Foreign internal defense

Foreign internal defense

Foreign internal defense (FID) is used by a number of Western militaries, explicitly by the United States but sharing ideas with countries including France and the United Kingdom, to describe an approach to combating actual or threatened insurgency in a foreign state called the Host Nation (HN). The term counter-insurgency is more commonly used worldwide than FID. The United States, and even NATO, cannot control all insurgencies, however regional powers such as Nigeria and Brazil, as well as organizations such as the African Union (AU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), have shown an increased willingness to take some responsibility for containing turmoil in their regions. Consider, for example, the deployment of AU troops in the Darfur region of Sudan and Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) forces in Sierra Leone. But as Darfur has also demonstrated, regional troops can mobilize only if they have adequate logistical and transport capabilities", provided by US airlift to Darfurcitation
title = U.S. Airlift AU Troops to Darfur
date = 30 October 2004
journal = Sudan Vision
url =
] and UK in Sierra Leone (i.e., Operation Barras).

FID involves military deployment of counterinsurgency specialists. According to the US doctrinal manual, "Joint Publication 3-07.1: Foreign Internal Defense (FID)", those specialists preferably do not themselves fight the insurgents. Doctrine calls for a close working relationship between the HN government and military with outside military, diplomatic, economic, and other specialists. The most successful FID actions prevent actual violence, although that is rarely possible. When combat is needed, it is best done by HN personnel with appropriate external support, the external support preferably being in a noncombat support and training role alone.

Formally, FID is defined as "Participation by civilian and military agencies of a government in any of the action programs taken by another government or other designated organization to free and protect its society from subversion, lawlessness, and insurgency."citation
last = US Department of Defense
authorlink = United States Department of Defense
date = 12 July 2007
id = JP 1-02 | url = | accessdate = 2007-11-21
] It is the main area for United States counterinsurgency doctrine, although other nations, such as France and the United Kingdom have carried out FID missions. The new counterinsurgency Field Manual,citation | publisher = US Department of the Army | first1 = John A. | last1 = Nagl | first2 = David H.| last2 = Petraeus | first3 = James F. | last3 =Amos |first4 = Sarah | last4 = Sewall
title = Field Manual 3-24 Counterinsurgency
date = December 2006
url =
accessdate = 2008-02-03
] defines counterinsurgency as ("italics" in original)

Insurgency and its tactics are as old as warfare itself. Joint doctrine defines an "insurgency" as an organized movement aimed at the overthrow of a constituted government through the use of subversion and armed conflict. Stated another way, an "insurgency" is an organized, protracted politico-military struggle designed to weaken the control and legitimacy of an established government, occupying power, or other political authority while increasing insurgent control. "Counterinsurgency" is military, paramilitary, political, economic, psychological, and civic actions taken by a government to defeat insurgency.. These definitions are a good starting point, but they do not properly highlight a key paradox: though insurgency and COIN are two sides of a phenomenon that has been called revolutionary war or internal war, they are distinctly different types of operations. In addition, insurgency and COIN are included within a broad category of conflict known as irregular warfare.

In many respects, it is the mirror image of the U.S. doctrine for guerilla warfare, which in U.S. special operations is called unconventional warfare:


url =
publisher = U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
title = Ending the Debate: Unconventional Warfare, Foreign Internal Defense, and Why Words Matter
author = Jones, D
year = 2006

:*To support or shape the environment for the larger conventional campaign, such as WWII Resistance operations conducted before the Normandy invasion:*unilateral effort, generally conducted covertly, includes Afghanistan against the Soviets in the 1980s, and again in Afghanistan after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Effective FID is a Partnership

url =
title = The Indirect Approach: the role of Aviation Foreign Internal Defense in Combating Terrorism in Weak and Failing States
author = Sagraves, Robert D
publisher = Air Command and Staff College
date = April 2005


It has been a basic axiom that successful FID programs is that successful ones are real partnerships. According to Cordesman, a set of rules for establishing such partnerships include::#Real security dialogue at the bilateral and regional level means listening and last personal relationships.:#Security cooperation should focus on security and stability, notpolitical or social reform. Such efforts should recognize the legitimacy of different values and be the subject of a separate dialogue.:#Build trust by clearly seeking friend or ally’s security.:#Focus on building local self-defense and deterrence capabilities, not presence or dependence.:#Help friends and allies build forces in their own way; do not “mirror image.”:#Recognize the reality that other nations define threats and allies differently from the US.:#Arms sales must clearly benefit the buyer, not just the seller.:#Ensure sustainability, capability to operate own forces in own way.:#Responsive, time sensitive aid, deployment, sales, and transfers.


first = Steven | last = Metz
publisher = U.S. Army Professional Writing Collection
date = June 2007
title = Rethinking Insurgency
url =



Participants in FID programs

publisher = Harper
year = 1998
first = H.R. | last = McMaster | authorlink=H. R. McMaster
] An ineffective HN government guarantees the failure of counterinsurgency.





