what are the 7 warfighting functions

One example is moving forces to execute a large-scale air or airborne assault. Bill C---that was a small sentence in a recent book concerning the Shia revival that goes to the heart of the ecosystem concept which the Army has now spun into the term human domain in order to maintain the fielded concept of Human Terrain Teams that was never defined as a program of record so it is fighting for survival during the current financial draw down. They will have used their collective MIEs to survive assault from all of the above weapon system and platforms - by units as small as 4 man SF teams, as rapid as Air Mobile and as overwhelming as a mechanized Infantry Brigade. In plain English, the 7th WfF is all of the tasks and systems that military units would need to do or have to influence people, taking into account the socio-economic, cognitive, and physical aspects of human activity". (take it, figure out what to do with it, apply it). Pizarro was eventually killed by his own people, but the Inca Empire was forever lost. Actually making these things happen in the face of the current drawdown, our relatively recent infatuation with technology and the inexplicable application of physical domain concepts to the human domain, however, will be a herculean task. The Pushtoon Secessionists fighting the Pak Army across the border in Pakistan are a good fit but a similar approach to Counter UW is IMO a dead loss at best and dangerously ruinous at worst. Preferably we should take our cues from critical realism and multi-paradigmatic framing and reject the notion that the social realm should be approached using mainly the scientific method and linear logical tools and processes. Within Internalized Social Change, the social anthropological method of Participatory Observation is closest to the function of what SOF, and others acting within the Human Domain would be involved with: one would literally be involved in participatory action, observation, learning, and influencing- the emphasis being on participatory: meaning that one would be influenced just as much as the other being observed. The Human domain that is needed ie how does the enemy think, act, function and communicates with the local population is strangely missing from the discussion being pushed by say the ACoS. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. It accomplishes this by engaging with non-military elements, conducting support and development activities to and with them, and coordinating actions between them and the force. These same characteristics can be strengthened through our doctrine and education systems, if not our personnel system, and they match up perfectly with Curtis Whites concept of the sublime. He stumbled across a Facebook entry from a soldier somewhere in Iraq who was in front of his gun truck boosting about the Duke---then he Googled more about jamming and then reported back to the team. The movement in Mexico is called the Autodenfensa---so it is a typical mission for SF---it would have been in fact a mission in the 60/70s---I have deployed with less information and holding the mission-- assist the locals. This goes back to your comments concerned SW vs what I call the glorious kick down the door mentality. Take the LeT fighters in Bombay. [x] Of course, that does not leave too much left. So today we, as a nation, are facing an opponent who has recognized our power base and is determined to defeat it in such a way as to have a favorable outcome for their end state. We must introduce at least our SOF soldiers to the concepts of the critical realist[i] philosophy and to the practice of forming multi-paradigmatic views. It amazes me that all of them can regurgitate the planning process perfectly with enough power point to make Bill Gates proud, but never once have they been asked to think of the implicit forces that their higher is being pressured by, the hidden agenda of the ambassador in the neighboring country, the current environment in Washington, D.C., the private life of the SOCNORTH commander--- all of those things and more can have an affect on one's mission. Ah, now I see where we are talking past one another. As an example, consider the MiTT's of Iraq and all the other special task-organized small teams tasked with directly advising and supporting Iraqi and Afghan security forces. We want to act within the human domain without fundamentally offering anything really different in the way of a philosophical approach to our operations, instead largely unconsciously assuming the militarys technically rational approach and its related deterministic and physical domain tools will serve us just as well. Warfighting Functions: The seven mutually supporting military activities integrated in the conduct of all military operations. The art of Special Warfare is a creative use of special groups of professionals who are educated and trained to see things from multiple perspectives, to critically think about ones institutions flawed view of the world, create something new that is highly context-dependent across the resource spectrum, and learns while doing. [xxxix] To engage most effectively within the human domain- our SW forces should be supported with an education and training institution second to none. Warfighting Functions: The seven mutually supporting military activities integrated in the conduct of all military operations. Administrative movement is related to the Sustaining WFF. Rifles thru to MLRSs, pickups to MBTs, mini UAVs to Predators and helicopters to strategic bombers. The Problem: Assuming a Technically Rational Approach within the Human Domain. One specific example, admittedly a rather odd example but one that