Arizona State University is now offering an academic journal that covers the topics of irregular warfare and special operations. The first issue, fall 2023, has been published and is posted online. This peer reviewed publication is focused on furthering studies and discussion on the intersection of irregular warfare and special operations. It will cover lessons learned (historical studies), current best practices, and the nature of future conflict.

The editors and editorial board are a “who’s who” of the special operations community; many of them academics in universities and military educational institutes – some with extensive military experience in special operations. Current plans are for the journal to be published twice a year.

The title of the journal is unusual and deserves explanation. Inter Populum is Latin for “among the people”. It has been said by General Rupert Smith (2005) and echoed by many national security pundits that the nature of future conflict will be “wars among the people”. Therefore, the focus of Inter Populum is the human domain – a principal concern of both irregular warfare and special operations.

This current issue has six articles about special operations and irregular warfare covering the topics of World War II, Falklands War, Ukraine, maritime operations, counterterrorism in strategic competition, and ethical decision-making. In addition, there are nine book reviews covering the topics of airpower, Vietnam, ‘Gray Wars’, military reconnaissance, interpreters, Iraq, intelligence, and more. The first issue of Inter Populum is a great read – I look forward to subsequent issues.

Inter Populum: Journal of Irregular Warfare and Special Operations, Arizona State University, Fall 2023, PDF, 148 pages. https://interpopulum.org/

By Edwin Wriston.

The West Virginia National Guard’s Ridge Runner Irregular Warfare Exercise 23-01, co-hosted by the Irregular Warfare Center, wrapped up June 16, 2023, at Camp Dawson, Kingwood, West Virginia.

The nearly two-week long exercise that spanned throughout West Virginia brought more than 420 members of the U.S. military, special operations community, allies and partners from 16 different nations, and observers to provide validation for deploying special forces elements in a dynamic and realistic irregular warfare scenario.

The Department of Defense’s summary of the Irregular Warfare Annex to the National Defense Strategy defines irregular warfare as the struggle among state and non-state actors to influence populations and affect legitimacy.

Key components of the exercise concentrated on building long-term interoperability between U.S. and foreign national special operations and conventional forces, enabling mission essential tasks, and assessing readiness while enhancing strategic and operational irregular warfare capabilities.

Participants from Charlie Company, 5th Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne); 92nd Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne); Bravo Company, 6th Psychological Operations Battalion (Airborne); and the United States Marine Corps 193rd Special Operations Group, 4th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, 4th Civil Affairs Group, and 4th Marine Corps Advisor Company Alpha trained alongside forces from the United Kingdom, Latvia, Lithuania, Polish Territorial Defense Force, Polish GRYF, and Polish JKW.

Observers from Canada, Georgia, Moldova, Qatar, Hungary, Germany, Finland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Australia, and the United Kingdom Special Air Service were also present.

“The Ridge Runner Irregular Warfare exercise helps provide critical cross-training and preparation of both special operations and joint forces to conduct irregular warfare activities while deployed into potentially hostile or contested environments,” stated Maj. Gen. Bill Crane, Adjutant General for the West Virginia National Guard. “Today’s complex environment demands we look to this type of realistic training to prepare our forces to combat malign and malicious activities by adversaries and peer competitors.”

He continued, “Our partnership with the IWC is allowing us to expand and enhance the Ridge Runner program to become a premier training venue for domestic and international forces right here in West Virginia all while supporting national security objectives. In addition, we were able to work with other state Adjutants Generals through the National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program to bring partner and allied forces to train in West Virginia on irregular warfare tasks. ”

During the exercise, participants assimilated into communities throughout West Virginia within two simulated nations spanning the northern and southern portions of the state. Participants met with real-world local government officials, law enforcement and emergency services personnel, and monitored simulated economic and political situations developing in each nation through simulated news casts and media engagements, mirroring procedures and operations they would conduct during actual deployments.

Data collected from these engagements was then used to drive additional training and operational missions sets during the exercise, leading up to culminating missions to counter a simulated invasion by hostile forces from neighboring nations.

“The West Virginia National Guard continues to prove that they are among the best in the world,” said Senator Manchin, member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “I applaud everyone involved with successfully restarting the Ridge Runner exercise, which develops and executes realistic training environments for irregular warfare across our great state. These simulations are critical to ensuring America and our allies are prepared and ready to handle the destabilizing tactics we’re seeing Russia and China employ through organizations like the Wagner Group. I was proud to secure $4 million through the FY 2023 federal budget to support the Ridge Runner exercise, and I will continue advocating for projects like these that strengthen and defend America’s national security.”

Prior to the actual exercise play, attendees participated in a three-day irregular warfare academics program of instruction through the Joint Special Operations University (JSOU). This academics program provided participants with advanced concepts and doctrine of irregular warfare and emphasized the importance of resistance and resiliency lines of effort to combat current and emerging threats on and off the battlefield.

