July - September 2012 | Volume 25 | Issue 3

Cover Story

28 Conflict With China:

Prospects, Consequences and Strategies for Deterrence

Pictured is Shanghai, one of the most populated cities in China with a total population of more than 23 million. Its a multi-cultural metropolis with both modern and traditional chinese features. Shanghai serves as the largest base of Chinese industrial technology, one of the worlds most important seaports and boasts Chinas largest commercial and financial center.

ARTICLES
09 JSOTF-P Uses Whole-of-Nation Approach to Bring Stability to the Philippines 13 Continuity in the Chinese Mind for War 18 The Challenge of China and ARSOFs Role 21 Leaning to All Sides: What the U.S. May Learn From Chinese Political Warfare in Burma 24 The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army and Special Operations 37 Real Results: Military Partnerships in the Philippines 40 Grains of Truth: The Role of the Civil-Military Support Element in Special Operations 51 Reading About the Asia-Pacific Region

DEPARTMENTS
04 From the Commandant 05 Memorial Page 06 Updates 46 Career Notes 49 Training Updates 50 Fitness 52 Book Review 53 Opinion

Special Warfare
U.S. ARMY JOHN F. KENNEDY SPECIAL WARFARE CENTER AND SCHOOL

MISSION: The JFK Special Warfare Center and School invests in the development of human capital to produce Civil Affairs, Psychological Operations and Special Forces Soldiers from recruitment to retirement in order to provide our regiments with a professionally trained and welleducated force. VISION: Professionalism starts here. We are an adaptive institution characterized by agility, collaboration, accountability and integrity. We promote life-long learning and transformation. We are THE Special Operations Center of Learning whose credibility in producing the worlds finest special operators is recognized and sustained by every single member of our three regiments.

Commander & Commandant Major General Bennet S. Sacolick Editor Janice Burton Graphics & Design Jennifer Martin Webmaster Dave Chace

Special Warfare welcomes submissions of scholarly, independent research from members of the armed forces, security policy-makers and -shapers, defense analysts, academic specialists and civilians from the United States and abroad. Manuscripts should be 2,500 to 3,000 words in length. Include a cover letter. Submit a complete biography with author contact information (i.e., complete mailing address, telephone, fax, e-mail address). Manuscripts should be submitted in plain text, double-spaced and in a digital file. End notes should accompany works in lieu of embedded footnotes. Please consult The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition, for footnote style. Submit graphics, tables and charts with source references in separate files from the manuscript (no embedded graphics). Special Warfare may accept high-resolution (300 dpi or greater) digital photos; be sure to include a caption and photographers credit. Prints and 35 mm transparencies are also acceptable. Photos will be returned, if possible. All submissions will be reviewed in a timely manner. Special Warfare reserves the right to edit all contributions. Special Warfare will attempt to afford authors an opportunity to review the final edited version; requests for changes must be received by the given deadline. Articles that require security clearance should be cleared by the authors chain of command prior to submission. No payment or honorarium is authorized for publication of articles. Material appearing in Special Warfare is considered to be in the public domain and is not protected by copyright unless it is accompanied by the authors copyright notice. Published works may be reprinted, except where copyrighted, provided credit is given to Special Warfare and the authors. Submit articles for consideration to: Editor, Special Warfare; Attn: AOJK-PAO; USAJFKSWCS, 3004 Ardennes St., Stop A, Fort Bragg, NC 28310 or e-mail them to SpecialWarfare@ahqb.soc.mil For additional information: Contact: Special Warfare Commercial: (910) 432-5703 DSN: 239-5703

SUBMISSIONS

Special Warfare is an authorized, official quarterly publication of the United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, Fort Bragg, N.C. Its mission is to promote the professional development of specialoperations forces by providing a forum for the examination of established doctrine and new ideas. Views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect official Army position. This publication does not supersede any information presented in other official Army publications. Articles, photos, artwork and letters are invited and should be addressed to Editor, Special Warfare, USAJFKSWCS, 3004 Ardennes St., Stop A, Fort Bragg, NC 28310. Telephone: DSN 239-5703, commercial (910) 432-5703, fax 432-6950 or send e-mail to SpecialWarfare@ahqb.soc.mil. Special Warfare reserves the right to edit all material. Published works may be reprinted, except where copyrighted, provided credit is given to Special Warfare and the authors. Official distribution is limited to active and reserve special-operations units. Individuals desiring private subscriptions should forward their requests to: Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. Special Warfare is also available on the Internet (http://www.soc.mil/swcs/swmag/).

By order of the Secretary of the Army: Raymond T. Odierno General, United States Army Chief of Staff Official:

Visit Special Warfare Online

Scan the QR code with your mobile phone barcode reader application or alternatively type the below URL into your browser to view Special Warfare online and to download pdf archives of the magazine.

http://www.soc.mil/swcs/swmag/

Joyce E. Morrow Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army 1213802 Headquarters, Department of the Army

FROM THE COMMANDANT

While the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have preoccupied much of the Armys and the medias time and attention over the past 11 years, it has been easy to overlook the fact that Army Special Operations Forces have been conducting very significant operations in support of our nations defense in regions all over the world. On Jan. 5, we were reminded of that fact when the new National Defense Strategy was announced. The new strategy rebalances the nations global posture and presence by placing a greater emphasis on operations in the Pacific. This makes sense. The Pacific realm is home to more than 3.4 billion people and encompasses about half the earths surface. The region, though plagued with many of the same problems weve seen in Afghanistan and Iraq violent extremist organizations trying to disrupt the governance of many countries has been something of a stabilizing influence in the world. The new strategy points to the fact that the region is growing in importance to the United States in terms of our economy and national security, and puts a premium on the use of forces that can build capacity in our partners and allies. This is what ARSOF has been doing in the region for a number of years. A lesser publicized, but extremely successful, campaign in the Philippines throughout Operation Enduring Freedom has led to greater stability in the country as it counters the destabilizing effects of VEOs like Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah. Working through and with our partner forces in the Philippines, our Special Forces, Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Soldiers have built a stronger Philippine force. That sort of deliberate action has been at the base of actions by ARSOF throughout the region, and underscores the importance of sustained and persistent cooperation and collaboration. Even as we build partnerships and maintain relationships, we must be mindful of our largest adversary in the region: China. Chinas military budget increased by about 11.2 percent this year and stands right around $106.4 billion. Thats the second largest military budget in the world. As China has increased its military, it has also increased its global presence, with Chinas influence spreading beyond the Pacific realm into Africa and even own backyard in places like Panama. In this issue, you will read about our operations in the Pacific realm, but you will also read about the threat of China to our national defense, and where ARSOF can help minimize that threat. Special operators like to quote Sun Tzu, and it seems appropriate that I do so here: It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle. It is imperative, as our nations focus shifts to the Pacific that we understand the threat of China, but more importantly that we understand the role of ARSOF in combating it.

Major General Bennet S. Sacolick

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1st SFG(A) Master Sgt. Mark W. Coleman Sgt. Andrew J. Creighton Sgt. 1st Class Wyatt A. Goldsmith Staff Sgt. Michael W. Hosey Sgt. 1st Class Dae H. Park Cpt. Joseph W. Schultz Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin B. Wise 3rd SFG(A) Sgt. 1st Class Martin R. Apolinar Master Sgt. Benjamin F. Bitner Sgt. Aaron J. Blasjo Staff Sgt. Kyle R. Warren 10th SFG(A) Master Sgt. Danial R. Adams 20th SFG(A) Cpt. Waid C. Ramsey

75th Ranger Regiment Sgt. Justin B. Allen Spc. Ricardo Cerros Jr. Spc. Joseph W. Dimock II Sgt. 1st Class Kristoffer B. Domeij Sgt. Tyler N. Holtz Pfc. Christopher A. Horns Staff Sgt. Jeremy A. Katzenberger Sgt. Ronald A. Kubik Sgt. Martin A. Lugo Sgt. Andrew C. Nicol Staff Sgt. Kevin M. Pape Staff Sgt. James R. Patton Sgt. Alessandro L. Plutino Sgt. Jason A. Santora Sgt. 1st Class Lance H. Vogeler Spc. Christopher S. Wright USASOC Master Sgt. Benjamin A. Stevenson Master Sgt. Jared N. Van Aalst 1st. Lt. Ashley I. White

July - September 2012

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UPDATE
Reeder tapped for command of the Special Warfare Center and School
Brig. Gen. Edward M. Reeder Jr. has been named the new commander of the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, based out of Fort Bragg, N.C., according to a May 4 Department of Defense press release. Brig. Gen. Reeder is currently the commanding general of the U.S. Army Special Forces Command (Airborne), also at Fort Bragg, where he oversees the Armys operational Special Forces groups. At SWCS, Brig. Gen. Reeder will command the units and directorates that train, educate and manage the Armys three special-operations regiments: Special Forces, Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations. Brig. Gen. Reeder, a 1982 graduate of Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., has commanded the Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan and the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg prior to its move to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. He has two previous SWCS assignments, including time spent as a Special Forces Qualification Course student and later as the aide-de-camp to Brig. Gen. David J. Baratto, the SWCS commanding general in the early 1990s. Brig. Gen. Reeders combat tours include a deployment as the National Civil Defense Adviser in the Republic of El Salvador in 1988, command of a Special Forces detachment in the Republic of Panama in 1989, command of Special Operations Task Force 32-Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom in both 2002 and 2003, command of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007, and command of CFSOCC-A from 2009 to 2010. Maj. Gen. Bennet S. Sacolicks, the current SWCS commanding general, next assignment is as the Director of Force Management and Development for the U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., according to the same Department of Defense release. by Dave Chace, SWCS Public Affairs Office.

