tag:www.thedonovan.com,2012://1/tag:www.thedonovan.com,2008://1.9837- 2012-01-06T18:25:37Z Comments for FM 3-07, Stability Ops, is available today. We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2010 Movable Type 4.12 tag:www.thedonovan.com,2008://1.9837 2008-10-06T14:53:08Z 2008-10-06T19:28:40Z FM 3-07, Stability Ops, is available today. The Armorer http://www.thedonovan.com Here's the exexcutive summary..  It's going to sharpen the discussion between the "We gotta be able to fight near-peer competitors" side with those who agree with the thrust of the article, that the US Army needs to be the "Army of the Plains" or "Reconstruction Era" army vice the Leviathan that can smite the foe with vigor and violence.  Barnett will probably like aspects of it, too - though he'll want things to go farther, I'm thinking, than this proposes - of course, this doctrine will, or at least should, drive structure and training decisions.  Heh.  I've not liked the "American Empire" meme - but this does lead down that road.  I suspect that while the State Department, other federal agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations were given a chance for much input (which they took, btw) they would rather that a lot of this (especially the resources) be sliced away from DoD and pushed over their way.  Perhaps, when they learn how to move decisively and with some agility and flexibility (more the Federal agencies in mind there) that resource allocation will occur. More when I have a chance to read the manual.  You can get the manual yourself by clicking here.

Executive Summary 6 October 2008
US Army Field Manual 3-07
The Roadmap from conflict to peace
“When entering the territory of an offender do no violence to the shrines of the deities. Do not hunt over the rice fields or damage the earth-works. Do not burn houses or cut down trees. Do not seize domestic animals or grain or agricultural implements. When you find old people or children allow them to go home unharmed, and do not  antagonize even able-bodied men if they do not challenge you. And see that the enemy wounded have medical treatment.”
Ssu Ma Jang Chu
The Precepts of Ssu Ma Jang Chu (500 BCE)

Today, the Nation is embarking on a journey into an uncertain future where regional conflicts threaten to expand as a result of increased global competition for natural resources, teeming urban populations with rising popular expectations, unrestrained technological diffusion, and a global  economy struggling to meet mounting demands from emerging markets and third world countries. America’s future abroad is unlikely to resemble Afghanistan or Iraq, where we grapple with the burden of nation-building under fire. Instead, we confront a landscape marked by emerging nations discontented with the status quo, flush with wealth and ambition, and seeking a new global balance of power. Here, the greatest threat to our national security comes not in the form of violent extremism or ambitious powers, but from fragile states either unable or unwilling to provide for the most basic needs of their people.

The character of this environment is unlike any other in recent American history, where military forces operating among the people of world decide the major battles and engagements. Here, the margin of victory is measured in far different terms from the wars of our past. Now and in the future, the allegiance, trust, and confidence of the people in the operational area may be the surest means to win the peace. However, time may be the ultimate arbiter of success: time to bring safety and security to an embattled populace; time to provide for the essential, immediate humanitarian needs of the people; time to restore basic public order and a semblance of normalcy to life; and time to rebuild the institutions of government and market economy that provide  the foundations for enduring peace and stability.

In this era of persistent conflict, we will work through and with the community of nations to defeat  insurgency, assist fragile states, and provide vital humanitarian aid to the suffering. Achieving victory will assume new dimensions as we strengthen our ability to generate ―soft‖ power to promote participation in government, spur economic development, and address the root causes of  conflict among the disenfranchised populations of the world. Military success alone will not be sufficient to prevail in this  environment. To confront the challenges before us, we must strengthen the capacity of the other elements of national power, leveraging the full potential of our interagency partners.

At the heart of this effort is a comprehensive approach to stability operations that integrates the tools of statecraft with our military forces, international partners, humanitarian organizations, and the private sector. The comprehensive approach ensures unity of effort among a very rich and diverse group of actors while fostering the development of new capabilities to shape the operational environment in ways that preclude the requirement for future military intervention. It postures the military to perform a role common throughout our history—ensuring the safety and security of the local populace, assisting with reconstruction, and providing basic sustenance and public services. Equally important, it defines the role of military forces in support of the civilian agencies charged with leading these complex endeavors.

In a comprehensive approach, military forces establish conditions that facilitate the efforts of the other instruments of national and international power – providing the requisite security and control to stabilize an operational area. Army Field Manual 3-07, Stability Operations, addresses military stability operations within the broader context of United States Government  reconstruction and stabilization efforts. It describes the role of military forces in supporting those broader efforts by leveraging the coercive and constructive capabilities of the force to establish a safe and secure environment; facilitate reconciliation among local or regional adversaries; establish political, legal, social, and economic institutions; and help transition responsibility to a legitimate civil authority operating under the rule of law. This transition is fundamental to the shift in focus toward long-term development activities where military forces support broader efforts in  pursuit of national and international objectives. Success in these endeavors typically requires a long-term commitment by external actors and is ultimately determined by the support and participation of the host-nation populace.

However, the manual also provides doctrine on how those capabilities are leveraged in support of a partner nation as part of peacetime military engagement. Those activities, executed in a relatively benign security environment as an element of a ombatant commander’stheater security cooperation plans, share many of the same broad goals as stability operations conducted in the aftermath of conflict or disaster. They aim to build partner capacity, strengthen legitimate governance, maintain rule of law, foster economic growth, and help to forge a strong sense of national unity.
Ideally, these are addressed before, rather than after, conflict. Conducted within the context of peacetime military engagement, they are essential to sustaining the long-term viability of host nations and provide the foundation for multinational cooperation that helps to maintain the global balance of power.

Field Manual 3-07 represents a milestone in Army doctrine. It is a roadmap from conflict to peace, a practical guidebook for adaptive, creative leadership at a critical time in our history. It  institutionalizes the hard-won lessons of the past while charting a path for tomorrow. This manual postures our military forces for the challenges of an uncertain future, an era of persistent conflict where the unflagging bravery of our Soldiers will continue to carry the banner of freedom, hope, and opportunity to the people of the world.
 

]]> tag:www.thedonovan.com,2008://1.9837-comment:78899 Comment from Maggie on 2008-10-07 Maggie http://bostonmaggie.blogspot.com You know between you, the favorite Naval Consort, the Phibian and Galrahn......I study much much more now that I ever did in school. 2008-10-07T14:29:57Z 2008-10-07T14:29:57Z