Armor Magazine Counterinsurgency Selected Works - US Army

Evolution takes analysis and relies on the military historian to
provide the analysis and research in any conflict. Conflicts or war
can be grouped or categorized in various ways. My instructional
education has taught me the difference between “total war” and
“limited war.” “Total war,” as described by Dennis Showalter in
Lecture 9 of Introduction to Military History, is “generally understood
as war in which resources, human and materiel, of the
combatants are committed to a conflict, admitting neither rules
nor restraints in military operations, and the outcome of which
places the defeated entirely at the mercy of the victor.” 1 In this
short definition of total war, we see two sides committed to a
particular conflict who will stop at nothing to accomplish their
aims. There is no operational, logistical, or human expense that
will be spared to accomplish either participant’s desired end
state. An example of this particular type of warfare is World War
II. Conflicts, such as Vietnam and the Revolutionary War, take
on many traits of “total war,” but in many ways, it is a contest of
“David vs. Goliath.”
Insurgent warfare is a limited war, a contest of the weak versus
the strong. The struggle is seen as an internal conflict, which involves
a conflict between a government and an opponent who
wants to bring about change in the current political setting through
political or violent means. As Robert Tabor discusses in War of
the Flea: The Classic Study of Guerrilla Warfare, there are four
political aspects that insurgents attempt to challenge during any
particular insurgency: integrity of the borders and composition
of the nation state; the political system; authorities in power;
and the policies that determine who gets what in society. 2 The insurgency
is asymmetrical in nature and the tactics used to bring
about change need to be understood — both sides in this type
of warfare have differing capabilities. Dennis Showalter, in Lecture
10 of Introduction to Military History, describes it as one opponent
trailing the other because it cannot match its enemy in
“In this short definition of total war, we see two sides committed to a particular conflict
and will stop at nothing to accomplish their aims. There is no operational, logistical, or
human expense that will be spared to accomplish either participant’s desired end state.
An example of this particular type of warfare is World War II. Conflicts, such as Vietnam
and the Revolutionary War, take on many traits of “total war,” but in many ways, it is a
contest of ‘David vs. Goliath.’ ”
the areas of technology or instructional learning. 3 This gap must
be bridged; therefore, insurgents must use asymmetric tactics of
terrorism and guerrilla warfare.
More often than not, insurgencies are confused with the tactics
used to further their objectives. Terrorism and guerrilla warfare
tactics are commonly used; insurgents may use both or neither
of these tactics, however, they are not the overarching principle
of the conflict. Terrorism is described as “the threat or use of
physical coercion against noncombatants to create fear to achieve
political objectives;” guerrilla warfare uses hit-and-run tactics
against police, military, and physical infrastructures that support
the legitimate government. 4 The tactical success of an insurgency
depends on the strategic plan of the insurgent, which depends
on five key factors for success. Robert Tabor defines these factors
as the “will to maintain the revolt; the mindset to avoid the
state’s strengths and attack its weaknesses; the metamorphosis
of the protracted armed struggle from the strategic defensive, to
the strategic stalemate, to the strategic offensive; the role the political
organization plays in gaining and maintaining support for
the insurgency; and the government’s counteraction against the
insurgency. Does the government use discriminate force or indiscriminate
force when dealing with the enemy? The center of
gravity, or the civilian populace, that is on the fence could decide
to support the insurgency if the government uses violent means
against them.” 5
The five strategic aspects of this particular struggle show that
the typical insurgent needs to be endeared to the general public
to proliferate. The internal conflict needs to be balanced between
guerrilla, terrorism, and political tactics to be successful. The
ordinary civilian caught in the middle between government and
insurgent forces should be the main objective of insurgent or
counterinsurgent operations. Civilians are the center of gravity
and the aspect of this particular struggle
that can tip the favor from one side to another,
thus enabling insurgents to recruit
local citizens to join the insurgency, and encouraging
the local populace to support the
insurgency by providing a base of operations
or hospitality to the insurgent, as well
as financial and other means of support.
Support is vital to any insurgency, as proven
during the Vietnam War when South
Vietnamese villagers provided support to
the Viet Cong. This insurgent army blended
in with the population, which allowed
them to recruit from within villages and
maintain power, even when they were decisively
engaged by government forces.
Weapons and supplies were easily cached
in villages and stored in intricate cave systems.
In turn, this meant that logistics and
medical support came from these villages,
thereby fueling the insurgency. The fact
that the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese
army won over the center of gravity led
South Vietnamese and U.S. forces to begin
a campaign of clearing villages known
to harbor such insurgents. This campaign
effectively denied the insurgency its center
of gravity.
The center of gravity, or people, support
insurgencies because they see the government
failing them in two key areas: security
and basic services. These two key fac-
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