IN COMMAND Brig. Gen. Edward M. Reeder will take command of the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School in August.

OEF Joint SOF Academic Week

U.S. Special Operations Forces are implementing new approaches as to how they train for foreign internal defense in Afghanistan. One new approach is through increased focus on academic training. The U.S. Special Operations Command recently hosted the Operation Enduring Freedom XIX Joint Special Operations Forces Academic Week in Orlando, Fla. This five-day event was held March 1116, and included more than 600 key leaders from across the joint special-operations community. The event also included several interagency members from U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, along with numerous general purpose force members who will soon own the battlespace in Afghanistan or serve as security uplift forces with SOF conducting village stability operations in rural areas. Why start a SOCOM-sponsored academic week 10 years into the OEF Campaign? Although each component has a pre-mission training process, SOF foreign internal defense in OEF is inherently joint, in nature. This means there are some Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-A FID training gaps that cut across component seams. Col. Mark Schwartz, commander, 3rd Special Forces Group, and recent CJSOTF-A commander, spearheaded the effort to leverage more joint training events for units preparing to deploy under CJOTF-A. These joint events include an academic session at the beginning of the OEF pre-mission training cycle, joint mission-readiness exercises across SOF components to ensure CJSOTF-A interoperability prior to deployment and a SOF commanders conference prior to OEF deployment. These new additions enhance an already robust component of the OEF PMT cycle. Second, SOFs role in the Afghanistan transition is rapidly growing, and the complexity of the tasks associated with SOFs role is growing as well. Village stability operations and partnerships with Afghan SOF have become key lines of effort in the overall International Security Assistance Force campaign. Many of the development and governance tasks inherent to the village-stability operations methodology and the diverse and complex human terrain of Afghanistan require a world-class academic venue for helping SOF frame and think through these tough FID problem sets. The purpose for academic week is to establish an effective baseline for understanding stability and partnership challenges that enable SOF leaders to execute a successful six-month PMT program. The goal is for students to leave academic week ready to begin a holistic and focused PMT that adequately prepares them for their unique and complex mission sets. During academic week, the students are presented with FID knowledge gaps, followed by macro-level understanding of potential solutions to these knowledge gaps. Most importantly, they make contacts with subject-matter experts and recentlyreturned SOF peers from OEF, who can assist them in further addressing these knowledge gaps during their own component-level PMT. Academic week is a five-day event, broken into three segments. Day one of academic week is focused on establishing strategic context. Although SOF operators conduct missions in some of the most remote places in Afghanistan, the effects they achieve are often strategic in nature. Therefore, it is imperative that all operators have some degree of strategic context and higher level understanding related to the stability and partnership missions they will execute in Afghanistan. Students hear opening comments from the commander, USSOCOM, commander, ISAF, the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, commander, CFSOCC-A, and of course, commander, CJSOTF-A. The strategic context provided by these senior officers directly to the joint SOF audiences sets the stage for the more indepth, localized discussions that follow later in the small-group sessions. Follow-on days include a round-robin of smallgroup sessions. The small-group sessions are by far the most popular within academic week. Small-group sessions address the FID knowledge gaps and topics identified during an Afghanistan battlefield circulation, and are presented by specially selected subject-matter experts and recently returned OEF SOF operators. In addition to providing students with the functional aspects of security, economic development and governance, the small-group sessions also organize students by regional affiliation. Students are separated into Group 1: RC South, Group 2: RC North and West and Group 3:RC East. Each group attends one campus per day for three days. This allows SOTFs to conduct team building with composite forces from other units, they wouldnt otherwise see until deployment

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UPDATE
PSYOP VS. MISO: A short usage guide
Over the previous year, the Psychological Operations Branch has faced the complex task of changing its lexicon by renaming the function PSYOP to Military Information Support Operations. The change was deemed necessary, and was predicated upon the successes and known reputation of the military information support teams operating globally for more than 20 years. The Army directed changes to all doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel and facilities functions across the Army, replacing the term PSYOP with MISO in order to comply with the Secretary of Defense, U.S. Special Operations Command and Army implementation guidance. As part of this change, the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School was tasked as the Army Regulation 5-22 Force Modernization Proponent to recommend a new name for the branch and regiment. After significant consideration, it was decided that the branch and regiment names would both remain Psychological Operations for historic lineage reasons, as allowed by the secretarys directive. Below you will find the guidance that governs the usage of old and new terminology.

Background:

Secretary of Defense guidance (03 DEC 2010) followed by Army guidance (191951ZAPR11), formally changed the name of the function Psychological Operations to Military Information Support Operations. Historical references using the terms psychological operations and PSYOP are authorized and will not be required to be changed to the new terminology. CG, USAJFKSWCS, AR 5-22-designated Force Modernization Proponent for Career Management Field 37, directed the branch and regimental names remain Psychological Operations to preserve the heraldic lineage of the Soldiers manning the force.

To differentiate between the manning of the force and the renamed capability/function, use the following naming conventions.
Psychological Operations (PSYOP) used when referring to the career management field, MOS, branch, regiment and Soldiers manning the force (e.g., PSYOP sergeant, PSYOP officer, PSYOP Regiment, PSYOP Training). Military Information Support (MIS) used when referring to former Psychological Operations echelons of command that perform the function (e.g., MIS group (MISG); MIS task force (MISTF); MIS battalion (MISB); MIS company; MIS detachment; MIS team). Military Information Support Operations (MISO) used when referring to the function formerly known as PSYOP and generic forces/units and personnel performing the function (e.g., MISO forces; MISO units; MISO efforts; MISO effects; synchronization and coordination of MISO; MISO products; MISO staff planner) The revised keystone manual FM 3-53 (formerly FM 3-05.30) incorporates all of the terminology changes. FM 3-53 will not only provide updated doctrine for the branch, but will serve as the authoritative reference for the changes in terms and descriptions.

In order to ensure a full-spectrum approach to stability, and meet the CJSOTF-A commanders intent of high-demand topics not normally addressed during component PMT, the small group sessions are divided into campuses, which comprise the primary components of stability. The campuses are security, economic development and governance. Some of the classes include: high-stakes negotiations by one of the worlds leading negotiators, Stuart Diamond; VSO peer-to-peer panels; agriculture classes by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other agriculture experts; Islam in Rural Afghanistan; SOF logistics; and Afghan tribal dynamics. In addition to providing hard-hitting topics, Joint SOF Academic Week brings in more than 70 of the best presenters and subject-matter experts from across the stability community. They include Rand analysts, academic professors, tribal experts, U.S. Government civilians, non-governmental organizations and SOF peers just returning from OEF rotations. The topics within each campus will change each OEF PMT cycle, based on operator feedback during battlefield surveys and post-training surveys. However, the general construct of campus-based training along security, economic development and governance lines is a solid foundation for future academic-week iterations. It allows course designers to provide functional training relevant to both stability and partnership, while also providing relevant geographical orientation as well. Day five wraps up the event with SOF tactical leaders converging on the McDill Base Theater for a range of operational briefings by current CJSOTF-

A staff members. The purpose of this session is to ensure all SOTF members fully understand the CJSOTF-A supporting plan and processes so that they can integrate them into their six-month PMT process and collective combat systems. Overall attendee feedback from academic week was very positive, with more than 90 percent of attendees scoring the event as useful or very useful to their understanding of the VSO process. Additional SOF input to course presenters reinforced the utility in helping SOF prepare for other elements of their FID mission such as partnership and logistics. Structuring academic weeks that are well received by highly experienced special operators is no easy task. The experience and tremendous training demand on our community make them very tough critics. So, why is this event well received by the joint SOF community? First, academic training is accountable to the tactical operator, regardless of how much the event grows in popularity. Although academic week includes more than 600 attendees from a range of backgrounds, and has visibility of some of the most senior SOF leaders, the focus remains on tactical commanders between battalion and team levels. Second, the curriculum is developed at a grassroots level. In fact, curriculum comes directly from SOF operators in Afghanistan and in support of senior SOF commanders from CJOSTF-A and CFSOCCA. During a SOCOM 45-day battlefield circulation by academic week organizers, SOF operators are polled on what stability and partnership issues they are facing that they wished theyd been trained on before deploying. Or in some cases, the dynamic FID

environment creates new challenges on the battlefield that should be incorporated into the next group of SOF rotating into OEF. This information directly informs the overall academic week curriculum. And finally, no stone is left unturned in finding the most relevant SMEs possible, along with a large number of SOF peers to provide that right balance between academic/technical instruction and tactical reality. All three of these basic academic tenets are then woven into the academic-week architecture of strategic context, small group, campusbased instruction and SOTF team building. In conclusion, Joint SOF Academic Week will continue to play a key role for SOF preparing for OEF. However, as SOFs role in Afghanistan continues to increase during transition, academic week must expand to include the two-star Special Operations Joint Task Force, that will include all three SOF elements in Afghanistan. Additionally, SOCOM will need to consider academic training for the potential SOF-enabled contribution to the international joint command. If SOF increases its contribution at the IJC level, there may likely be a need to work closer in PMT with the conventional security-force adviser brigades from the general purpose forces. Despite the expansion in SOF OEF activities, and the need for increased academic training, SOCOM and its components must remain focused on providing grass-roots FID instruction that addresses the most salient knowledge gaps from Afghanistan. Academic week must remain a world-class event, for world-class operators. by Lieutenant Colonel Scott Mann, chief, USSOCOM VSO Support Cell.

