Jedburgh
12-31-2005, 12:04 PM
From the current issue of Infantry Magazine, a note from MG Walter Wojdakowski, Ft. Benning CG:
Urban Operations: Meeting the Challenge (https://www.infantry.army.mil/magazine/2005/2005_6/03_cnote.pdf)
The face of war has evolved since man took up arms to defend his home and family, his possessions, and his way of life. Cities have been the battlegrounds as armies have sought to defend on familiar, complex terrain and adversaries have fought to dislodge them. Until the turn of the last century, largescale combat in urban areas was the exception rather than the rule because the tactics of the time relied on open terrain in which leaders could observe and maneuver their forces. Today, the face of war is in many ways the city streets. The terrorist is in urban areas, and we are going after him in cities, towns, and villages.
World War I saw heavy fighting in built-up areas across France and Flanders, and World War II included heavy fighting in cities and towns in the Far East; in the Pacific Theater; and in Europe from France and the Low Countries, across Germany, in Italy, and deep within the Soviet Union. It was in the block-by-block, building-by-building fight that the Infantry sustained its heaviest losses. U.S. Soldiers and Marines have fought the urban fight in Korea, in Vietnam and in the Dominican Republic, Panama, Grenada, in Iraq and in Afghanistan, steadily adding lessons learned to our growing knowledge of the many ways to operate in built-up areas. Today’s urban operations can range from room clearing combat to securing polling places and seating a local government. They are three-dimensional and encompass many nontraditional drills, tasks, and missions.
Today we are a nation at war, and the theme of this issue of Infantry is urban operations. We have selected articles that specifically address both combat and noncombat issues relevant to urban operations and which offer experience from leaders who have operated in the urban environment and who understand its complexity and the training necessary to win. Today’s tactical urban fight is one of squad and platoon actions as we relentlessly search for terrorists, their logistical support, and their weapons, and our Soldiers live, breathe, and work every day in the urban setting.
Human intelligence (HUMINT) is absolutely critical in the contemporary operating environment. Our enemy has chosen to immerse himself in the civilian population and his time is running out. He has lost much of the support of those he had sought to intimidate, and citizens are providing even more invaluable HUMINT to our forces. They are warning of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and planned insurgent attacks and, with their help, we are capturing terrorists and their weapons, explosives, and logistical assets. HUMINT was also essential to the operation in which Saddam Hussein’s two sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed in Mosul in July 2003. Detailed terrain knowledge and reconnaissance played a key role in the mission as well, underscoring the relevance of the METT-TC that we teach daily at the Infantry School.
Urban operations today include all aspects that involve the population: environmental considerations, the historical context in which the population views our presence, public information programs, planning and execution of population movements, and response to natural disasters. Operations such as those we are now conducting in Afghanistan and Iraq demand language skills, detailed knowledge of the terrain, knowledge of the enemy and how he fights, and some understanding of the historical context of the region and its peoples. We are applying a model for cultural analysis that includes population perceptions, ethnic dynamics, organizations of influence, patterns, leaders and influencers, and the economic environment as a means to assess the local civilian considerations (the C in METT-TC) and how they impact military operations. Environmental considerations as part of military decision making are receiving attention, and are relevant to our efforts to assist host nation civilian agencies as we rebuild the infrastructure of recently liberated nations.
Urban operations are the bread and butter of the Infantry today. The challenge is great and demands the best Soldiers, training, and equipment this nation can muster. Our junior infantry leaders and Soldiers — the point of the spear in urban combat — are meeting that challenge daily, and we are responding to a tough enemy by deploying even tougher American Soldiers to defeat him. Fort Benning is meeting the demands of the global war on terrorism with the most valuable commodity we can offer: skilled, aggressive infantrymen trained to standard. We are training for the present fight even as we look ahead to the future.
Urban Operations: Meeting the Challenge (https://www.infantry.army.mil/magazine/2005/2005_6/03_cnote.pdf)
The face of war has evolved since man took up arms to defend his home and family, his possessions, and his way of life. Cities have been the battlegrounds as armies have sought to defend on familiar, complex terrain and adversaries have fought to dislodge them. Until the turn of the last century, largescale combat in urban areas was the exception rather than the rule because the tactics of the time relied on open terrain in which leaders could observe and maneuver their forces. Today, the face of war is in many ways the city streets. The terrorist is in urban areas, and we are going after him in cities, towns, and villages.
World War I saw heavy fighting in built-up areas across France and Flanders, and World War II included heavy fighting in cities and towns in the Far East; in the Pacific Theater; and in Europe from France and the Low Countries, across Germany, in Italy, and deep within the Soviet Union. It was in the block-by-block, building-by-building fight that the Infantry sustained its heaviest losses. U.S. Soldiers and Marines have fought the urban fight in Korea, in Vietnam and in the Dominican Republic, Panama, Grenada, in Iraq and in Afghanistan, steadily adding lessons learned to our growing knowledge of the many ways to operate in built-up areas. Today’s urban operations can range from room clearing combat to securing polling places and seating a local government. They are three-dimensional and encompass many nontraditional drills, tasks, and missions.
Today we are a nation at war, and the theme of this issue of Infantry is urban operations. We have selected articles that specifically address both combat and noncombat issues relevant to urban operations and which offer experience from leaders who have operated in the urban environment and who understand its complexity and the training necessary to win. Today’s tactical urban fight is one of squad and platoon actions as we relentlessly search for terrorists, their logistical support, and their weapons, and our Soldiers live, breathe, and work every day in the urban setting.
Human intelligence (HUMINT) is absolutely critical in the contemporary operating environment. Our enemy has chosen to immerse himself in the civilian population and his time is running out. He has lost much of the support of those he had sought to intimidate, and citizens are providing even more invaluable HUMINT to our forces. They are warning of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and planned insurgent attacks and, with their help, we are capturing terrorists and their weapons, explosives, and logistical assets. HUMINT was also essential to the operation in which Saddam Hussein’s two sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed in Mosul in July 2003. Detailed terrain knowledge and reconnaissance played a key role in the mission as well, underscoring the relevance of the METT-TC that we teach daily at the Infantry School.
Urban operations today include all aspects that involve the population: environmental considerations, the historical context in which the population views our presence, public information programs, planning and execution of population movements, and response to natural disasters. Operations such as those we are now conducting in Afghanistan and Iraq demand language skills, detailed knowledge of the terrain, knowledge of the enemy and how he fights, and some understanding of the historical context of the region and its peoples. We are applying a model for cultural analysis that includes population perceptions, ethnic dynamics, organizations of influence, patterns, leaders and influencers, and the economic environment as a means to assess the local civilian considerations (the C in METT-TC) and how they impact military operations. Environmental considerations as part of military decision making are receiving attention, and are relevant to our efforts to assist host nation civilian agencies as we rebuild the infrastructure of recently liberated nations.
Urban operations are the bread and butter of the Infantry today. The challenge is great and demands the best Soldiers, training, and equipment this nation can muster. Our junior infantry leaders and Soldiers — the point of the spear in urban combat — are meeting that challenge daily, and we are responding to a tough enemy by deploying even tougher American Soldiers to defeat him. Fort Benning is meeting the demands of the global war on terrorism with the most valuable commodity we can offer: skilled, aggressive infantrymen trained to standard. We are training for the present fight even as we look ahead to the future.