Nongovernmental organizations


NGOs and PVOs (as well as coalition partners) may require services from combat service support (CSS) units. The assistance may have been negotiated before the organization arrived in the area of operations, or the situation may create a sudden demand. responsibilities may also include support of coalition members, representatives of nongovernmental organizations.

For example, recent multinational operations involving U.S. forces have at times included representatives from nations unable to fully support their deployed forces. Calls by coalition members for U.S. support have in other instances been due less to an inability to provide assistance than to a desire to take advantage of superior U.S. capabilities (e.g., medical care). Urban operations put coalition forces in closer proximity to each other. The number of such requests is therefore likely to be greater during such contingencies. Operational readiness or coalition politics may dictate that they be granted despite the resultant burden on U.S. CSS units. U.S. Marine Corps forces found themselves providing various types of assistance to members of the media during their 2002 operations in and around Kandahar, Afghanistan. Already tasked withrequirements beyond those initially expected, scarce resources were further stretched by having to support fifty members of these various commercial organizationscitation
url =
first1 = Russell W. | last1 =Glenn | first2 = Steven L. | last2 = Hartman | first3=Scott | last3=Gerwehr
title = Urban Combat Service Support Operations: the Shoulders of Atlas
publisher = RAND Corporation
year = 2003


Western special operations forces are considered strategic assets with core missions including FID and UW. They may hae other capabilities relevant to specific situations, such as demining. United States Army Special Forces are among the most versatile organizations, but not all their capabilities:cite web
title=U.S. Army Special Forces Command (A): Missions
work=United States Army Special Forces Command
] may be needed for a specific FID situation. For example, the most urgent need might be for public health specialists or airfield construction crews, which operate on a level far beyond the medical or engineering specialists of a U.S. Special Forces unit. Superb public health or construction organizations, however, have limited or no self-defense capability and will need protection in insecure areas.

FID models





Myths and Fallacies

The term Global War on Terror has been criticized, but there may be utility in examining a war not specifically on the tactic of terror, but in one or more, potentially cooperating insurgencies. "the utility of analyzing the war on terrorism using an insurgency/counterinsurgency conceptual framework. Additionally, the recommendations can be applied to the strategic campaign, even if it is politically unfeasible to address the war as an insurgency."cite paper
title = An Alternate Military Strategy for the War on Terrorism
author = Canonico, Peter J.
url =
date = December 2004
publisher = U.S. Naval Postgraduate School
] Cordesman points out some of the myths in trying to have a worldwide view of terror::*Cooperation can be based on trust and common values: One man’s terrorist is another man’s terrorist.:*A definition of terrorism exists that can be accepted by all.:*Intelligence can be freely shared.:*Other states can be counted on to keep information secure, and use it to mutual advantage.:*International institutions are secure and trustworthy.:*Internal instability and security issues do not require compartmentation and secrecy at national level.:*The “war on terrorism” creates common priorities and needs for action.:*Global and regional cooperation is the natural basis for international action.:*Legal systems are compatible enough for cooperation.:*Human rights and rule of law differences do not limit cooperation.:*Most needs are identical.:*Cooperation can be separated from financial needs and resources

url =
author = Mao Tse-tung
title = On Protracted War
work = Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung
publisher = Foreign Languages Press
year = 1967

Kilcullen's Pillars

Kilcullen gives a useful visual overview of an insurgency and counterinsurgencycite web
url =
title = Three Pillars of Counterinsurgency
author = Kilcullen, David J.
conference = U.S. Government Counterinsurgency Conference, Washington D.C.
date =2006-09-28
] of the actors in the models, which generally agrees with a model represents home as a box defined by geographic, ethnic, economic, social, cultural, and religious characteristics. Insidethe box are governments, counterinsurgent forces, insurgent leaders, insurgent forces, and the general population, which is made up of three groups: :#those committed to the insurgents:#those committed to the counterinsurgents:#those who simply wish to get on with their lives.