July - September 2012

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ANNOUNCING THE 2012 SPECIAL WARFARE ARMY SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES WRITING COMPETITION
Topic
Over the past 11 years, Army Special Operations Forces have become very tactically proficient. Some would say that proficiency has come at a cost of the forces language and cultural skills. For ARSOF to successfully fulfill its role in building capacity and shaping the battlefield, the force must maintain a balance in its proficiency to conduct lethal and non-lethal operations. The last 10 years have shown that while ARSOFs tactical and technical skills dominate on the battlefield, it is often our skills in the human domain that have the greatest effect. Working in the human domain, ARSOFs peoplecentric focus can shape and affect the battlespace. This leads as an introduction to the 2012 ARSOF Writing Competition topic:

How do I enter?
Submit an unclassified, original research paper examining any aspect broad or specific of this theme. Papers should be between 3,000 and 5,000 words in length, not counting end notes. Previously published papers, or papers pending consideration elsewhere for publication, are ineligible. Papers submitted to other competitions still pending announced decisions are also ineligible. (As an exception to this rule, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College students submitting papers to the General Douglas MacArthur Military Leadership Writing Competition may submit the same paper to the Special Warfare ARSOF competition. Thus, it is possible for a single paper to be recognized by both competitions.)

How do we maintain a healthy balance between the tactical and technical skills needed for lethal operations, while maintaining our unique ability to work in the human domain; and how should ARSOF evolve to improve upon its ability to operate in the Human Domain as it looks 15 years from now?

What do winning writers receive?

First Place: Award of $1,000 Certificate of recognition signed by the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center School commanding general. Essay will be published in Special Warfare, the Professional Journal of Army Special Operations Forces. Second Place: Award of $750 Certificate of recognition signed by the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center School commanding general. Essay will be published in Special Warfare. Third Place: Award of $500 Certificate of recognition signed by the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center School commanding general. Essay will be published in Special Warfare.

How do I submit a paper?

Download and complete an enrollment form from the Special Warfare webpage at:

www.soc.mil/swcs/contest
Submit the enrollment form with the proposed manuscript via e-mail to Special Warfare at: specialwarfare@ahqb.soc.mil Deadline for submissions: Friday, October 19, 2012

How will the papers be evaluated and judged?

Special Warfare will recommend to the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School Commander a panel of distinguished judges to evaluate the entries. General criteria to be used for evaluating papers are on the Special Warfare website contest page at www.soc.mil/swcs/contest

Questions
If you have questions contact: Editor in Chief of Special Warfare (910) 432-5703 or via email: specialwarfare@ahqb.soc.mil
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July - September 2012

The whole-of-nation approach and focus on protecting the population tenets of this strategy have clearly resonated with the Philippine populace. As President Aquino recently noted, the commanderin-chief believes that the military functions best when both the military and civilian leadership share a clear and common understanding of what is national security, and accordingly, what threatens it. Since implementation of the IPSP, the GRP has experienced a marked increase in security gains across the region. These successes have buoyed the AFP and Philippine National Police and reinforced hope that lasting peace will be achieved through stability, development and investment.1

Background
The Philippines is a vast multi-cultural archipelago consisting of more than 7,000 islands and spanning nearly 1,500 miles north to south. Although rich in history, culture and natural resources, it has been plagued by long-standing internal discord including a multi-decade communist insurgency and several Muslim separatist movements. These challenges are particularly acute in the southern Philippines, principally throughout the islands of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago. More than 500 miles from the historic seat of central government in central Luzon, they are populated by an exceptionally diverse society with myriad familial, tribal, ethnic, religious and linguistic differences. These volatile mixes of inhabitants possess few conflict resolution mechanisms beyond violence, which is often a cultural expectation. Economic stagnation, political discord, cultural conflict and a history of resistance to perceived foreign domination by Spanish, U.S. and Filipinos from northern islands, along with simmering land disputes have long complicated life in the southern Philippines. These challenges became acute during the Muslim separatist movement in the late 1960s which raged for more than 20 years and left tens of thousands dead. The added economic devastation and degradation of internal stability created an exploitable area for terrorists seeking safe havens and low-risk operational zones. Largescale training camps in central Mindanao were established as early as 1979 under the auspices of the most significant Muslim independence group at the time, the Moro National Liberation Front. These camps facilitated the training of several thousand Jihadists bound for Pakistan and Afghanistan. Many would eventually return with combat experience.
July - September 2012

JUNGLE WARFARE Philippine Marines practice jungle warfare techniques in Sulu with the advice and assistance of Joint Special Operations Task Forces Special Forces. Photo by Sgt. Matthew Troyer, USMC

JSOTF-P Uses Whole-Of-Nation Approach

TO BRING STABILITY TO THE PHILIPPINES

BY COLONEL FRAN BEAUDETTE

Introduction
Since the introduction of U.S. forces in the southern Philippines in 2002, service members with the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines have supported the Philippine military and police, with particular emphasis on the Government of the Republic of the Philippines counterterrorism efforts. These combined efforts have resulted in a significant degradation of transnational and locally inspired terrorist groups such as Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf Group, and created a region largely inhospitable to terrorists. The purpose of this article is to identify focus areas that have been successful in the southern Philippines for possible application to future operations, in particular those in areas where a light footprint, reduced signature and long-standing regional expertise are essential for mission accomplishment. The roots of conflict in the southern Philippines are complex and date back several centuries. Efforts to promote internal security and stability have historically been hampered by geography, a turbulent political landscape, limited material resources and the perception of attempted domination by foreign actors. In early 2011, the GRP recognized the need for a fundamentally different approach and adopted the Internal Peace and Security Plan-Bayanihan. Although authored by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the plan encompasses a whole-of-nation approach, with a focus on coordinating all efforts under the broad direction of a national internal-security strategy. The importance of this approach is evidenced by the inclusion of an opening message from President Benigno Aquino in which he states, the problems confronting our nation are multi-faceted and complex...a military solution is not enough to completely solve them. Efforts to achieve genuine peace and security must therefore be supported by all.

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JSOTF-P BRINGS STABILITY TO THE PHILIPPINES

This perceived safe haven led to the influx of al-Qaeda-related operatives in the late 1980s when Mohammad Jamal Khalifa, Osama bin Ladens brother-in-law, arrived. He was followed a few years later by the primary architect of the World Trade Center bombing, Ramzi Yousef. A year later, Yousef was joined by his uncle, Khalid Sheik Mohammad, former secretary to Abu Sayyaf, an Afghan warlord and namesake of a Filipino terrorist group formed by returning Jihadists. Soon after, JI began operating in the Philippines. While al-Qaeda operatives were flowing into the region, JI and ASG embarked on a series of deadly bombings and kidnappings. Recognizing the threats to international peace and security posed by terrorist operations within their borders, the GRP and U.S. Government formed a partnership in 2002, focused on JI and ASG, the greatest combined terror threat to both nations. The current evolution of this partnership is JSOTF-P, and its overarching result has been GRP operational success. A recent report by the Congressional Research Service found that Joint military activities have reduced the numbers of terrorist fighters in the South [diminished] Abu Sayyaf s strength and presence, [and] the ASGs leadership core reportedly has been reduced by about three-fourths...2 This continued effort is paying measurable dividends as illustrated by comparing this recent report to the Department of States assessment in 2004, which found that ASG and JI continue to threaten the security of the country.3 Again, as late as 2007, the Department of State noted that JI in the Philippines remained a serious threat to Western and regional interests, particularly in Indonesia and the Southern Philippines.4 For the purposes of this article, it is important to acknowledge the uniqueness of the U.S.-Philippine relationship. Treaty allies for more than 60 years, the history of our interaction since 1898 through World War II is well known. Although the government and much of the population are supportive of U.S. engagement, national sovereignty sensitivities, in particular with regard to U.S. forces post Subic-Bay Naval Base, remain important. The small and discrete U.S. footprint of JSOTF-P collocated with Philippine forces and in an advisory and assistance role, has been optimal.