“The benefit of what the IWC and Ridge Runner brings the knowledge of the non-kinetic skills and base knowledge to operate in an environment that is presenting the greatest non-kinetic threat to freedom around the world,” stated 2nd Lt. Marek Zaluski, Polish Territorial Defense Forces. “Freedom of not only the United States, but also its partners and allies. And that is why as partners we feel it is very important for us to participate in an expanded exercise model which includes academics from JSOU and the IWC. Only as a package does this create a full tool to combat the threat facing the world.”

“The West Virginia National Guard is a proven leader in the U.S. Special Operations community, and for allies and partners seeking expertise in Irregular Warfare. This summer’s Ridge Runner program, completed in partnership with the Department of Defense’s Irregular Warfare Center, shows the strength and leadership of West Virginia authorities across all levels of government and allowed our Special Operators to train in unique settings across the entire state. I look forward to continuing my support for this program, and the training opportunities it provides for our Special Forces to meet some of the most complex threats we might face,” Senator Capito said.

Another key component of the exercise that was developed through the partnership between the West Virginia National Guard and IWC was the inaugural Ridge Healer event. As forces transition to preparing to face a near peer adversary, medical competency and capability must shift to address the needs of the theatre, which includes practicing higher levels of medical care in austere locations with limited supplies and equipment.

This medical-centric exercise was developed to build resilience, resistance, and irregular warfare medical subject matter experts by incorporating the strategic and operational research through academia to tactical practical application. The 193rd Special Operations Medical Group, Pennsylvania Air National Guard, participated in the exercise to test their capability and capacity to support irregular warfare medical tasks performed in an austere environment.

The efforts of everyone involved in the complete planning and execution portions of the exercise were tremendous and the lessons learned will help to build even better scenarios and training opportunities for future iterations, stated U.S. Army Maj. Mikael Susick, Ridge Runner director.

The IWC and Ridge Runner program will be hosting numerous iterations of large- and small-scale exercises in the year, tailored to fit the needs of participating units. Focus areas will include irregular warfare activities including full-spectrum and multi-domain operations in denied areas, non-standard logistics and clandestine communications in a maritime environment.

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This story by Edwin Wriston was first published by the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service on June 21, 2023. DVIDS content is in the public domain.

Photo: Participants observe an LOC during Ridge Runner Irregular Warfare Exercise 23-01 in West Virginia. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jake Seawolf, WV NG, June 15, 2023.

In October 2022 the Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) reached initial operating capacity. The IWC serves as a central mechanism for developing DoD Irregular Warfare (IW) knowledge, concepts, and doctrine. The center will be featuring research, analysis, education, and international engagement to strengthen the U.S. network of international allies and security partners.

Staff. Some of the leading members on the IWC leadership team include Dr. Dennis Walters, Lori Leffler, Chris Burns, Kevin Stringer, Dr. Sandor Fabian, and Dr. Richard Newton. Each of these people bring a wealth of national security experience to the organization – most of them with a deep background in special operations.

TILT-C. One of its initiatives is the establishment of five-day course entitled Transformational Irregular Warfare Leaders Thought Course (TILT-C). The purpose of TILT-C is to develop senior US government leaders from across the departments and agencies to understand and employ IW as a tool of US policy as well as understanding its uses by near-peer adversaries. The course uses real-world IW problems to allow course participants to design policies, strategies, or campaigns.

Insights. The IWC will be providing information about Irregular Warfare through published articles. These are available on its website under the “Insights” tab. The first article published, by Dr. Kevin Stringer, is entitled “Irregular Warfare Campaigning and the Irregular Warfare Center”, Insights, December 1, 2022.

Future Plans. The IWC will soon be announcing a variety of future engagements for the irregular warfare community. These include conferences, seminars, webinars, podcasts, wargames, and other IW-related events.

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References:

Irregular Warfare Center
https://irregularwarfarecenter.org/

TILT-C
https://irregularwarfarecenter.org/initiatives/tilt-c/

The last several years the term Irregular Warfare (IW) has gained increased prominence within the national defense community. It has become a buzzword meaning different things to a variety of people and organizations. Irregular warfare consists of unconventional warfare (UW), counterinsurgency (COIN), counterterrorism (CT), foreign internal defense (FID), and stability operations (SO).

The U.S. recently published the Irregular Warfare Annex to the National Defense Strategy – which clarifies the role of IW within the Department of Defense and other government organizations. Since the IW annex has been published (Nov 2020) national security commentators have provided their perspective on what it means for the US defense establishment. Some of their more recent articles are provided below – with a brief synopsis of the article and link to the author’s article or publication.