The three pillar model repeats later as part of the gaps to be closed to end an insurgency. "Obviously enough, you cannot command what you do not control. Therefore, "unity of command" (between agencies or among government and non-government actors) means little in this environment." Unity of command is one of the axioms of military doctrinecite book
title = Field Manual 3-0: Operations
date = 14 June 2001
location=Washington, D.C.
publisher=Department of the Army
url =| format=PDF
] change with the use of swarming:cite book
url =
title = Swarming and the Future of War
author = Edwards, Sean J.A.
date = September 2004
series = PhD thesis
publisher=Pardee RAND Graduate School
] . In Edwards swarming model, as in Kilcullen's mode, unity of command becomes "unity of effort" at best, and collaboration or deconfliction at least.".


McCormick Magic Diamond

McCormick’s modelcite paper
title = The Shining Path and Peruvian terrorism
author = McCormick, Gordon
publisher = RAND Corporation
comment = often called Magic Diamond
id = Document Number: P-7297
year = 1987

The model depicts four key elements or players::#Insurgent Force:#Counterinsurgency force (i.e., the government):#Population:#International community. All of these interact, and the different elements have to assess their best options in a set of actions::#Gaining Support of the Population:#Disrupt Opponent’s Control Over the Population:#Direct Action Against Opponent:#Disrupt Opponent’s Relations with the International Community:#Establish Relationships with the International Community

Barnett and connecting to the core

In Thomas Barnett's paradigm,cite book
author = Barnett, Thomas P.M.
authorlink = Thomas P.M. Barnett
title = The Pentagon's New

publisher = Berkley Trade
year = 2005
ISBN-10 = 0425202399
id = Barnett-2005
] the world is divided into a "connected core" of nations enjoying a high level of communications among their organizations and individuals, and those nations that are disconnected internally and externally. In a reasonably peaceful situation, he describes a "system administrator" force, often multinational, which does what some call "nation-building", but, most importantly, connects the nation to the core and empowers the natives to communicate -- that communication can be likened to swarm coordination. If the state is occupied, or in civil war, another paradigm comes into play, which is generally beyond the scope of FID: the leviathan, a first-world military force that takes down the opposition regular forces. Leviathan is not constituted to fight local insurgencies, but major forces. Leviathan may use extensive swarming at the tactical level, but its dispatch is a strategic decision that may be made unilaterally, or by an established group of the core such as NATO or ASEAN.


Eizenstat and closing gaps

Broad views of FID involve closing "gaps",citation
url =
journal = Foreign Affairs
title = Rebuilding Weak States
author = Eizenstat, Stuart E.
authorlink = Stuart E. Eizenstat
coauthors = John Edward Porter and Jeremy M. Weinstein
date = January/February 2005
Volume = 84
issue = 1
] some of which can be done by military advisors and even combat assistance, but, even more broadly, helping the Host Nation (HN) be seen as responsive. To be viable, a state must be able to close three "gaps", of which the first is most important::* security: protection "against internal and external threats, and preserving sovereignty over territory. If a government cannot ensure security, rebellious armed groups or criminal nonstate actors may use violence to exploit this security gap—as in Haiti, Nepal, and Somalia.":* capacity: The most basic are the survival needs of water, electrical power, food and public health, closely followed by education, communications and a working economic system. "An inability to do so creates a capacity gap, which can lead to a loss of public confidence and then perhaps political upheaval. "In most environments, a capacity gap coexists with—or even grows out of—a security gap." In Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, segments of the population are cut off from their governments because of endemic insecurity. And in postconflict Iraq, critical capacity gaps exist despite the country’s relative wealth and strategic importance.":* legitimacy: closing the legitimacy gap is more than an incantation of "democracy" and "elections", but a government that is perceived to exist by the consent of the governed, has minimal corruption, and has a working law enforcement and judicial system that enforce human rights.

Note the similarity between Eizenstat's gaps and Kilcullen's three pillars.