ON AIR A Philippine airman communicates with helicopter crews during an infiltration exercise. Photo by MCC Terry Spain, USN

Areas of Engagement
Since 2002, JSOTF-P has indirectly supported thousands of partner-force operations.5 While the overall mission has

essentially remained unchanged, JSOTF-P efforts have been refined, modified or adapted to meet the needs, capabilities and political enthusiasm of the GRP and AFP/PNP. However, the focus has remained consistent on three key areas. Full Spectrum Embedding and Engagement. JSOTF-P has worked diligently over the years to establish relationships with members of the local and national government and security forces; effective partnership is the most important thing we do. At the tactical level, these relationships have been greatly facilitated by proper force disposition across a joint operating area containing more than 20 million people living on hundreds of islands scattered across 176,000 square miles of ocean. From the outset of U.S. engagement, leaders determined that U.S. forces would be co-located with Philippine units on Philippine installations. In addition to being critical to the conduct of the mission, this was necessary in order to comply with the Philippine Constitution and several U.S./Philippine bi-lateral agreements.6 Also critical to a long-term perspective, the persistent rotation of forces into the Philippines by the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) has developed regional experts and fostered strong Filipino-American relationships manifested in each entitys commitment to each other and to lasting operational success. Currently, at the request of the GRP, U.S. forces remain collocated with their partners on approximately a dozen Philippine military and police camps. JSOTF-P forces typically liaise at the military-brigade and police-battalion level while maintaining close relationships with subordinate units. There are exceptions to these partnerships that enable operational flexibility and direct engagement in the most appropriate location for mission accomplishment. For example, in one area a U.S. Special Forces operational detachment is directly partnered with an AFP infantry division headquarters, while another is partnered with a large threestar operational command. Another ODA serves as a liaison to the AFP Special Operations Command and its collocated subordinate units, while also maintaining daily active liaison presence with the PNP Special Action Force. Other Green Berets and SEALs from JSOTF-P are further closely partnered with the SAF at the operational and tactical level, advising and assisting their police counterparts in their mission of protecting and serving the population. Similarly, the U.S. Army Military Information Support teams and Civil Affairs teams assigned to each subordinate JSOTF-P Task Force have integrated at the tactical level with impressive results. Developing relationships and conducting subject-matter expert exchanges, the MIST teams have focused on radio messaging, atmospherics analysis and measures of effectiveness collection, while the CA teams have focused on building a self-sustaining Philippine CA capacity. As a result of their long term efforts, the AFP now has a CA capability, with associated doctrine, that is extremely effective and capable of planning, resourcing and conducting their own medical civic-action programs, dental civic-action programs, veterinary civic-action

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HAVING A BLAST An Armed Forces of the Philippines explosive ordinance disposal technician prepares munitions for detonation after completing a joint AFP and JSOTF-P training class. Photo by Sgt. Sheldon Peters, USMC

programs and engaging their local populations to great effect. Also, the AFP/PNP now have the ability to independently design, produce and distribute their own informational products. The CA/MIST LNOs located in Manila have had similar success through their engagements with GRP national-level organizations as well as remaining synchronized with critical U.S. and GRP development partners. For example, a JSOTF-P CA officer permanently serves as an LNO to the United States Agency for International Development. Another example of close partnership is through the JSOTF-P liaison element partnered with the Philippine Air Force. Over time, through subject-matter expert exchanges on many advanced topics, the Philippine Air Force has also made tremendous progress. Their night-vision, goggle-qualified helicopter crews are fully operationally capable and their close-air support platforms are integrated, when needed, into ground operations. These types of partnerships are especially suited to episodic support from routine theater-campaign plan engagements. Recently, joint combined exchange-training events supporting the military and police have taken place in the southern Philippines, fully synchronized with JSOTF-Ps ongoing efforts. It is through these components of the TCP that long-term partnerships with the appropriate partner-nation units can eventually and sustainably transition to episodic engagement. Select JSOTF-P personnel also meet weekly with senior AFP and PNP commanders at the operational and national level. These engagements have engendered the creation of a Philippine National Police National Operations Center meeting at the Manila headquarters for weekly discussions on appropriate topics. JSOTF-P members also attend the weekly AFP general headquarters J3 and J2 combined fusion meeting, as well as attend similar meetings at both regional three-star command headquarters in the southern Philippines, at the AFP Marine-led Joint Task Force Sulu and PNP/AFP combined Joint Task Force Zamboanga-Basilan. A corollary of JSOTF-Ps mission is their support role as a component of the ambassadors America-in-3D initiative focusing on diplomacy, development and defense. The JSOTF-P deputy commander and J9 work in the U.S. Embassy in Manila, maintaining effective relationships with all critical components of the U.S. country team. Similarly, the JSOTF-P leadership meets weekly with the ambassador, deputy chief of mission and senior embassy officials. Further, JSOTF-P personnel of all ranks meet on a weekly basis with representatives from the Departments of State, Justice and Treasury, and are co-located at their headquarters with FBI and Department of Justice representatives. At three locations in the southern Philippines, JSOTF-P forces are collocated with members of the Department of Justices International Criminal Investigation Training Assistance Program who train local law-enforcement officials. This program and the relationship between JSOTF-P and ICITAP have proven extremely valuable. For instance, in 2011 the program in Sulu alone graduated more than 1,600 local police officers in fundamental police professionalism courses.

The comprehensive U.S. country-team approach found in the Philippines, and necessary for operational success, is perhaps best embodied in the U.S. Embassys Mindanao Working Group. Established by the ambassador, this interagency collaborative body plans, coordinates, monitors and assess U.S. engagement in the southern Philippines in order to achieve the missions goals in support of U.S. national interests. The MWG consists of representatives from across the U.S. Mission and JSOTF-P, and has served to link elements of the GRP and private sector more closely to the southern Philippines. Operations and intelligence fusion. Daily, the JSOTF-P focuses on supporting the AFP/ PNP lead in deterring remaining terrorist groups and in permanently securing the security gains they have earned over the past 10 years. Enabling AFP and PNP operations and intelligence fusion requirements includes a wide variety of activities from SMEEs through support such as instruction on the military decision-making process, use of computermapping software or doctrinal construct of a joint task force. Philippine security forces are tremendously capable in their understanding of local issues, challenges and relationships. Synchronizing this understanding with purposeful operations intended for a specific desired effect has been critical to recent successes. They are now very adept at conducting specific and focused warrant-based operations against wanted individuals. These are oftentimes terrorists whose crimes against society are their principle means of funding. Operations focused on suspected criminals are understood by the local population and conveyed to them as occurring specifically through legitimate legal efforts by the GRP to rid formerly large swaths of the countryside of lawlessness and banditry. President Aquino states the concept best, calling it an all out justice strategy against criminal elements. This explanation resonates well with locals. These operations have achieved operational effect, and in most cases eliminated internal displacement of the population, formerly prevalent during the conduct of ill-defined large-scale security operations. The AFP and PNP fusing of accurate intelligence with the conduct of measured and appropriate operations is impressive and serves as the tactical foundation of support to the IPSP. Military components, police elements and local officials now routinely meet in Sulu, Basilan and Zamboanga, to discuss events and share information. This sharing has enabled the formation of a GRPinterconnected intelligence and targeting network capable of gathering, analyzing, planning and executing operations against
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JSOTF-P BRINGS STABILITY TO THE PHILIPPINES

transnational terrorist threats. Formerly non-existent, GRP participants now employ the F3EAD model (find, fix, finish, exploit, assess, disseminate), conduct joint-training exercises and routinely conduct joint operations with AFP and PNP forces focused and applying their respective strengths in a permanently self-sustaining manner. Military transition of internal security responsibilities to the police. One of the distinguishing aspects of the Philippines as an operational theater is the presence of a fully functioning government and existing legal framework relative to counterterrorism operations. In the case of the Philippines, although this framework divides responsibility for CT operations between the military and police, the police have primacy while the military maintains responsibility for counterinsurgency. In addition, the IPSP calls for an eventual complete transition of internal security responsibility to the police, allowing for a more streamlined military to then focus on territorial defense. The relationship between the AFP and PNP remains critical, and both organizations clearly understand that strong and functional mutual support and dialogue strengthen overall internal security efforts. Recently, the GRP has announced the creation of Joint Task Force Zamboanga-Basilan, an organization designed to align the efforts of the AFP and PNP. The model leverages the warrant arrest power of the PNP against violent extremists and local lawless elements while employing AFP soldiers to augment their security posture on or near objectives. This new construct will synchronize AFP and PNP efforts in the planning and conduct of operations by information sharing, advanced skill cross training and combined representation of GRP capacity to protect the population. For example, the AFP could provide expertise and support with navigating through difficult terrain and securing the outer perimeter of a rural objective, while the PNP conducts a warrant-based arrest of a terrorist suspect. In that operation, the PNP would also gather evidence on scene and conduct sensitive site exploitation to complete the requirements for a legal case. As has been said many times, the AFP is not at war within the Philippines. They are employing their expertise against the myriad internal security challenges and in close concert with the PNP have made tremendous progress. In the end, the AFP is working itself out of a job so that it can regain a focus comparable to traditional militaries.

CIVIL AFFAIRS Philippine Armed Forces deliver books during a civil-military operation. Courtesy photo

tions throughout the country, working closely with counterparts in the military, police and a variety of political, religious and civilian leaders. This support is synchronized with the overarching U.S. government objectives in country. Fundamentally, this complete horizontal and vertical integration between the comprehensive U.S. Government team and our respective partners, from the strategic to tactical level, has been the key to success. While the Philippines may present a unique operational environment, this model full integration and strategic focus on the outcome by both U.S. and partnernation governments is universal. As previously noted, transnational terrorist organizations have historically been able to thrive in the Southern Philippines due to historic issues separatist fighting, frail economy, land disputes, uneven central government influence, etc. A long-term solution demands that these simmering issues be resolved. Such a solution also requires continued pressure by our partner nation security forces on terrorist groups despite their challenging resource environment and competing needs.7 The GRP, with JSOTF-P assistance as needed, will attain internal peace and security in the southern Philippines and will continue to deny sanctuary to any remnants of al-Qaeda affiliated transnational terrorists formerly operating freely within its borders. Colonel Fran Beaudette currently commands the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) and JSOTF-P.

