Small Wars Journal

Last updated
Small Wars Journal
EditorDave Dilegge
Categories Counter-insurgency, military science
FrequencyIrregular
PublisherSmall Wars Foundation
Year founded2005
CountryUnited States
Based in Bethesda, Maryland
LanguageEnglish
Website smallwarsjournal.com
ISSN 2156-227X
OCLC 229127994

The Small Wars Journal (SWJ) is an online magazine focusing on intrastate conflict. Aside from its online magazine, SWJ hosts an accompanying blog and the Small Wars Council discussion board. [1] Other site features include an online reference library, recommended reading and event listings. The magazine is published by the Small Wars Foundation, a non-profit corporation. [2]

Contents

The title refers to the 1940 United States Marine Corps Small Wars Manual , which used "small wars" as a catch-all term for unconventional and guerrilla warfare, also encompassing foreign internal defense (FID), military operations other than war (MOOTW), and military operations in urban terrain (MOUT). [3]

History

The Small Wars Journal is an evolution of the MOUT Homepage, Urban Operations Journal, and urbanoperations.com, all formerly run by SWJ's editor-in-chief Dave Dilegge. [3]

Tribal Engagement Workshop

On March 24 and 25, 2010, the Small Wars Foundation conducted a Tribal Engagement Workshop in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The workshop was cosponsored by the Small Wars Foundation, the U.S. Joint Forces Command Joint Irregular Warfare Center, the U.S. Marine Corps Center for Irregular Warfare, the U.S. Army / U.S. Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Center, and Noetic Group. The objectives of the Tribal Engagement Workshop were to evaluate the value and feasibility of a tribal engagement approach in Afghanistan, assess the secondary effects adoption of a tribal engagement strategy would have on the political and military situation and to identify the operational components of a tribal engagement approach in Afghanistan. [4]

Reception

Rolling Stone magazine recognized SWJ in their 2009 "Hot List" edition. [5]

A 2012 SWJ article caused controversy in its exploration of a hypothetical military operation in which an extremist group sympathetic to the Tea Party movement takes over Darlington, South Carolina and clashes with federal troops. [6] Conservative groups criticized the article, suggesting it reflected misplaced priorities. [7] [8]

Related Research Articles

The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States of America. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and forms military policy with the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), both federal executive departments, acting as the principal organs by which military policy is carried out. All six armed services are among the eight uniformed services of the United States.

Urban warfare Combat conducted in urban areas

Urban warfare is combat conducted in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both the operational and the tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban warfare include the presence of civilians and the complexity of the urban terrain. Urban combat operations may be conducted to capitalize on strategic or tactical advantages associated with the possession or the control of a particular urban area or to deny these advantages to the enemy.

Waziristan Mountainous region in Pakistan

Waziristan is a mountainous region covering the former FATA agencies of North Waziristan and South Waziristan which are now districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Waziristan covers some 11,585 square kilometres (4,500 sq mi). The area is populated by ethnic Pashtuns. It is named after the Wazir tribe. The language spoken in the valley is Pashto, predominantly the Waziri dialect. The region forms the southern part of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, which is now part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The 16th-century Pashtun revolutionary leader and warrior-poet Bayazid Pir Roshan, who wrote the oldest known book in Pashto, was based in Kaniguram, Waziristan.

Operation Urban Warrior was a United States Marine Corps program created as an exercise meant to plan and test Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain (MOUT) and urban warfare in general. It was developed in the mid 1990s by the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory partly in response to growing problem on inner-city fighting, and especially made urgent following the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993.

Jungle warfare is a term used to cover the special techniques needed for military units to survive and fight in jungle terrain.

The School of Infantry (SOI) is the second stage of initial military training for enlisted United States Marines after recruit training. Since the initial training pipeline is divided between coasts, Marines from areas east of the Mississippi River usually graduate from MCRD Parris Island and move on to SOI at SOI East, while those from the western half of the nation attend MCRD San Diego and move on to SOI West at the Camp San Onofre area of Camp Pendleton in California. Female Marines are trained at both SOI East and SOI West. The School of Infantry's training mission ensures "Every Marine is, first and foremost, a Rifleman". At SOI, Marines with the Military Occupational Specialty of infantry are trained at the Infantry Training Battalion (ITB), while all non-infantry Marines are trained in basic infantry and combat skills at the Marine Combat Training Battalion. SOI marks a transition in the professional training of entry-level students from basically trained Marines to combat-ready Marines.

Irregular military Any non-standard military organization

Irregular military is any non-standard military component that is distinct from a country's national armed forces. Being defined by exclusion, there is significant variance in what comes under the term. It can refer to the type of military organization, or to the type of tactics used. An irregular military organization is one which is not part of the regular army organization. Without standard military unit organization, various more general names are often used; such organizations may be called a troop, group, unit, column, band, or force. Irregulars are soldiers or warriors that are members of these organizations, or are members of special military units that employ irregular military tactics. This also applies to irregular infantry and irregular cavalry units.

Hand-to-hand combat Fighting without ranged weapons

Hand-to-hand combat is a physical confrontation between two or more persons at short range that does not involve the use of ranged weapons. The phrase "hand-to-hand" may include use of melee weapons such as knives, swords, clubs, spears, axes, or improvised weapons such as entrenching tools. While the term hand-to-hand combat originally referred principally to engagements by combatants on the battlefield, it can also refer to any personal physical engagement by two or more people, including law enforcement officers, civilians, and criminals.

United States Marine Forces Special Operations Command United States Marine Corps component command

United States Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) is a component command of the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) that comprises the Marine Corps' contribution to SOCOM. Its core capabilities are direct action, special reconnaissance and foreign internal defense. MARSOC has also been directed to conduct counter-terrorism and information operations.