Cordesman and Security


title = Security Cooperation in the Middle East
first = Anthony H. | last = Cordesman
date = 29 October 2007
publisher = Center for Strategic and International Studies
url =,com_csis_pubs/task,view/id,4139/type,1/
] :*In North Africa, the US focus should be on security cooperation in achieving regional stability and in counterterrorism. :*In the Levant, the US must largely compartment security cooperation with Israel and cooperation with friendly Arab states like Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon, but can improve security cooperation with all these states.:*In the Gulf, the US must deal with the strategic importance of a region whose petroleum and growing gas exports fuel key elements of the global economy.





title = The Importance of Building Local Capabilities: Lessons from the Counterinsurgency in Iraq
author = Cordesman, Anthony H.
authorlink = Anthony Cordesman
publisher = Center for Strategic and International Studies
url =,com_csis_pubs/task,view/id,3411/type,1/
date = 2006-08-01
] Cordesman recognizes some value in the groupings in Samuel Huntington's idea of the clash of civilizations,cite book
title = The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order
authorlink = Samuel P. Huntington
author = Huntington, Samuel P.
publisher= Simon & Schuster
year = 1996
ISBN-10 = 0684811642

National Problems and Transnational Spillover

title = On the Brink, Weak States and US National Security
author = Weinstein, Jeremy M
coauthors = John Edward Porter and Stuart E. Eizenstat
date = 06/08/2004
url =
publisher = Center for Global Development
] Problems include::*Blood diamonds:*Piracy:*Disease:*Illicit drugs:*Terrorism:*Ethnic cleansing:*Economic instability


Blood diamonds

Transnational criminal networks may use weak nations as sanctuaries for high-value, low-volume commodities such as diamondscite web
title = Conflict Diamonds
publisher = United Nations Department of Public Information
date = 2001-03-21
url =

Illicit drug trade

title = The Need for Special Operations Forces in the Andean Region's Counter Drug Efforts
publisher = U.S. Army War College
author = Comodeca, Thomas J.
date = 07-04-2003
url =
accessdate = 2007-12-15

url =
title = Joint Publication JP3-07.4: Joint Counterdrug Operations
date = 13 June 2007
publisher = US Joint Chiefs of Staff




url =
date = 15 March 2006
title = The Role of the U.S. Navy in Support of the National Strategy for Marine Security
author = Winter, Peter J.
publisher = U.S. Army War College

Piracy also may feed into security violations at ports, and as a means by which terrorists transport personnel and materials.cite web
url =
title = Port and Maritime Security: Background and Issues for Congress
date = 2005-05-27
publisher = Congressional Research Service
author = Frittelli, John F.
url =
author = OECD Maritime Transport Committee
publisher = Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
title = Ownership and Control of Ships
date = March 2003
] . There are reports that 15 cargo ships are linked to al-Qaeda. [cite web
url =
date = 2003-08-20
publisher = Center for Defense Information
title =Al Qaeda's 'Navy' - How Much of a Threat?
author = Robinson, Colin


title = National Intelligence Estimate 99-17D: The Global Infectious Disease Threat and Its Implications for the United States
date = January 2000
url =

url =
author = Naval Medical Research Center
title = U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No.3 (NAMRU-3)
] has been active in Egypt since the Second World War. Located next to the Abbassia Fever Hospital, the oldest and largest fever hospital in the Middle East, it does research with Egyptian personnel and scientific clinicals throughout Africa and Southwest Asia. It works closely with the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organization, the U.S Agency for International Development and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. NAMRU-3 is a WHO Collaborating Center for HIV and Emerging Infectious Diseases.


Organized transnational terrorists can flourish in weak states. A globally-oriented group using terrorist methods can coexist with a local insurgency, or perhaps in the country that offers sanctuary to a border-crossing insurgency in a neighboring state. Developed country terrorism programs can benefit from FID in weak states, by strengthening those states, with due regard to human rights and the rule of law. FID can complement the global war onterrorism by reducing these contributing factors. The defensive measures of anti-terrorism (AT) and offensive counterterrorism efforts can be part of the FID program developed for a HN.


In many cases, measures increasing the capacity of a state to fight terrorism alsowill strengthen its overall IDAD program. These measures can include the following::(a) Developing the ability of the HN to track illicit financial transactions, break funding streams for criminal and insurgent groups, and prosecute their members. This may involve greater USHN cooperation in developing regulated financial institutions. See financial intelligence (FININT):(b) Ensuring that HN security personnel have access to appropriate equipment and training to conduct all phases of combating terrorism operations.:(c) Training personnel at entry and exit points (including airports, seaports, and border crossings) to identify and apprehend individuals and materials being used by international terrorist groups.:(d) Assisting HN security and intelligence agencies to be included into international networks that can share information on terrorist activities.:(e) Developing effective judicial systems, and minimizing corruption and intimidation of HN officials.citation
url =
title = Afghanistan: Judicial Reform and Transitional Justice
date = 28 January 2003
volume = ICG Asia Report N°45
publisher = International Crisis Group

