Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife

20 Pages·2006·0.25 MB·English

Learning to Eat Soup
with a Knife
Counterinsurgency Lessons from
Vietnam and Iraq
LTC John Nagl
U.S. Army
August 2006
Making “war upon rebellion
was messy and slow, like
eating soup with a knife.”
- T.E. Lawrence,
Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Thesis
The organizational culture of the British Army
(cid:122)
allowed it to learn and implement effective
counterinsurgency methods in Malaya.
The organizational culture of the American
(cid:122)
Army prevented such learning in Vietnam,
but...
The American Army is rapidly adapting to
(cid:122)
COIN in Iraq—and beginning to learn COIN.
More to be done to enable the Army and the
(cid:122)
broader USG to achieve victory in The Long
War.
Military Forces Hate COIN
“The long list of unsuccessful operations
(cid:122)
conducted against guerrilla activities is
a product of the inflexibility of many
military leaders as well as their
intransigent attitude concerning the
abandonment of conventional tactics.
This military arteriosclerosis has existed
down through the ages...”
– LTC Joseph Kutger, USAF, 1960
Organizational Learning
“A process by which an organization
(cid:122)
uses new knowledge or understanding
gained from experience or study to
adjust institutional norms, doctrine and
procedures in ways designed to
minimize previous gaps in performance
and maximize future successes.”
Richard Downie,
-
The U.S. Army as Learning Institution
The Institutional Learning Cycle:
The Process of Doctrinal Change
Richard Downie, Learning from Conflict
Individual
Action/Attention
to Events
Change in
Organizational
Situation or
Performance
Organizational
Gap Identified
Behavior
Search for
Transmit Alternative
Interpretation: Organizational
Publish Doctrine Actions
Sustained
Consensus:
Alternative Solution
Accepted
Indications of
Learning Institutions
Bottom-Up Input
(cid:122)
Superiors Questioned, Available
(cid:122)
Theoretical Thinking
(cid:122)
– About strategic environment
– About core missions of organization
Local Doctrine Development
(cid:122)
Local Training Centres
(cid:122)
Small, Responsive Staff
(cid:122)
The U.S. Army in Iraq:
Adapting under Fire
Bottom-up Adaptation
(cid:122)
Intelligence
(cid:122)
Governance
(cid:122)
Training Local Forces
(cid:122)
The Interagency Fight
(cid:122)
The U.S. Army in Iraq:
Bottom-up Adaptation
All professional force
(cid:122)
Innovative Junior Officers/NCO’s
(cid:122)
Bosnia Experience
(cid:122)
Division Commanders
(cid:122)
understood/encouraged innovation
Power of the Internet
(cid:122)
Army not capturing/controlling innovation
(cid:122)
Doctrine trailing indicator of change
(cid:122)
The Institutional Learning Cycle:
The Process of Doctrinal Change
Richard Downie, Learning from Conflict
Individual
Action/Attention
to Events
Change in
Organizational
Situation or
Performance
Organizational
Gap Identified
Behavior
Search for
Unit adaptation
Transmit Alternative
Interpretation: Organizational
Publish Doctrine Actions
Sustained
Consensus:
Alternative Solution
Accepted