Notes
1. Statement of President Benigno Aquino III during the AFP Change of Command Ceremony on July 2, 2010 at Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo, Quezon City, quoted in Internal Peace and Security Plan - Bayanihan. 2. Thomas Lum, The Republic of the Philippines and U.S. Interests, Congressional Research Service (January 3, 2011): 10. 3. United States Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2010, Chapter 5A, accessed January 5, 2012, www.state.gov/g/ct/rls/ crt/45388.htm. 4. United States Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2010, Chapter 2, accessed January 5, 2012, www.state.gov/g/ct/rls/ crt/2007/103706.htm. 5. JSOTF-P has partnered with more than 75 units. 6. See for example, The Mutual Defense Treaty Between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States of America (August 30, 1951); The Republic of the Philippines and United States of America Visiting Forces Agreement (May 27, 1998); Armed Forces of the Philippines and United States Pacific Command Kapit Bisig Framework (July 12, 2006). 7. United States Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2010, Chapter 2, accessed January 5, 2012, www.state.gov/g/ ct/rls/crt/2010/170255.htm (The Philippine government, with U.S. support, has kept constant pressure on terrorist groups, even as their security services were stretched thin by other demands)

Evolution
On any given day the JSOTF-P supports GRP operations in more than a dozen loca-

comment here

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Special Warfare

BY JEFFREY HASLER

Let China sleep, for when she awakens the whole world will tremble.
Napoleon Bonaparte
After a decade of large land-power campaigns in southwest Asia and the U.S. Central Commands area of operations , the national defense guidance Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for the 21st Century (2012) has directed that the U.S. security focus will of necessity rebalance toward the Asia-Pacific region and the U.S. Pacific Command area of operations.1 Shock and awe and large-scale counterinsurgency will diminish in favor of Asian partner engagement and theater shaping backed up by air-sea battle. This pivot reflects not only the diminishing preoccupation with 9/11-inspired counterterrorism, but a renewed emphasis on the growing importance of East Asia in an increasingly globalized world. The most vibrant expanding power and most worrisome potential adversary in any military conflict in this region is clearly the Peoples Republic of China. It is therefore appropriate to revisit the extremely deep well of Chinese history to consider the continuity of special-warfare stratagem and will alive in the eternal Chinese military mind. The Chinese military tradition is especially characterized by an emphasis on indirectness, multiple paths to an objective, centrality of deception and secrecy and a regard for outright treachery which is probably counterintuitive to most western readers. This article cant possibly do justice to the depth, breadth, richness and implications of this topic. However, a tiny selection of passages from the Chinese tradition will help to illustrate and inform the above assertions. There is voluminous comment of the effect of the Confucian tradition throughout all of Chinese (and east Asian) culture. Such discussions are basically centered on considerations of benevolent and wise rule achieved by ordered society that is attentive to correct understanding, relationships, definitions and rituals. Confucianism provides a paternalistic world dependent on adherence to surface definitions which order shallow, obvious reality. The Chinese Communist Party has always explained Confucianism as a relic; the justification for Chinas feudal past. Although some later Confucian tradition does include discussion of military affairs particularly organization Confucianism generally eschews a focus on warfare.

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CONTINUITY IN THE CHINESE MIND FOR WAR

More pertinent are other contemporary ancient Chinese classics; Lao Tzus Tao Te Ching, and Sun Tzus The Art of War. Taoism was a metaphysical school of Chinese philosophy generally contemporary with Confucianism. Unlike Confucianism, Taoism rejects hard definitions, certainty and shallow understanding and has thus always been a philosophical counterpoise to the surface-ordered Confucian world. Take just three passages from the Tao Te Ching (circa 6th century B.C.) as an example: LXVIII One who excels as a warrior does not appear formidable; One who excels at fighting is never roused in anger; One who excels in defeating his enemy does not join issue; One who excels in employing others humbles himself before them. This is known as the virtue of non-contention; This is known as making use of the efforts of others; This is known as matching the sublimity of heaven. LXIX The strategists have a saying, I dare not play the host but play the guest, I dare not advance an inch but retreat a foot instead. This is known as marching forward when there is no road, Rolling up ones sleeves when there is no arm, Dragging ones adversary by force when there is no adversary, And taking up arms when there are no arms. There is no disaster greater than taking on an enemy too easily. So doing nearly cost me my treasure. Thus of two sides raising arms against each other, it is the one that is sorrow stricken that wins. LXXVIII In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it. This is because there is nothing that can take its place. That the weak overcomes the strong, and the submissive overcomes the hard, everyone in the world knows yet no one can put this knowledge into practice. Therefore the sage says, one who takes on himself the humiliation of the state is called a ruler worthy of offering sacrifices to the gods of earth and millet; One who takes on himself the calamity of the state is called a king worthy of domination over the entire empire. Straightforward words seem paradoxical.2 Most philosophers of war rightly consider Sun Tzus The Art of War to be one of the timeless classics of war philosophy. However, the passages above demonstrate that the essential underlying qualities of indirectness, paradox, deception and quintessence are all present in Sun Tzus contemporary Lao Tzu. Nor is this an irrelevant academic quibble over who influenced whom. Notice that it is western thinkers who ascribe war mind wisdom to Sun rather than to Lao. To a Chinese Taoist mind and as the passages above suggest the question Where exactly does the strictly philosophical end and the strictly military begin (?) is both nonsensical and irrelevant. Keeping in mind the philosophical drift of the above, compare the following passages from Sun Tzus The Art of War (circa 6th century B.C.). I All warfare is based on deception. Therefore, when capable, feign incapacity; when active, inactivity. When near, make it appear that you are far away; when far away, that you are near. Offer the enemy a bait to lure him; feign disorder and strike him. When he concentrates, prepare against him; where he is strong, avoid him. Anger his general and confuse him. Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance. Keep him under strain and wear him down. When he is united, divide him. Attack where he is unprepared; sally out when he does not expect you. These are the strategists keys to victory III Generally in war the best policy is to take a state intact; to ruin it is inferior to this. To capture the enemys army is better than to destroy it; to take intact a battalion, a company or a five-man squad is better than to destroy them. For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill. Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemys strategy; next best is to disrupt his alliances: The next best is to attack his army. The worst policy is to attack cities. Attack cities only when there is no alternative. Thus, those skilled in war subdue the enemys army without battle. They capture his cities without assaulting them and overthrow his state without protracted operations. Your aim must be to take All-under-Heaven intact. Thus your troops are not worn out and your gains will be complete. This is the art of offensive strategy. IV Anciently the skillful warriors first made themselves invincible and awaited the enemys moment of vulnerability. Invincibility depends on oneself; the enemys vulnerability on him. One defends when his strength is inadequate; he attacks when it is abundant. To foresee a victory which the ordinary man can foresee is not the acme of skill; to triumph in a battle and be universally acclaimed Expert is not the acme of skill, for if to lift an autumn down requires no great strength; to distinguish between sun and moon is not test of vision; to hear the thunderclap is no indication of acute hearing. Anciently those called skilled in war conquered an enemy easily conquered. And therefore the victories won by a master of war gain him neither reputation for wisdom nor merit for valour. For he wins his victories without erring. Without erring means that whatever he does insures victory; he conquers an enemy already defeated. Therefore the skillful commander takes up a position in which he cannot be defeated and misses no opportunity to master his enemy. Thus a victorious army wins its victories before seeking battle; an army destined to defeat fights in the hope of winning. Those skilled in war cultivate the Tao and preserve the laws and are therefore able to formulate victorious policies. XIII Now the reason the enlightened prince and the wise general conquer the enemy whenever they move and their achievements surpass those of ordinary men is foreknowledge. What is called foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits, nor from gods, nor by analogy with past events, nor from calculations. It must be obtained from men who know the enemy situation. Native agents are those of the enemys country people whom we employ. Inside agents are enemy officials whom we employ. Doubled agents are enemy spies whom we employ. Expendable agents are those of our own spies who are deliberately given fabricated information. Living agents are those who return with information. Of all those in the army close to the commander none is more intimate than the secret agent; of all rewards given none more liberal than those given to secret agents; of all matters none is more confidential than those relating to secret operations.

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He who is not sage and wise, humane and just, cannot use secret agents. And he who is not delicate and subtle cannot get the truth out of them. Delicate indeed! Truly delicate! There is no place where espionage is not used And therefore only the enlightened sovereign and the worthy general who are able to use the most intelligent people as agents are certain to achieve great things. Secret operations are essential in war; upon them the army relies to make its every move3 Like the Tao Te Ching, much of the underlying principles of the Art of War emphasize indirectness, subtlety, secrecy, deviousness and a holistic approach to strategy. Many of these same treacherous qualities can be found in the civil offensives section of another of the Song Dynastys (10th-12th century) so-called Seven Military Classics, the Six

will. Make him generous gifts of pearls and jade, and ply him with beautiful women. Speak deferentially, listen respectfully, follow his commands, and accord with him in everything. He will never imagine you might be in conflict with him. Our treacherous measures will then be settled. Fifth, treat his loyal officials very generously, but reduce the gifts you provide to the ruler. Delay his emissaries; do not listen to their missions. When he eventually dispatches other men, treat them with sincerity, embrace and trust them. The ruler will then again feel you are in harmony with him. If you manage to treat his formerly loyal officials very generously, his state can then be plotted against. Sixth, make secret alliances with his favored ministers, but visibly keep his less-favored outside officials at a distance. His talented people

ation. Accept his ideas and respond to his affairs as if you were twins. Once you have learned everything, subtly gather in his power. Thus when the ultimate day arrives, it will seem as if Heaven itself destroyed him. Eleventh, block up his access by means of the Tao. Among subordinates there is no one who does not value rank and wealth nor hate danger and misfortune. Secretly express great respect toward them, and gradually bestow valuable gifts in order to gather in the more outstanding talents. Accumulate your own resources until they become very substantial, but manifest an external appearance of shortage. Covertly bring in wise knights, and entrust them with planning great strategy. Attract courageous knights, and augment their spirit. Even when they are more than sufficiently rich and honored, constantly add to their riches. When your faction has been