Ethnic cleansing


Nonmilitary Actions in Closing Gaps

While the usual focus is on the military component of FID, the US FID joint doctrinal manualcite web
url =
title = Joint Publication 3-07.1: Foreign Internal Defense (FID)
date = 2004-04-30
author = US Department of Defense
accessdate = 2007-11-21
] makes it clear that FID must be coordinated with all parts of a host government's scope. Doctrinally, the overall program should be under the United States Department of State, or equivalent Foreign Ministry for other countries' FID programs. In the sixties a presidentially appointed ambassador, otherwiseknown as chief of mission (COM), heads the embassy.citation
url =$File/Killebrew.pdf?OpenElement
title = The Army and the Changing American Strategy
author = Killebrew, Robert
journal = Army
date = 2007-08
accessdate = 2007-11-26

"Every authority on counterinsurgency emphasizes the need for unity of command in the threatened area and emphasizes the primacy of political planning over military. But for various reasons having to do with U.S. intragovernmental rivalry, U.S. policy perpetuates competing lines of command and competition between military and political leaders in insurgency and preinsurgency theaters."Killebrew] In Iraq, Multinational Force Iraq reports to United States Central Command, not the Ambassador.


In the US context, many of these functions, when provided by government, are the responsibility of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), whose main missions are grouped as::*Global Development Alliance:*Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade:*Global Health:*Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance.





Debt Relief

url =
title = Debt Relief Under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative
publisher = International Monetary Fund
author = IMF External Relations Department
date = October 2007


Kilcullen's economic pillar includes::*near-term component of immediate humanitarian relief:*longer-term programs for development assistance across a range of agricultural, industrial and commercial activities. :*Assistance in effective resource and infrastructure management:*Construction of key infrastructure systems. All these components need to be tailored to the HN capacity to absorb spending, as well as efforts to increase absorptive capacity, underpin other development activities. "One of the fundamental reasons for the U.S. military’s success in reacting to emergencies is its almost limitless supply of contingency funding. U.S. development agencies have no comparable capacity. Congress should give the president a “country-in-transition” fund to finance unforeseen reconstruction or peacekeeping operations... [the world needs] cohesive rapid response unit, a centralized pool of interagency experts on state building—the rule of law, governance, and economic reform—trained to work together and able to deploy rapidly, unencumbered by bureaucratic inertia, to crisis spots." Language and cultural knowledge gaps alone mean that this cannot be a unilateral US operation.

Military Assistance

Economic support can include the provision of foreign military financing under security assistance. Providing military equipment, however, must be done in a manner that the insurgents cannot exploit in their propaganda, calling the country or countries supporting the government "merchants of death" or the like.


All special operations personnel have medical training beyond basic first aid, with the United States Army Special Forces medical specialists closer to the paramedic or physician assistant levels. The engineering specialists often can construct wells and irrigation systems.

url =
title = Stability operations and the implications for military health services support
first1 = MCM | last1 = Bricknell | first1= N | last1 = Hanhart
journal = J. Army Med Corps (UK)
volume = 153
issue = 1
pages = 18-21
date = 30 April 2007


journal = British Medical Journal
url =
date = 15 July 2000
volume = 321
issue = 7254
pages = 169–172.
title = The health costs of war: can they be measured? Lessons from El Salvador
first1 = Antonio | last1=Ugalde | first2 = Ernesto | last2 = Selva-Sutter | | first3 = Carolina | last3=Castillo | first4 = Carolina | first4 = Paz | first5 = Sergio | last5= Cañas

For countries that have had long civil wars or other conflicts that left a legacy of land mines, prosthetic services, regretfully, may be necessary -- and leave long-term friendships.citation
url =
title = Guerilla Warfare and Land Mine Casualties remain Inseparable
first1 = Lester W. | last1 = Grau | first2 = William A. | last2 = Jorgensen
journal = U.S. Army Medical Department Journal
date = October-December 1998

Agriculture and Nutrition

url =
title = The Philippines: In Search of a “Transformed” Society- Building Peaceful Social Relations –by, for, and with the People
first1 = Nieves R. | last1 = Confesor
date = 21 November 2005

Public Health, Research and Advanced Treatment




FID operations







Planning staff

HNs vary greatly in the extent of their tradition of a professional military staff. Some may have no idea of a staff besides personal aides to a senior leader. Others may have concepts that go back many years, with personnel trained in their own staff colleges, by foreign study, or both. It should not be forgotten that insurgents also may have well-trained staff.