Reimagining IW. A career Department of Defense civilian serving in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict (ASD SO/LIC), Kevin Bilms, expresses his views on how “Irregular Warfare” needs a new market strategy that will eliminate some misconceptions and assist others in recognizing IW’s potential value in great power competition. Read “What’s in a Name? Reimagining Irregular Warfare Activities for Competition”, War on the Rocks, January 15, 2021.

From CT to IW? Jason Criss Howk notes that the U.S. is moving from a narrow focus on counterterrorism (CT) to a broader focus on irregular warfare (IW). He says that the shift to a larger view of IW and all the tools in the government tool box is also part of a natural evolution of how CT is conducted. “From Counterterrorism to Irregular Warfare: What Does That Mean?”, Clearance Jobs, January 15, 2021.

Critical Thinking in the Military. Steve Ferenzi, a strategic planning officer at the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC), shares his thoughts about red teaming and critical thinking in the military. He argues that “traditional American military culture diametrically opposes divergent thought.” For the US military to lead through influence and tools short of armed conflict it needs a tectonic cultural shift to harness the power of divergent thought. Read his article “The Death of Critical Thinking in the Military? Here’s How to Fix It”, Real Clear Defense, January 14, 2021.

IW and a Pentagon Bureaucracy Change. The introduction of great power competition has brought back (for some) the importance of irregular warfare (IW). The Defense Department has placed more emphasis on IW as part of a broader effort to counter Russia and China. Despite the emphasis on counterterrorism and counterinsurgency over the past two decades the US still has an overwhelming conventional force advantage with its near-peer adversaries. For that reason, Russia and others are using political warfare and irregular warfare to advance their strategic interests. It is time for the US to step up its IW game as well. The Pentagon has recently turned the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office into the Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate. Read “A small bureaucratic change at the Pentagon hints at a major shift for US special-operations units”, Business Insider, January 11, 2021.

Dave Maxwell on IW, UW, PW, and CT. A retired Special Forces officer provides his perspective on the way forward when confronting Russia and China (as well as Iran and North Korea) in this new era of great power competition. He believes that SOF needs to focus on CT as well as on irregular warfare, unconventional warfare, and support to political warfare. He advocates some new principles both to frame special operations and communicate how the force supports the national strategy. “The Two Special Operations Trinities”, Small Wars Journal, January 6, 2021.

IW in Competition. Kevin Bilms states that “Irregular Warfare” is not a perfect term, but it helps to understand strategic competition short of an all-out war. He proposes that IW “. . . represents one way the military can apply its power complementarily with diplomatic, economic, financial and other elements of government power to secure strategic outcomes.” Read more in “Better Understanding irregular warfare in competition”, Military Times, January 1, 2021.

CA and IW. Three Army officers collaborate in an article on the role that Civil Affairs can play in bridging planning gaps and seams between convention and special operations forces in an irregular warfare environment. See “Building a Bridge: Cultivating an Irregular Warfare Mindset in the 83rd Civil Affairs Battalion”, Eunomia Journal, The Civil Affairs Association, December 28, 2020.

Podcast – Breaking the Boom-Bust Cycle of Irregular Warfare. David Maxwell (retired SF) and Deak Roh (of the ASD SO/LIC office) examine the IW Annex to the National Defense Strategy of 2018 and its relevance in an era defined by great power competition. Modern War Institute at West Point, December 18, 2020, 45 minutes.

Embracing IW. David H. Ucko, a professor at the National Defense University, believes that the release of the IW annex to the National Defense Strategy is insufficient to influence the reform and change needed to bring IW to the forefront within DoD and the US government at large. “Nobody Puts IW in an Annex: It’s Time to Embrace Irregular Warfare as a Strategic Priority“, Modern War Institute at West Point, October 14, 2020.

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Photo: A U.S. Army Special Forces Soldier assigned to 20th Special Forces Group and a Lithuanian National Defence Volunteer Forces (KASP) member conduct mission planning during exercise Saber Junction 2018 at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany. The exercise provided the opportunity to conduct irregular warfare in enemy occupied territory. Photo by 1st Lt. Benjamin Haulenbeek, SOCEUR, Sep 16, 2018.

References:

Summary of the Irregular Warfare Annex to the National Defense Strategy, DoD, 2020
https://media.defense.gov/2020/Oct/02/2002510472/-1/-1/0/Irregular-Warfare-Annex-to-the-National-Defense-Strategy-Summary.PDF

Summary of the National Defense Strategy, DoD, 2018
https://dod.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/2018-National-Defense-Strategy-Summary.pdf

Special Forces and Irregular Warfare (IW)
https://specialforcestraining.info/topics/irregular-warfare.htm

“Book Review – The American Way of Irregular War”, SOF News, August 4, 2020. In this book LTG (Ret) Charles Cleveland provides an interesting look at the past 40 years of history of U.S. special operations. He provides recommendations for the restructuring of the U.S. special operations community and its approach to irregular warfare.
http://www.sof.news/publications/american-way-irregular-warfare/