Precluding Confusion - The Multiple Definitions Of Unconventional Warfare?
From Merriam-Webster - -Definition ... a statement of the meaning of a word or word group ... Clarity, Distinctness
Confuse ... to make mentally unclear or uncertain ... Muddle, Befuddle, Addle, Fluster How many definitions does it take to eliminate confusion? Who was confused? Who is confused now? What did Colonel Aaron Banks, General Yarborough, General Kingston and General Lutz miss? What part of Unconventional Warfare did they and other Special Forces qualified personnel not comprehend? January 2007, Definition of Unconventional Warfare (UW) as changed by US Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) (Ft Bragg):
"Unconventional Warfare is operations conducted by, with, or through
irregular forces, in support of a resistance movement, an insurgency, or
conventional military operations." October 2007, Definition of Unconventional Warfare (UW) as republished in the Department of Defense (DOD) Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (JP 1-02):
"Unconventional warfare — A broad spectrum of military and paramilitary operations,
normally of long duration, predominantly conducted through, with, or by indigenous
or surrogate forces who are organized, trained, equipped, supported, and directed in
varying degrees by an external source. It includes, but is not limited to, guerrilla
warfare, subversion, sabotage, intelligence activities, and unconventional assisted
recovery. Also called UW. (JP 3-05)" 08/08/09, The US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) (Tampa), Irregular Warfare "101" pamphlet, uses the DOD Dictionary Definition of Unconventional Warfare (as above). Other US Army units and units from other Armed Services in USSOCOM have been assigned the UW Mission, which definition do they use? Do they have their own? Does USASOC or USSOCOM have the capability to provide the force doctrine development support and promulgation that was provided by TRADOC prior to 1997? Who benefits from the USASOC changes to the definition of UW?
Is it possible that some other service masqueraders are now able to strap-hang on the USASOC definition of UW, whereas they are not capable of performing the DOD and USSOCOM definition of UW? Do the USASOC changes to the UW definition enable the assignment of the UW Mission to US Army units that are neither trained nor qualified to perform the UW mission as defined by DOD and USSOCOM? What is the definition of "Graduate Level Unconventional Warfare"? Is it clarifying or confusing? When individual units in USSOCOM write, teach and abide by their own different definitions of DOD and USSOCOM terminology, is confusion reduced or increased? How did Congress define Unconventional Warfare when they recently directed USSOCOM to … "place greater emphasis on Unconventional Warfare techniques and missions"? There is no need to thank me for this. I did it as a public service to preclude confusion. Mike Linnane