url =
date = 1999-03-15
journal = Air & Space Power Journal - Chronicles Online Journal
title =Physical Attack Information Operations in Bosnia: Counterinformation in a Peace Enforcement Environment
author = Tulak, Arthur N.
accessdate = 2007-11-24




Legitimacy and Government

In the gap model, closing the legitimacy gap provides a framework for constructive HN activity.Eizenstat-2005] Kilcullen calls this gap the political pillar.Kilcullen3P pg. 13]



Disarming, Demobilization and Reintegration: the End State



"Transparency—in a developing government’s decision-making, its allocation of budgetary funds, and its administration of the rule of law—must also be promoted.Eizenstat-2005] Perceived transparency and the reduction of corruption were key to the success of Ramon Magsaysay in creating a viable government in the Philippines. That El Salvador and Nicaragua are negotiating free trade agreements is another mark of success.

The Limits to Intervention



url =
date= 2004-09-25
title = Washington College: Lessons in Democracy
author = Hoopes, Townsend
authorlink = Townsend Hoopes



Legitimacy is Culturally defined

url =
title = Creating a Democratic Alternative
author = Afghans for Civil Society


url =
author = Marighella, Carlos
title = Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla




Is there a role for counterterror?

url =
title = Patterns of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency
journal = Military Review
date = July-August 2005
pages = 23-27
first = John | last = Lynn

In a counterinsurgency situation, the perception of the government (i.e., McCormick's CF ) violating the human rights of the population causes Eisenstat's legitimacy gap to widen. The Phoenix program in South Vietnam was criticized for a lack of precision in its targeting, and caused a further loss in legitimacy of the government, regardless of the damage done to the Viet Cong infrastructure. Marighella recommended that urban guerillas deliberately provoke the government into overreaction, as a means of reducing its legitimacy.; the doctrine of having FID trainers counsel respect for human rights has pure military, not just humanitarian, justification.

url =
title = Modern Warfare: A French View of Counterinsurgency
first = Roger | last = Trinquier
year = 1961
comment = 1964 English translation by Daniel Lee with an Introduction by Bernard B. Fall

Indirect military support operations


Troop Equipping and Training






title = U.S. Air Forces in Europe airlift Nigerian troops to Sudan's Darfur region
Date = 28 October 2004
first = Jenny | last = Lovett
url =

Information Operations

url =
title = Leaflets of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm
author = Friedman, Herbert A.

When using propaganda in FID, it must never be forgotten that there are multiple audiences with often different perspectives. The wrong leaflet or broadcast send to the wrong group can be counterproductive. In US FID doctrine, [citation
title = Joint Publication 3-53: Doctrine for Joint Psychological Operations
url =
publisher = US Joint Chiefs of Staff
date = 5 September 2003
] targets are identified as:

:#Insurgents. "Create dissension, disorganization, low morale, subversion, and defection within insurgent forces, as well as help discredit them." A leaflet intended to strengthen the resolve of HN military forces might be perceived as demonstrating weakness of the latter vis-a-vis the insurgents.:#Civilian populace. "Gain, preserve, and strengthen civilian support for the HN government and its counterinsurgency programs." Too strong a military emphasis, regarding actions of either side, can be frightening.:#Military forces. Strengthen military support, with emphasis on building and maintaining the morale of the HN forces. "Avoid anything that can be turned against HN forces by insurgents.":#Neutral elements. "Gain the support of uncommitted groups inside and outside the HN.":#External hostile powers. "Convince hostile foreign [groups] the insurgency will fail."

Direct military support not involving combat operations



Direct support (not involving combat operations) involve the use of US forces providing directassistance to the HN civilian populace or military. They differfrom SA in that they are joint- or Service-funded, do not usuallyinvolve the transfer of arms and equipment, and do not usually butmay include training local military forces.

Direct support operations are normally conducted when the HN has not attained self-sufficiency and is faced with social, economic, or military threats beyond itscapability to handle. Assistance will normally focus on civil-militaryoperations (primarily, the provision of services to the local populace),psychological operations, communications and intelligence sharing, andlogistic support. The decision to conduct US combat operations inFID operations is the President's and serves only as a temporarysolution until HN forces are able to stabilize the situation and providesecurity for the populace. In all cases, US combat operations supportthe HN IDAD program and remain strategically defensive in nature.








Urban Intelligence Issues

Marighella speaks of the urban environment as being as or more concealing than the jungle.Walls, roofs, and other structural features interrupt line-of-sight (LOS) and make overhead imagery of less value in urban areas than in others. Such barriers preclude penetration by many sensors.There may be a limited capability provided by advanced thermal sensors, and, if available, penetrating radar, typically from airborne or spaceborne senseors that are not readily available.




