How to do Company Level COIN

Here is another excellent account of COIN done right on a low level. Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here. An account written by one of the Platoon leaders can also be found on pages 12-22 of the PLs in OIF handbook from platoonleader.army.mil.

This unit did almost everything right. They faced a tough enemy and were able to "win." One thing that jumped out at me was the sense of accomplishment and purpose that the soldiers clearly felt. In any counter-insurgency, if you fight the enemy using mostly search and destroy than its not easy to see the purpose of what you are doing. You are killing the bad guys but what are you really accomplishing. In this account, his company had a sector that it owned and the CO delegated a lot of the key tasks as far down as he could. The contrast is also evident in the Village, where the Marines had a hamlet they owned and were responsible for. The leadership climate was much better as a result. The soldiers put peer pressure on one another to get the job done and functioned more as a team.

Another thing I got from the PLs account was a better of understanding of what David Killculen meant when he wrote "Fight the enemy’s strategy, not his forces" in his 28 fundamentals of Counter-insurgency. Here is one application of that:

"On one occasion, when the rift between AQI and locals was greatest, my Platoon Sergeant’s patrol was engaged with insurgents despite heavy civilian presence. A round had struck a child, and instead of returning fire, risking further local casualties and delaying her treatment time, my Platoon Sergeant grabbed her and evacuated her to the hospital in the green zone. An informant later reported the incident as a large turning point towards winning the people of our neighborhood."

Thus, Al-Qaeda's strategy was to diminish civilian support by getting to Americans to accidentally shoot civilians. By treating the girl rather than killing the enemy, the Americans attacked their strategy.