All warfare is based on deception. Therefore, when capable, feign incapacity; when active, inactivity. When near, make it appear that you are far away; when far away, that you are near.
Secret Teachings (circa 5th century B.C.) of Tai Kong. Ralph Sawyer explains civil offensives thusly: The civil, as distinguished from the martial, consisted of diplomatic measures as well as political programs that clearly encompassed psychological warfare, disinformation, spying, and the creation of dissention.4 There are twelve measures for civil offensives. First, accord with what he likes in order to accommodate his wishes. He will eventually grow arrogant and invariably mount some perverse affair. If you can appear to follow along, you will certainly be able to eliminate him. Second, become familiar with those he loves in order to fragment his awesomeness. When men have two different inclinations, their loyalty invariably declines. When his court no longer has any loyal ministers, the state will inevitably be endangered. Third, covertly bribe his assistants, fostering a deep relationship them. While they will bodily stand in his court, their emotions will be directed outside it. The state will certainly suffer harm. Fourth, assist him in his licentiousness and indulgence in music in order to dissipate his will then be under external influence, while enemy states encroach upon his territory. Few states in such a situation have survived. Seventh, if you want to bind his heart to you, you must offer generous presents. To gather in his assistants, loyal associates, and loved ones, you must secretly show them the gains they can realize by colluding with you. Have them slight their work, and then their preparations will be futile. Eight, gift him with great treasures, and make plans with him. When the plans are successful and profit him, he will have faith in you because of the profits. This is what is termed as being closely embraced. The result is that he will inevitably be used by us. When someone rules a state but is externally controlled, his territory will inevitably be defeated. Ninth, honor him with praise. Do nothing that will cause him personal discomfort. Display the proper respect accruing to a great power, and your obedience will certainly be trusted. Magnify his honor; be the first to gloriously praise him, humbly embellishing him as a sage. Then his state will suffer great loss! Tenth, be submissive so that he will trust you, and thereby learn about his true situfully established you will have obtained the objective referred to as blocking his access. If someone has a state but his access is blocked, how can he be considered as having a state? Twelfth, support his dissolute officials in order to confuse him. Introduce beautiful women and licentious sounds in order to befuddle him. Send him outstanding dogs and horses in order to tire him. From time to time allow him great power in order to entice him to greater arrogance. Then investigate Heavens signs, and plot with the world against him. When these 12 measures are fully employed, they will become a military weapon. Thus whenthe proper signs are visible, attack him.5 The Six Secret Teachings clearly show that there is no meaningful conceptual dividing line between what is considered war; only that some efforts are done with the traditional use of arms and others are done with appeal to human moral weaknesses. Moreover, as the Seven Military Classics were compiled as a canon of statecraft in the 11th century, it demonstrates cultural continuity of regard for treachery, deviousness, secrecy
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CONTINUITY IN THE CHINESE MIND FOR WAR

ANCIENT POWER Marines of the Peoples Liberation Army stand at attention as Rear Admiral Gary Roughead, commander of the Pacific Fleet, greets them following a demonstration of the brigades capabilities. U.S. Marine Corp photo by Lance Corporal J.J. Harper

and the indirect and subtle application of lethal coercion. Yet another example of such continuity in Chinese grand strategic and philosophical thought on war is the Secret Art of War: The 36 Stratagems. As is common in works informed by such ancient events, it is difficult to be certain of authorship, and the assertions of authorship stretch all the way back to the same classical period as Sun Tzu. However, the prevailing view is that many of these stratagems are a part of oral history handed down over millennia by various tellers. There were also more than 36 such gambits; the 36 being a contrived number in the compilation accorded to the late Ming or early Qing Dynasties (circa 17th century A.D.). The current text was found and reprinted in 1941 but remained obscure until promoted by the CCP in 1961.6 Such a timeline is clear confirmation of the central persuasiveness of these ideas in Chinese culture as it reaches all the way from the classic period of the ancient masters up to Chinas present ruling regime.

A very brief selection of the stratagems is offered as example below. Besiege Wei to rescue Zhou (Use an indirect approach): When the enemy is too strong to be attacked directly, then attack something which he holds dear. Know that he cannot be superior in all things. Somewhere there is a gap in his armor, a weakness that can be attacked instead. Kill with a borrowed knife (Use the strength of another): Attack using the strength of another. Trick and ally into attacking him, bribe an official to turn traitor, or use the enemys own strength against him. Leisurely await for the labored (Wait for your enemy to wear himself out) Encourage your enemy to expend his energy in futile quests while you conserve your strength. When he is exhausted and confused, you attack with energy and purpose. Create something from nothing (Lie) A plain lie. Make somebody believe there was something when there is in fact nothing.

Hide a knife behind a smile (Be treacherous) Charm and ingratiate yourself to your enemy. When you have gained his trust, move against him in secret. Entice the tiger to leave its mountain lair (Lure out of a dominant position) Never directly attack an opponent whose advantage is derived from its position. Instead lure him away from his position thus separating him from his source of strength. Remove the firewood from under the pot (Destroy the source of strength) If something must be destroyed, destroy the source. Replace the beams with rotten timbers (Subvert the enemy) Make the host and guest exchange roles (Infiltrate and take over) Usurp leadership in a situation where you are normally subordinate. Infiltrate your target. Initially, pretend to be a guest to be accepted, but develop from inside and become the owner later.7 There are many more. The continuing themes of indirectness, treachery, subver-

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sion, infiltration and manipulating ones opponent into ambushes set for him are obvious. That the CCP rescued this collection from obscurity and published it is indicative of the partys regard for its profundity and utility. Why then should the reader not believe that the party sees profundity and utility in (1999), the work of two PLA Colonels, Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui. It is not credible that this work would have been allowed to be published without some level of official sanction. Given the length of Chinese history and tradition, this work is essentially the current state of Chinese philosophy. A tiny sample follows. The first rule of unrestricted warfare is there are no rules, with nothing forbidden. Strong countries make the rules while rising ones break them and exploit loopholes. Faced with political, economic, cultural, diplomatic, ethnic and religious issues etc, that are more complex than they are in the minds of most of the military men in the world, the limitations of the military means, which had heretofore always been successful, suddenly become apparent. When people begin to lean toward and rejoice in the reduced use of military force to resolve conflicts, war will be reborn in another form and in another arena, becoming an instrument of enormous power in the hands of all those who harbor intentions of controlling other countries or regions. In this sense, there is reason for us to maintain that the financial attack by George Soros on East Asia, the terrorist attack on the U.S. embassy by Osama bin Laden, the gas attack on the Tokyo subway by Aum ShinriKy, and the havoc wreaked by the likes of Morris Jr. on the Internet, in which the degree of destruction is by no means second to that of a war, represent semi-warfare, quasi-warfare and sub-warfare, that is, the embryonic kind of another warfare. Even in the so-called post-modern, postindustrial age, warfare will not be totally dismantled. It has only re-invaded human society in a more complex, more extensive, more concealed and more subtle manner. While we are seeing a relative reduction in military violence, at the same time we definitely are seeing an increase in political, economic and technological violence. The new principles of war are no longer using armed force to compel the enemy to submit to ones will, but rather are using all means, including armed force or non-armed

force, military and non-military, and lethal and non-lethal means to compel the enemy to accept ones interests. This kind of war means that all means will be in readiness, that information will be omnipresent and the battlefield will be everywhere. It means that all weapons and technology can be superimposed at will, it means that all the boundaries lying between the two worlds of war and non-war, of military and non-military, will be totally destroyed, and it also means that many of the current principles of combat will be modified, and even that the rules of war may need to be rewritten. The new concept of weapons is a view of weapons in the broad sense, which views as weapons all means which transcend the military realm but which can still be used in combat operations. In its eyes, everything that can benefit mankind can also harm him. That is to say that there is nothing in the world today that cannot become a weapon, and this requires that our understanding of weapons must have an awareness that breaks through all boundaries.8 There is much more than these few quotes. To the extent that U.S. policy is pivoting to East Asia, every western policy maker, war fighting leader and special-operations Soldier should study the full work. Not only is Unrestricted Warfare completely consistent with the Chinese tradition of holistic, indirect, imaginative and deviousness in war philosophy, it is essentially a bold pronouncement that this unrestricted, lawless view of war is available to the PRC right now. Our war is sacred and just, it is progressive and its aim is peace. The aim is peace

not just in one country but throughout the world, not just temporary peace but perpetual peace. To achieve this aim we must wage a life-and-death struggle, be prepared for any sacrifice, persevere to the end and never stop short of the goal. However great the sacrifice and however long the time needed to attain it, a new world of perpetual peace and brightness already lies clearly before us. Our faith in waging this war is based upon the new China.9 Mao Zedong The Chinese have a long tradition of very intelligent, focused and patient indirectness, deviousness, imagination, ruthlessness, treachery, guile and deceit in their mind for warfare. Every special operations Soldier is obliged to focus on the challenge the PRC presents to American interests and has a duty to study and understand these Chinese traditions. Naysayers, defenders and apologists with vested interests in the PRC will challenge or downplay the significance of this tradition. Armed with these examples you may judge for yourself. As he smiles and charms you to your face with his many heads, dont forget the poisoned spikes of the dragons long tail. comment here Mr. Jeffrey Hasler is a retired Special Forces warrant officer and lifelong student of China. Educated at Indiana and the Naval Postgraduate School, he graduated with honors in Chinese Mandarin from the Defense Language Institute, and has studied and travelled widely in the PRC. He is currently a doctrine writer and analyst in USAJFKSWCS.