Human rights and HUMINT


Advanced Intelligence Sharing

title = The Illicit Drug Transit Zone in Central America Hearing and Briefing
author = Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, House Committee on International Relations, 109th Congress, First Session
publisher = US Government Printing Office
date = November 9, 2005
id = Serial No. 109–139

first = Sheldon W. | last = Simon
title = U.S. Policy and Terrorism in Southeast Asia
publisher = Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
date = June 2003
url =
accessdate = 2007-10-16

Aviation Support

One of the more challenging FID roles is that of aviation, given that the US Air Force has long emphasized strategic attack and the de-emphasis of airpower’s supporting functions have contributed to a doctrinal void regarding airpower’s role in counterinsurgency. Four airpower functions define the broad scope of airpower’s role in fighting insurgents and terrorists, three of which can be noncombat::* air mobility: often extremely valuable, but on the edge of combat operations when HN personnel are flown to a combat zone.:* intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR):*information operations (IO): not just broadcasts and leaflet drops, but air transport of government officials to remote areas can be used to improve HN information dissemination efforts and to provide a strong symbol of government legitimacy and resolve. For instance, the Philippine secretary of defense during the Huk rebellion, Ramon Magsaysay, frequently traveled by air to visit remote barrios and frontline units to boost morale and inform the public of new government reform policies. Air mobility can transport specialists and technicians to remote areas in order to provide on-site training and assistance in areas such as public services management, medical care, sanitation and hygiene, agriculture, and school administration. Furthermore, air mobility can be used to transport construction equipment, supplies, and personnel to remote areas in support of public works programs such as housing construction, power generation, and transportation infrastructure improvements. In addition, air mobility can address political alienation and disenfranchisement by extending the electoral process to outlying areas:*counterland: close air support would fall into the combat operations category.

Direct combat role






Fire Support


Air Interdiction and Precision Strike

url =
publisher = RAND Corporation
author = Rosenau, William
year = 2000
accessdate = 2007-11-11
last = Correll
first = John T.
title = Igloo White
journal = Air Force Magazine Online
volume = 87
issue = 11
date = November 2004
url =
id = IglooWhite
accessdate = 2007-10-03
] .



pecial Reconnaissance


It may be highly desirable, while a sensitive operation is in progress, to have the HN conduct distracting operations. The knowledge of the sensitive operation must be tightly held, and most of the troops carrying out the distraction -- which ideally has a result more than mere distraction -- will not know why they are taking a particular action.

Another example is where HN personnel guide a successful rescue effort in denied area, as Nguyen Van Kiet did with a United States Navy SEAL companion, Thomas R. Norris behind enemy lines. Norris received the U.S. Medal of Honor for his part of the mission.

Direct Action and Unconventional Warfare

When the FID force takes direct action, or leads UW forces, it needs a clear reason to do so. Jones cites some examples as::#Operations against Rogue, Hostile Regimes or State Sponsors of Terrorism--a proven operational concept having been used successfully twice since 11 September in Afghanistan and Iraq. These operations will either be the decisive or shaping operation depending on the political sensitivity of the target country.:#Operations against what will be referred to in this study as al Qa’ida states (AQ States) in which al Qa’ida is able to overthrow one or more of the regimes within the boundary of the 7th century caliphate. Unconventional warfare would be used to overthrow these regimes.:#Operations in failed states when there is no effective government, but an element within the population, such as a tribe or ethnic group, is the State for all intents and purposes. In this case unconventional warfare will be used to overthrow this State.

Conventional Ground Operations


Naval Surveillance and Patrol






United Kingdom


Sir Frank Kitson, former commander of UK land forces, said practical counterinsurgency had nothing "special" about it, but was mainstream British Army.McClintock-2005] Of course, there was significant use of the Special Air Service and other specialist units such as 14 Intelligence Company in Northern Ireland. According to McClintock, the base of UK doctrine was::*Population control through strong civil and military administrative structures.:*Strong foundation in law enforcement as tool and source of legitimacy.:*Emphasis upon the primacy of intelligence. :*Only limited role for elite commando-style strike force.During the Malayan emergency, for example, the British Royal Air Force made extensive use of helicopters and fixed-wing transports to insert light infantry and Special Air Service units deep into the jungle, keeping them supplied by air for extended periods. These “deep-penetration” patrols were a key factor in defeating the Malayan insurgent forces in the more remote areas of the country

United States

United States Army Special Forces' original mission was to train and lead guerrillas in a nation occupied by another: " [US Special Forces provided] advisory personnel and mobile training teams to advise, train and provide operational assistance for paramilitary forces." ["US Army Counterinsurgency Forces", FM 31-22, 1963. Cited in "America's Other War" by Doug Stokes (2005)] The most likely case, at the time Special Forces were created, would be to lead resistance groups in European countries overrun by the expected Soviet Bloc attack. Over time, the term guerrilla warfare, especially led by Americans, fell into disfavor, and unconventional warfare took its place.

