A UW Pocket Guide is now available to help understand Unconventional Warfare or UW. Unconventional Warfare (UW) is defined (see Joint Publication 3-05.1) as “. . . activities conducted to enable a resistance movement or insurgency to coerce, disrupt or overthrow a government or occupying power by operating through or with an underground, auxiliary, and guerrilla force in a denied area.”
Unconventional Warfare is one of the core Special Operations activities of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) located at MacDill Air Base in Florida. Other activities include Foreign Internal Defense, Direct Action, Civil Affairs Operations, Special Reconnaissance, Counterterrorism, Hostage Rescue and Recovery, Counterinsurgency, Foreign Humanitarian Assistance, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Military Information Support Operations.
Although the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) is the command that has responsibility for the conduct of UW it is the U.S. Army’s Special Forces (Green Berets) that have the expertise for UW. The United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) located at Fort Bragg, North Carolina has command of the seven Special Forces groups. USASOC has published the UW pocket guide – “. . . a pocket reference of Unconventional Warfare (UW) doctrine, concepts, academic inquiry, and suggested supplementary reading for military leaders and planners.”
The contents of the 44-page UW pocket guide contains a UW overview, UW terms, components of a resistance, and the seven phases of UW. In addition, the guide provides additional resources on law, policy, doctrine, white papers, academic studies, books, and videos.
The Unconventional Warfare Pocket Guide, Version 1.0, USASOC, April 2016 is available at the following link:
https://national-security.info/pubs/USASOC-UW-PocketGuide-Apr2016.pdf