caused a paradigm shift in my own focus was a young ALQ recruit I spent time with in Paktia. The trends within SOF, however, seem to be a growing reliance on process, bureaucracy, and metrics, all obstacles to breaking away from any institutionally-approved ways of thinking. The command and control WFF tasks focus on integrating the activities of the other elements of combat power to accomplish missions. In some areas of Afghanistan it made perfect sense, but in other areas it did not. I tend to agree with your premise and with the trend in the comments below. Well done. In Evaluating Immunities before a Special Tribunal for Aggression Against Ukraine, the Type of Tribunal Matters, Chinas Ferry Tale Taiwan Invasion Plan Is A Legal Nightmare, China Maritime Report No. The M1E multiplier is based on M1Es proximity to the target (inside the wire a max and diminishing with distance beyond the wire) times the number of days your M1E is eyes on. Ultimately to achieve long term goals, a professional host nation military must exist and until it does the conventional force alone with Joint and SF assistance is required to provide combined arms maneuver and wide area securityto include influence of and assistance to people over wide areas. With that being said, there has been a push to allow our warfighters greater freedoms with these tools because its being argued that we are losing the message and by allowing greater freedom with these tools we are allowing our warfighters to get the positive message out. To this was added a few things arguably unique to SOF campaign planning as well as a very explicit link to the Army Special Operations (ARSOF) 2022 vision. Integrate all forms of Army, joint and multinational fires. Those two things are our inability to clearly articulate what it is we do within SOF and the afore-mentioned continued struggles in Afghanistan. I also always wondered how much OPSINTEL was being compromised on a daily basis by these activities. The seven warfighting functions are command and control, fires, force protection, information, intelligence, logistics, and maneuver. Art isnt something one does while coloring within the lines and SOF shouldnt be looking for a methodology to assist us with it. The purpose of the IA WFF is to affect the will and understanding of groups to assist in the achievement of the mission. If one thinks about it, the 7th WfF and the human domain, defined as the totality of the physical, cultural and social environments that influence human behavior to the extent that success of any military operation or campaign depends on the application of unique capabilities that are designed to fight and win population-centric conflicts, [xi] border on tautologies. [xix] The idea that one can tell at a glance what needs to be done and, although usually applied to looking at terrain, some, including Clausewitz, have used it to describe something beyond just terrain. b. [xxix] This has resulted in the doctrine seeming to contradict itself. It is not the silver bullet some see it as, but it is a tool to help us understand how to achieve political victory. The goal is that countries and groups who we are aligned with will become stronger and thus able to handle problems on their own without the need for large numbers of U.S. troops, which arguably get in the way of long-term progress anyway. Interesting take on the situation inside SOF community. This handout contains the following: I. And I also agree with your point reference CF vs. SOF. The latter way, while possibly being less expensive, emphasizes small-footprint Special Warfare more than it does Surgical Strike. movement of forces for the purpose of gaining an advantage over the enemy in order to accomplish our objectives. We went to war in Iraq for far less reasons---. This approach is, I argue, both separating SOF from its traditions and keeping us from maneuvering within the human domain as effectively as possible. I think on a certain level that is true. I was sitting in the 2 shop writing a report one day when we took mortar fire into the FOB---everyone ran to the bunkers and I continued to type. As part of capacity building, engagement with Host Nation Security Forces (HNSF) may form part of the CIMIC aspect of the IA WFF area of responsibility. Operational art for SOF should touch on the key components of the sublime and not on a methodology for approaching operational design. CF brigades, however, DO fight and maneuver, and their battalions also fight and maneuver, therefore the comparison and job experience of the two are not the same. Dont have the answer, just believe we have been approaching the problem from a myopic viewpoint. The one thing that none of this really gets to is what the original article was noting as the loss of "specialness" in the current SOF reality as SOCOM tries to expand into other doctrinal domains or preserve a stake in emerging new ones (I say doctrinal domains precisely because they exist solely as figments of our doctrine, not because they are intrinsically different). It seems rather outlandish to me and reminds me a bit of Marxist literature predicting the rise of the disenfranchised and the oppressed (workers of the world unite!). Entire tribes vanished as smallpox, scarlet fever, and influenza decimated the native population of the Americas. By these activities, while possibly being less expensive, emphasizes small-footprint Special Warfare more it. Sof and the afore-mentioned continued struggles in Afghanistan some areas of Afghanistan it perfect! Small-Footprint Special Warfare more than it does Surgical Strike achievement of the sublime and not on a daily basis these. 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