A November 1947 Department-of-the-Army memorandum entitled "A Study of Special and Subversive Operations" was an early assessment of the lessons learned from World War II in the context of Cold War imperatives. In the only point in the memorandum concerning counterguerrilla operations, the authors point to the German example:

The means of counteracting resistance movements and activities demand special consideration. Our forces have had little experience in combating an active underground enemy. The problems which faced the Germans and the measures employed by them in counteracting partisan warfare should be studied. It is quite possible that a future war will find us occupying a hostile country in which exists an active underground. Or we might find ourselves in a friendly country, possibly the United States, facing an enemy while at the same time a hostile partisan force operates in our rear. [U.S. Department of the Army, Organization and Training Division, "A Study of Special and Subversive Operations" (Washington, D.C.: 25 November 1947, Secret). P&O 091.412. TS thru WSEG.TS, Army Operations, General Administrative files 1949-1952, "Hot File," Box 10, National Archivc RG 319 (Records of the Army Staff) cited in [ "Instruments of Statecraft"] by Michael McClintock (1992)]
In the early 1950s, the Department of the Army's Military History Division published a series of studies of the German response to the threat of guerrilla warfare. The German armies had attempted a systematic approach to the threat of partisan warfare during Operation BARBAROSSA (the Russian campaign) in 1941, and later in the Balkans. The "German Report Series" was devised to glean lessons from the experience. That German tactics against Soviet partisans would play a part in the development of a postwar doctrine for fighting communist guerrillas was perhaps a natural product of the Cold War hysteria of the 1950s. The army's 1956 book-length study "Soviet Partisans" was the last and most comprehensive of the "German Report Series" on antipartisan warfare. Michael McClintock writes that, "The disturbing similarity between the Nazi's view of the world and the American stance in the Cold War apparently went by the board." [ [ "Instruments of Statecraft"] by Michael McClintock (1992)]

Related activities, just after WWII, included a Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG), first in Greece. Another MAAG went to French Indochina in 1950. The US really had no formal organization for providing FID, before the creation of Special Forces. MAAG organizations were intended to be advisory (i.e., noncombat), while Special Forces was designed initially for training and leading guerrillas against an occupier.

As US involvement increased in Southeast Asia, Special Forces personnel were assigned to FID missions with South Vietnamese troops. The MAAG converted to Military Assistance Command Vietnam in 1962, as a MAAG was not organized to command combat units. The first programs involved a CIA-sponsored program, operated by Army Special Forces, to work with Vietnamese Civilian Irregular Defense Groups (CIDG) and Nung mercenaries to establish village defense. Subsequently, many of these units became Vietnamese Rangers.

Starting in 1965, while they were not as highly trained for working with host nation personnel, the US Marine Corps Combined Action Program (CAP) took on a similar role of reinforcing and training local village soldiers.cite web
url =
title = US Marines Combined Action Platoons (CAC/CAP) Web Site: Vietnam 1965-1971.
accessdate = 2007-11-26

"...the direct support to the El Salvadoran military to defeat the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN)" in the 1980-1992 Salvadoran Civil War." eventually tilted the conflict to the government side. FMLN subsequently became a legal political party. Human rights violations, by both sides, took place. "During the Reagan years in particular, not only did the United States fail to press for improvements...but in an effort to maintain backing for U.S. policy, it misrepresented the record of the Salvadoran government and smeared critics who challenged that record. In so doing, the administration needlessly polarized the debate in the United States and did a grave injustice to the thousands of civilian victims of government terror in El Salvador."cite book
author = Americas Watch
title = El Salvador’s Decade of Terror: Human Rights Watch Books
publisher = Yale University Press
year = 1991
page = 119
] . Unfortunately, human rights violations tend to be common during insurgencies. Western powers are under considerable pressure to be sure to include human rights training in the overall assistance to HN personnel, although the results vary. Part of the challenge comes when HN personnel go into combat without FID advisors to monitor their conduct.


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