This is, without a doubt, the most critical film you need to watch when it comes to asymmetric warfare. It has been screened at least since the 1970s to Special Forces candidates, Intelligence Agency staff, and in graduate level Sociology courses. And for a damn good reason- it is the most accurate film on how… Watch…
Category: Strategy
The Surveillance State: Shot-Spotter
From the Archives, 2016 With the proverbial ice cream turning to shit across this Nation, and Urban Warfare (ie Street Fighting) about to become a SOLID reality, I thought it relevant to review some of Big Brother’s CRIME FIGHTING (or Counter-Insurgency) toys so we all can all plan accordingly. LISTENING FOR GUNSHOTS With City,…
Mean Streets: The Clash of Technology and Terrain in Urban Warfare
From the Archives, 2016 In urban environments, the playing field is levelled between the conventional armies and insurgents BE IT ALEPPO or Damascus, Mosul or Ramadi, or even Eastern Ukraine, combatants in today’s conflicts are frequently fighting in and over urban areas. The decision to wage war in cities is driven in part by…
Know Your Cold War History: Operation Protea and Beyond…
Operation Protea was launched on 23 August 1981. Its objectives were to destroy the South-West Africa People’s Organisations (SWAPO) command and training center at Xangongo as well as to destroy its logistic bases at Xangongo and Ongiva. The South African forces reached Ongiva on 26 August 1981 and attacked the combined SWAPO/FAPLA forces dug in […]…
Know Your WW2 History: The Iron Fist – 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen
Marder I, 17 SS Panzergrenadier Division Gotz von Berlichingen 17. SS commander Werner von Ostendorf (left) plans the attack on Carentan with Fallschirmjager commander Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte (centre). Thrown into combat on 10 June 1944 near Carentan, the reconnaissance battalion of the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division fought the American paratroops of the […]…
Know Your WW2 History: The Blitzkrieg – Word and Concept
I never used the word Blitzkrieg because it is a very stupid word. Adolf Hitler, 8 November 1941 The Word “Blitzkrieg” In sober military language, there is hardly any other word that is so strikingly full of significance and at the same time so misleading and subject to misinterpretation as the term blitzkrieg. Its early […]…
Ordinary Men: A Profile of the Chechen Insurgents and their Tactics
Dodge Billingsly’s work covering the Chechen Wars is well worth the time, as is his book, Fangs of the Lone Wolf. via Ordinary Men: A Profile of the Chechen Insurgents and their Tactics — American Partisan
On War: Understanding the Importance of Doctrine
Doctrine is an important topic in warfighting, and perhaps the most important area for an intelligence officer to understand. Doctrine defined is The guiding principles that an adversary uses to plan and execute his operations. When we understand adversary doctrine, we’re better informed about what he might do in the future because we understand what… via…
Learning from Insurgent Tactics: The Vehicle as a Weapon
From the Archives, 2015 The attack on Dallas PD this past Saturday by a man in an armored van represents a variation on a tactic that has not been seen since the DC Sniper Murders in 2002, where a man and his young accomplice, using a Chevy Caprice sedan and turning the trunk into a…
Transition to Third-Generation Warfare
For further reading on this subject. I highly recommend The Breaking Point, Sedan and the Fall of France 1940. At 4:45 a.m. on September 1, 1939, the German army invaded Poland. By September 19, they forced the surrender of the last Polish army in the field. Eight days later, they completed mopping up the…