligence assets. Many battles could have had a different outcome if they would trust intelligence reports without needing to validate the intelligence with another source or simply have other intelligence assets available. The Battle of Kamdesh was certainly one of those battles. The battle started just before 0600 on October 3, 2009 on Combat Outpost (COP) Keating and nearby Observation Post (OP) Fritsche in the Kamdesh district of Nuristan Province, Afghanistan. About 70 Soldiers of Bravo Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, along with 30 Afghan National Army Soldiers (ANA), fought an enemy force of about 300 Anti-Afghan Forces (AAF) fighters. (Nordland, 2010) The battle took place in the Consolidation II portion of the Operation Enduring Freedom Campaign in Afghanistan. The AAF likely
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States was incredibly eager to strike back at the nations thought to be responsible for this horrific tragedy. These attacks were quickly attributed to the terrorist group al-Qa’ida, led by Osama bin Laden, and to the Taliban-run government of Afghanistan, which had provided sanctuary to al-Qa’ida. In response, Washington approved a covert plan led by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to directly attack those responsible in their Middle East safe haven. Initiated on 26 September 2001 with the approval of the warlords of the Afghan Northern Alliance, with whom the CIA had formed an intelligence liaison relationship, Operation Jawbreaker resulted in the fall of the Taliban regime, the killing and capture of a significant amount of al-Qa’ida leadership, and elimination of a terrorist safe haven by early December 2001. Moreover, the Taliban’s collapse denied al-Qa’ida a pseudo-nation-state partner, serving to reduce the organization’s sanctuary to areas residing along the Pakistani border. Operation Jawbreaker, one of the first post-9/11 covert operations carried out by the United States in support of its national security interests, had proved successful. Word of the operation’s swift success astounded those back in Washington; dubbed the CIA’s “finest hour,” it signified the first of many victories by deposing the Taliban’s control of Northern Afghanistan.
September 11, 2001, Osama Bin Laden decided to “wake the sleeping giant.” The US immediately sent SOF units and CIA officers to recon the area and meet with the Northern Alliance. The primary battle leading up to this operation was Tora Bora, which was absent of conventional forces. Up until this point, the war on terror was predominantly a Special Operations fight along with Air Force for overhead support.3 SOF and the Northern Alliance had already displaced Taliban forces out of many towns and villages in northern Afghanistan to gain control of key terrain. Key towns in northern Afghanistan including Taloqan, Konduz, Herat, and Mazar-e Sharif took only three weeks to clear.4 The SOF units were making huge impacts across the country calling in air strikes. At the same time the SOF units were diligently...
I have organized this paper into five distinct sections; mission, task organization, capabilities, limitations, and finally the conclusion. After the reading and comprehension of this paper, you should have gained a basic understanding of the Special Forces (SF) Chemical Reconnaissance Detachments (CRD). The following paper is mixed with Unclassified (UCI) and For Official Use Only (FOUO) information. FOUO is annotated at the beginning of all For Official Use Only information, the rest of the paper is UCI. If you wish to share this information paper with others, please at a minimum; confirm identity of the person prior to providing (FM 380-5, 2000). For further handling instructions please refer to FM 380-5, or contact me, I will gladly answer all questions.
The Battle of Kamdesh was fought in Afghanistan during the Afghan War. It is an occurrence in the ongoing NATO campaign of the Operation Enduring Freedom since the year 2001. It was one of the bloodiest battles the USA forces engaged in during this campaign against the Taliban insurgents. The Taliban insurgents, assisted by local Nuristan militias, attacked Kamdesh, which is an American combat outpost, located deep in the Nuristan tribal Areas. They carried out a well-coordinated attack on the outpost, leading to a breach and an overrun of the post. This paper, seeks to analyze why, when, how, and what were the resulting impact of the battle.
Thinking historically while conducting counterinsurgency in the 21st century poses questions regarding how to develop political and strategic plans. This bibliographic essay will examine the political and military aspect of fighting counterinsurgent warfare by 20th century theorists Galula’s, “Counterinsurgency Warfare Theory and Practice” and Trinquier’s, “Counterinsurgency Warfare Theory and Practice”. Strategy in fighting guerilla wars will be discussed by comparing conflicts in battles and ideologies from the past to current day. Moreover, ways to avoid the one size fits all war mentality when combating modern day insurgents will be recommended.
On the 13th night of Linda Norgrove’s captivity the notable special operations unit known as “Seal Team Six” conducted a raid in the Dewegal Valley located in Kunar Providence of Afghanistan. During the operation the team immediately came into contact with the enemy in the Taliban infested valley, during the contact Norgrove was able to escape from her captures, after the battle died down Norgroves body was found in a gully in the fetal position tremendously injured. An analysis of the Linda Norgrove failed rescue mission by Seal Team Six reveals the challenges that high ranking officials face: having tactical patience and trusting our local partners to retrieve Linda Norgrove, or forcing our way into the Taliban strong hold valley and retrieving her ourselves with force.