H. John Poole is an American military author and Marine combat veteran of Vietnam, specializing in small unit and individual tactics. His books focus on the role, training, and skills of the individual infantry soldier and Marine, and on those of the combat NCOs. Poole has focused on terrorist and insurgent tactics, as well as the counter-insurgent tactics to defeat them.

United States Marine Corps Aviation Air branch of Marine Corps of the United States

United States Marine Corps Aviation is the aircraft arm of the United States Marine Corps. Marine Corps aviation units have a very different mission and operation than their ground counterparts and thus have their own history, traditions, terms, and procedures. Aviation units within the Marine Corps are assigned to support the Marine Air-Ground Task Force, as the aviation combat element, by providing six functions: assault support, antiair warfare, close air support, electronic warfare, control of aircraft and missiles, and aerial reconnaissance. The Corps operates both rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft mainly to provide transport and close air support to its ground forces. Other aircraft types are also used in a variety of support and special-purpose roles. All Marine Corps aviation falls under the influence of the Deputy Commandant for Aviation, whose job is to advise the Commandant of the Marine Corps in all matters relating to aviation, especially acquisition of new assets, conversions of current aircraft, maintenance, operation, and command.

Irregular warfare (IW) is defined in United States joint doctrine as "a violent struggle among state and non-state actors for legitimacy and influence over the relevant populations." Concepts associated with irregular warfare are older than the term itself.

United States Marine Corps Maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces

The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combined arms, implementing its own infantry, artillery, aerial, and special operations forces. The U.S. Marine Corps is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States.

War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Conflict between NATO Western forces and the Taliban

The War in Afghanistan was a conflict that took place from 2001 to 2021 in the South-Central Asian country of Afghanistan. It began when the United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban-ruled Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The war ended with the Taliban regaining power after a nearly 20-year-long insurgency against allied NATO and Afghan Armed Forces. It was the longest war in United States history, surpassing the Vietnam War (1955–1975) by approximately five months.

United States Navy Maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces

The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of its active battle fleet alone exceeding the next 13 navies combined, including 11 U.S. allies or partner nations as of 2015. It has the highest combined battle fleet tonnage and the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, two new carriers under construction, and five other carriers planned. With 336,978 personnel on active duty and 101,583 in the Ready Reserve, the U.S. Navy is the third largest of the U.S. military service branches in terms of personnel. It has 290 deployable combat vessels and more than 2,623 operational aircraft as of June 2019.

George R. Christmas United States Marine Corps general

George Ronald Christmas is a retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant general. Christmas was awarded the Navy Cross and Purple Heart for valor in 1968, during the Vietnam War. He served on active duty in the Marine Corps for 34 years, retiring in 1996. After retirement, he served as the President and CEO of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation for 15 years.

Marine Raider Regiment Special Operations Regiment of the USMC.

The Marine Raider Regiment, formerly known as the Marine Special Operations Regiment (MSOR), is a special operations force of the United States Marine Corps, part of Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC). Renamed for its predecessor, the World War II Marine Raiders, this unit is the principal combat component of MARSOC, which is the Marine Corps' contribution to the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).

Hybrid warfare is a theory of military strategy, first proposed by Frank Hoffman, which employs political warfare and blends conventional warfare, irregular warfare, and cyberwarfare with other influencing methods, such as fake news, diplomacy, lawfare and foreign electoral intervention. By combining kinetic operations with subversive efforts, the aggressor intends to avoid attribution or retribution. The concept of hybrid warfare has been criticized by a number of academics and practitioners due to its alleged vagueness, its disputed constitutive elements, and its alleged historical distortions.

Battle of Ganjgal

The Battle of Ganjgal was a battle in the War in Afghanistan fought between American and Afghan forces and the Taliban in Kunar Province, Afghanistan on September 8, 2009. Complaints that the coalition casualties were avoidable and caused by a failure of the chain of command to provide fire support for the team triggered an official investigation and a series of reprimands to several US military officers. Army Captain William D. Swenson and Marine Corporal Dakota Meyer received the Medal of Honor for their actions during the battle. Meyer is the first living Marine to receive the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War, and Swenson is the fifth living soldier and second officer to receive the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. Two other Marines at the battle, Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez and Capt. Ademola Fabayo, received the Navy Cross.

United States Special Operations Command Unified combatant command of the United States Armed Forces responsible for special operations

The United States Special Operations Command is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various special operations component commands of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force of the United States Armed Forces. The command is part of the Department of Defense and is the only unified combatant command created by an Act of Congress. USSOCOM is headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.

References

  1. Canyon Meyer, Michael (31 December 2010). "Small Wars Journal". Columbia Journalism Review . Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  2. "Foundation". Small Wars Journal. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  3. 1 2 Evans, Ryan (12 May 2014). "5 Questions With Dave Dilegge on Small Wars and Coin Cocktails". War on the Rocks. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  4. "Tribal Engagement Workshop". Small Wars Journal. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  5. "The Rolling Stone 2009 Hot List". Rolling Stone . 28 May 2009. Archived from the original on 31 May 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  6. Benson, Kevin; Weber, Jennifer (2012). "Full Spectrum Operations in the Homeland: A 'Vision' of the Future". Small Wars Journal. Small Wars Foundation. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  7. "Editorial: The Civil War of 2016". The Washington Times . 7 August 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  8. Peck, Michael (15 November 2012). "How the U.S. Military Would Crush a Tea Party Rebellion". Forbes . Retrieved 19 November 2012.