Notes
1. Department of Defense. (JAN 2012). Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership; Priorities for the 21st Century. Washington D.C. p. 2. 2. Lao Tzu. (1963). Tao Te Ching.Tr. D.C. Lau.Penguin Classics, N.Y. pp. 130-1, 140. 3. Sun Tzu. (1976). The Art of War. Tr. Samuel B. Griffith.Forward by B. H. Liddell Hart. Oxford University Press, London. pp. 66-70, 77-79, 85-88, 144-149. 4. Sawyer, Ralph. (1993). The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China. Westview Press, Boulder. p. 404. 5. Sawyer, pp. 56-57. 6. Liu Yi, Tr. (1992). 36 Stratagems: Secret Art of War. Asiapac Press, Singapore. Foreward p.1; and Chinese Military texts/Thirty-Six Stratagems downloaded 15FEB12 from Wikipedia 7. Chinese Military texts/Thirty-Six Stratagems,Wikipedia 8. Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui. (1999). Unrestricted Warfare. PLA Literature and Arts Publishing House, Beijing. pp. 1,3,4,8,15. Excerpts taken from Foreign Broadcast Information Service selection downloaded 8FEB12 from http://www. terrorism.com/documents/unrestricted.pdf 9. Mao Tse Tung. (1938) On Protracted War, in Selected Military Writings of Mao Tse Tung. Foreign Languages Press, Peking, 1968. p. 224.

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THE CHALLENGES OF CHINA

AND ARSOFS ROLE
BY COLONEL MIKE LWIN

China looms large, not just in the minds of leaders and the foreign-policy community in America, but also in Asia and around the globe. While Chinas economy has grown remarkably over the last two decades, its longterm strategic intentions remain unclear. As the collapse of the Soviet Union, Japans previously predicted economic supremacy and the Arab Spring demonstrate, strategic forecasting is a tricky business. In this period of uncertainty when it is unclear whether China will act as a responsible power or as an aggressive regional hegemon, it is certain that China presents a range of challenges for the U.S. and other nation states. This essay considers the question of What is the role of Army special-operations forces in meeting the challenges of China? To answer this question, this article is divided into three sections. First, this article identifies current U.S. policy and strategy. Second, the article examines the economic, military and influence domains where China strategically challenges the U.S. Finally, the article identifies the opportunities where ARSOF can achieve the desired outcomes of U.S. national strategy. Whether China will ultimately partner with or struggle against the U.S. is unclear. As our Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has written, China represents one of the most challenging and consequential bilateral relationships the United States has ever had to

U.S. Policy

manage.1 The latest National Security Strategy states that the U.S. will continue to pursue a positive, constructive and comprehensive relationship with China.2 It goes on to state More broadly, we will encourage China to make choices that contribute to peace, security and prosperity as its influence rises.3 The Defense Strategic Guidance released earlier this year identifies the methods the U.S. will use to maintain stability and growth in the Asia-Pacific region. The guidance states, We will emphasize our existing alliances and ...expand our networks of cooperation with emerging partners.4 This method seeks to ensure an end state with a rules-based international order that ensures underlying stability and encourages the peaceful rise of new powers, economic dynamism and constructive defense cooperation. 5 Some consider China to be an adversary like the Soviet Union was during the Cold War. This is an imperfect comparison. During the Cold War, the world was largely divided between two blocs

Chinas Challenges

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Special Warfare

with separate economies, military alliances and ideological outlooks; today, no simple division exists. Like the Soviet Union, the scope of Chinas challenge extends to the economic, military and influence realms. The nature of Chinas challenges in these realms, however, is fundamentally different than that of the Soviet Union. China has significant economic ties to the U.S. and the rest of the globe; the Soviet Union did not. China does not currently array its military forces directly against the U.S., as the Soviet Union did in Europe. China does not offer a clear ideological alternative to other nations, as did the Soviet Union with Communism. Chinas growing economic strength is the first challenge. Although the economic domain is typically viewed as a separate realm from military strategy, it is essential to understand the strategic implications of Chinas economic growth. What is clear is that China has maintained sustained economic growth over the last two decades and is now the worlds second largest economy. Forecasts differ on when, or if, the Chinese economy will surpass the U.S. Regardless of the actual answer to that question, Chinas economic growth has critical

Military Challenge
As mentioned previously, Chinas economic growth has allowed it to steadily increase its military capabilities. The role of Chinas Peoples Liberation Army has traditionally been oriented on Taiwan to deter any moves toward independence and respond with force if necessary. Some of the PLAs existing and emerging capabilities such as conventional missile forces and submarines are especially troubling, as they could also be used for anti-access/area denial to push U.S. naval and air forces out of the Western Pacific in a time of crisis. Presently, however, Taiwans role as a flashpoint for military conflict has been diminished given stable relations and growing economic ties between the mainland and Taiwan. As China continues to consume oil, metals and other resources to feed its industries and meet the demands of its growing consumer class, it is also developing military capabilities to project power farther from home. Last year in Libya, the Chinese military conducted its first noncombatant evacuation operation. China has participated in counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. Beyond more benign uses of its military power, however, China is also building up capabilities that could be used to coerce its neighbors.

Economic Challenge

While U.S. presence is not designed to contain China, it does serve to constrain China from adopting and pursuing overly aggressive actions against its neighbors.
strategic implications. Economic growth increases Chinas resources available to modernize its military. Even if China were to maintain its defense spending at a level of 2 percent of its gross-national product, its defense budget would still steadily grow. Economic strength also provides a source of global influence for China through the provision of aid, loans, trade and investment. Some have even argued that Chinas ownership of U.S. debt could allow it to coerce or compel the U.S. to do its bidding. Others, however, point out that Chinas holding of U.S. bonds creates a financial balance of terror. If China were to dump U.S. bonds, it would hurt the U.S., but would also inflict great damage on China. Perhaps the greatest strategic implication, however, is that Chinas economic growth and role as Asias economic hub has made it deeply linked to both the U.S. and other countries regionally and around the globe. Boeing sells billions of dollars of U.S. aircraft and General Motors is the largest foreign automaker in China. Apple and other U.S. companies have supply chains that originate out of China. On the opposite side, the Chinese economy depends on access to the world for raw materials to feed and power its factories as well as access to U.S. and Western markets to sustain its growth. These economic relationships place strong incentives for the U.S., China and other countries to avoid any break in relations or military conflict that could cause these vital economic linkages to be severed. China and its neighbors have a range of resource and sovereignty disputes, which are prominently on display in the South China Sea. Some of Chinas emerging military capabilities do not directly threaten the U.S., but appear to be a signal to smaller regional nations not to challenge China. For example, the Chinese aircraft carrier that had its maiden voyage last year with great fanfare is nothing more than an old, reconditioned ex-Soviet vessel that poses little direct threat to the U.S. The carriers purpose seems more intended as a display of military might to cower smaller regional nations into acquiescence with Chinas desires. Additionally, should Chinas leadership ever feel that its sovereignty is challenged by other regional nations, the PLA could be used in short violent strikes for psychological effect as they were against India in 1962 and Vietnam in 1979. The present limitations of Chinas military might; however, must also be recognized. The PLA has not fought since its 1979 war; during that conflict its performance was extremely costly and not overly masterful. Chinas neighbors are also increasingly investing in building up their own military capabilities. Chinas economic growth and integration with other countries have given it the same sort of vulnerabilities that Chinese military theorists posited about the U.S. in the widely publicized 1999 book Unrestricted Warfare. More than 80 percent of Chinese oil imports now transit the Strait of Malacca, a geographic chokepoint. Insurgents in Pakistan and Sudan have kidnapped Chinese engineers and workers. China still faces a range of internal unrest including separatist movements in Tibet and Xinjiang provinces.
July - September 2012

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THE CHALLENGES OF CHINA AND ARSOFS ROLE