The United States Air Force is a key part of America’s mission to spread and assist democracy throughout the world. Air Force Special Operations Command, or AFSOC, is the elite force of the United States Air Force. The assistance of AFSOC is vital to the Air Force’s duties as well as the entire US military. The presence of special operations teams, working with foreign militaries, in Central Asia before the 9/11 terrorist attacks aided the US in gaining Air force bases in that region. AFSOC teams had made connections with the foreign militaries in several places, one of which led to the use of Manas AB, Kyrgyzstan, as a major mobility hub (Air Force Magazine).
Special Operations Forces are stationed in hot spots throughout the globe to combat insurgency and terrorism in area. For instance, there is a Special Operations Joint Task Force in Afghanistan and their job is to "hunt down or kill high-value terrorist and insurgent leaders" (Shanker). US Special Operation Forces have conducted these type of missions not only in Afghanistan but also Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, Philippines, and Iraq (Turse) because there are many terrorist cells that operates in area and they are a threat to the United States and its allies. Special Operations Forces is also stationed in Afghanistan to conduct counter-I.E.D operations. The Taliban plant these improvised explosive device to kill US and Coalition troops and sometimes these explosive devices kill innocent civilians (Shanker). The United States plan to withdraw the remaining troops out of Afghanistan and transfer control back to Afghan troops but US Special Operations Force will s...
During the reconstruction of the South many people had opposing views on black rights. The south predominantly thought blacks were inferior, but the North was more accepting of black rights. After years of fighting between confederates and abolitionists black rights were finally put into place. Black rights caused disunity between the people just as Women's Suffrage in the 20’s did. Just as black rights were sanctioned with time, Women's suffrage should also have been acknowledged. Throughout the 20’s many woman tried to obtain popularity in women's suffrage by holding meetings. The Seneca Falls Convention, organized by Elizabeth Staton, was a convention held by women's rights activists. These meetings addressed many issues that affected women's rights. These meeting were held to start giving notoriety to the issues pertaining to woman. Women's rights in the 20th century was an extremely controversial topic. Although women had been seen as inferior for many years, looking at the documents it’s unequivocal that woman should have been given the same domestic, political and social rights as men.
"I thought you were my triumph /however you curtail me like a blade" The opening lines of Anne Stevenson's ballad The Victory set a tone of clash. This ballad, at its surface, communicates a mother's musings on conceiving a child. Stevenson portrays the blended emotions numerous moms have upon the conveyance of their first conceived. The last discharge from pregnancy and birthing aches, coupled with the energy of carrying a live animal into this planet, at the outset appear a triumph for the new parent.
The U.S. Marines were conducting one of the first modern peacekeeping missions in the war torn city of Beirut, Lebanon from 1982-1984. It ended up costing the United States a combined total of 241 Marines, Sailors, and Army warriors and was the highest death toll from a single terrorist act until the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York, Washington and a field in Pennsylvania. To understand the full context in which the Marine and Navy commanders found themselves, we must understand the mission statement and the context in which their senior political and military leadership provided it. We must also consider the operational environment the Multinational Peacekeeping force had to implement their mission. The outside influence of Syria and Iran would also play a role in the bombing from both a military and political element and would signal a new dynamic of terrorism in the whole world, as we know it. The tragic Marine peacekeepers barracks bombing in Beirut, Lebanon during the 1983 Multinational Peacekeeping Mission resulted from an ill-defined mission statement. Today’s contemporary peacekeeping missions necessitate clarity and flexibility in their mission statements
Stanley McChrystal served in the military for over 34 years with multiple leadership assignments from Platoon Leader, up to the commander of US Forces in Afghanistan, cementing a legacy of efficiency. His most renowned achievement was revolutionizing the targeting process within the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). This built a network of interagency cooperation and streamlined the Find, Fix, Finish, Exploit, Analyze (F3EA) targeting cycle in order to eliminate high value targets (HVTs) in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). McChrystal accomplished this by building a network, to defeat a network. This philosophy was realized by building a coalition of intelligence and operations professionals to counter
a comprehensive research service. Retrieved May 2, 2004, from Terrorist Attack by Al Qaeda: http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/033104.pdf. Gunaratna, R. (2005, September). Retrieved September 2005, from http://strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/parameters/articles/05spring/henzel.pdf. Gunaratna, R. (n.d.).
The crucial point of analysis here is not whether Taliban was responsible or not; but the larger humanitarian scenario of interaction between military and international/local non governmental organisation (I/NGOs) in Afghanistan. This point of analysis is not only relevant for Afghanistan but for all the humanitarian operations around the world.