Influence Challenge
The last realm where China challenges the U.S. is in the realm of influence. One side of influence is soft power, the positive side of influence based on attraction and persuasion. China is weak in soft power despite the prominence of its traditional culture and global public diplomacy efforts. Chinese political values and ideology are in flux and are no longer a source of global inspiration; given its embrace of state-directed capitalism, China no longer can export Maoist ideology to Communist revolutionary groups. Given that China is still struggling to define its own internal political ideology, it lacks a coherent narrative to share with the rest of the globe. Chinas policies of non-interference and economic development appeal to authoritarian governments but not many others. Chinas weak soft power, however, does not mean it has no influence. Chinas geographic centrality, historic role as the Middle Kingdom, rising military power and role as the regional economic hub and global economic powerhouse provide it other effective tools for influence. Countries in Africa and the Caribbean desire relationships with China for trade and investment. Countries in the Asia-Pacific region increasingly see their prosperity tied to economic relations with China. China has also expanded its military engagement regionally and globally with training, arms sales and even military hospital ships providing humanitarian aid. In this period with great uncertainty about Chinas intentions, the desire of many nations is to maintain diplomatic and economic links to China. Given these desires, the development of a formal alliance structure in the Asia-Pacific region like NATO would be premature, unwarranted and counterproductive. Long-standing interests and relationships in the region already require U.S. presence. China will continue to expand its economic and diplomatic relations as a by-product of its growth. While U.S. presence is not designed to contain China, it does serve to constrain China from adopting and pursuing overly aggressive actions against its neighbors. As Chinas power rises, nationalist attitudes from within could possibly lead to miscalculation by the Chinese leadership to pursue hegemony over the region. U.S. presence tied into networks of cooperation possesses sufficient mass to provide alternatives to Chinas influence. U.S. presence also serves a balancing function to deter China from following its own internal nationalist sentiments and aggressively seeking to dominate the region. In this period of uncertainty with each nation making a complicated calculus of economic, military and influence concerns, the U.S. must seek to form, reinforce and enhance its existing alliances and partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region. ARSOF forces are the right forces for the mission. As the Commandant of the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, Maj. Gen. Bennet Sacolick, stated in a previous issue, the ARSOF schoolhouse builds a force specifically designed to shape foreign political and military environments in order to prevent war. Countries in the Asia-Pacific region want reassurance against Chinas military growth, but they generally desire a quiet U.S. presence because of political sensitivities, concerns about legitimacy and sovereignty, as well as their own internal strategic calculations. ARSOF is the best force for this quiet engagement. Hallmarks of this force are a capability that works with host nations, regional partners and indigenous populations in a culturally attuned manner. ARSOF

Roles for ARSOF

are scalable to the mission and have proven their ability for a quiet but effective presence in places like the Philippines. ARSOF typically have extensive joint-intergovernmental-interagency-multinational experience. This aptitude allows ARSOF to fully nest with whole-of-government approaches. The range of capabilities in Civil Affairs, Psychological Operations and Special Forces allows ARSOF to work with partner nations to respond to nontraditional security challenges such as disaster relief. These activities are not focused on China, but allow the U.S. to build a shared level of trust and respect necessary for effective networks of cooperation. Given ARSOFs capabilities in building and reinforcing networks of cooperation, it may be time to modify U.S. policy to expand ARSOFs scope of engagement. Given the prominent role that militaries, especially armies, play in the social and political fabric of many Asian nations, ARSOF could be utilized to engage with more than just partner-nation SOF. ARSOF could leverage its SOF contacts to help the larger military institutions in partner nations professionalize and transform to meet tomorrows challenges. ARSOF may even have additional roles in support of partner-nation paramilitary and lawenforcement forces that are increasingly facing powerful transnational-criminal organizations. Expanded engagement holds the potential for building increased resilience in partner nations against a range of threats that make them susceptible to less benign external influence. Finally, in the unfortunate event conditions in the Asia-Pacific region ever devolve into outright military conflict, ARSOF has obvious roles in providing strategic reconnaissance and direct-action capabilities to support air-sea battle or other operational concepts designed to mitigate an adversarys anti-access/area-denial capabilities. ARSOF foreign internal defense and military-information support capabilities would be leveraged to support our allies and partners in any regional conflict. ARSOFs unconventional warfare capabilities allow it to play a range of roles depending on the type and scale of future conflicts. Hopefully, conditions in the region never come to the point of military conflict. Chinas internal workings are opaque, but it is not inconceivable that the overall U.S.-Chinese relationship could positively develop to a point where someday ARSOF and PLA forces have exchanges and engagements with each other. Until we reach that point, ARSOF has a critical role to play in our nations strategy to build networks of cooperation to keep peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region. Colonel Mike Lwin has recently completed a Senior Service College Fellowship at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. He is a Psychological Operations officer with a longtime regional focus on the Asia-Pacific region.

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Notes
1. Hillary Clinton, Americas Pacific Century, Foreign Policy, November 2011, 56-63. 2. Barack Obama, National Security Strategy (Washington, DC: The White House, May 2010) 43. 3. Ibid. 4. Leon E. Panetta, Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Defense, January 2012), 2. 5. Ibid.

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LEANING TO ALL SIDES What the United States May Learn From Chinese Political Warfare in Burma
You lean to one side To sit on the fence is impossible; a third road does not exist. Not only in China but also in the world, without exception, one either leans to the side of imperialism or to the side of socialism. Neutrality is mere camouflage and a third road does not exist.1 Burma today is a country with little public infrastructure, institutions or civil society. Fractures and fissures within the society are widespread: between the military junta and the ethnic hill tribes, the junta and the general populace, the hill tribes and the general populace and amongst the hill tribes themselves. In political circumstances such as this, the United States has generally followed the same policy formula: non-military pressure through economic sanctions coupled with incessant calls for democratic changes (including the refrain of multi-party elections and respect for human rights), all the while providing moral support to the pro-democracy or moderate elements of the political establishment within the country. In other words, the U.S. takes a wait-and-see approach. In the mean time, other countries are given the opportunity for more direct strategic influence. For over half a century, one country has followed such a tangible, strategic approach in Burma the Peoples Republic of China. As a result, China has gained influence with the junta and the hill tribes and, to a lesser extent, the Burmese population. But why has China desired strategic influence in Burma? And how has it gained a foothold in the country? An examination of both Chinas strategic intentions and strategic actions in Burma holds much insight as the United States seeks to act more prudently across the Asia-Pacific region in the 21st century. may have been more interested in what lay beyond Burma. Indeed, Chinas strategic purposes have been manifold in Burma, generally falling into economic and military categories. Cross-border, overland caravan trade on both sides of the Chinese-Burmese border has been in existence since at least the 15th century. Indeed, the vast majority of Chinese in modern-day Burma migrated into the country over land.3 What this demonstrates is a long-held view of Burma as a place of economic enterprise as well as an economic outlet. Since Chinas economic rise began in the mid-1980s, it should come as no surprise that China would consider the possibility of opening a more permanent trade route through Burma. With a burgeoning civilian economy in the late-1980s, Chinas southwest province of Yunnan was conducting informal foreign trade and commercial interaction with neighboring Southeast Asian countries. A lucrative market in smuggling and narcotrafficking was also taking place. In 1993, for
July - September 2012

BY DONOVAN C. CHAU, PH.D.

Strategic aims
In October 1989, a high-level Burmese military delegation paid a 12-day visit to China. Reports later indicated that China and Burma signed an arms deal worth approximately $1.2 billion.2 Although the two countries shared similar repressive, anti-Western authoritarian regimes, China

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LEANING TO ALL SIDES

example, trade between China and Burma was estimated at $1 billion, not including illegal activities.4 To facilitate a more international movement of goods and people, China desired the establishment of a trading port for its landlocked provinces, especially Yunnan. The Chinese press reported that the route through Burma would be 5,800 kilometers shorter than the route from Yunnans capitol, Kunming, to the nearest seaport (Shanghai).5 The economic imperative was a historical consideration that became a modern imperative. China also desired influence in Burma because of its geographic location along the Bay of Bengal region, astride the Indian Ocean, and neighboring India. Since at least the 19th century, Burma had been viewed as a buffer state between India and China.6 Thus, either country with predominant strategic influence in Burma necessarily complicated the others security calculations. Since the end of the Cold War, Chinas presence along Burmas coast has raised Indias suspicions. A naval position on the Burma coastline could afford China the opportunity to monitor Indias movements, over land and sea. Such strategic positioning could be designed for a 21st century competition-inthe-making over the Indian Ocean between the worlds two largest populations.7 Yet, Chinas intentions in Burma go beyond regional strategic competition. China also desires influence in Burma because of greater Chinese interests in sea lines of communication. Among the worlds most important shipping lanes, the Strait of Malacca connects the broader Indian Ocean with the Asia-Pacific region. With a foothold in Burma, China would be in a favorable strategic position vis--vis the strait in times of crisis. Chinas position and activities in the waters off the southeastern Burmese coastline are particularly disconcerting to its traditional Asian rival, Japan, which is heavily dependent on the strait for strategic resources from the Middle East and Africa. Thus, Chinas development of naval power coincides with its strategic interests in influencing key sea lines of communications. A final strategic aim of China in Burma is central to its overall world view to return to a place of centrality in international politics. The Communist Party of China has for the past three decades led breakneck economic development amidst generally peaceful surroundings. In order to continue its drive at world-power status, China requires Burma as a strategic ally or, in the very least, not a strategic nuisance. Part and parcel of this interest is Chinas foreign policy views on sovereignty and territorial integrity. In the case of Burma, China has historically viewed significant portions of its territory as belonging to China, including Burma north of Myitkyina and the Shan and Wa States east of the Salween River, as far south as about 22N.8 Taken together, China has a multitude of strategic aims in Burma local, regional and global. Through new and updated construction, roads became an important line of communication for China in Burma. China took a similar route in developing additional lines of communication through Burma. In December 1993, China sold railroad equipment to Burmas railway agency.11 Within its own borders, China constructed a railway from Kunming to Xiaguan, near Dali. The third component of the transportation link between China and Burma was the river line of communication. In March 1997, a Sino-Burmese study group investigated the possibility of water transportation from Yunnan into the Irrawaddy River Valley. The plan connected Bhamo, the northernmost port on the Irrawaddy River, to Minhla, 1,000 kilometers down the river. From Minhla, a road would be built across the Arakan Yoma mountain range, running via An to Kyaukpyu.12 Through a combination of infrastructure development projects, China developed strategic lines of communication through Burma to the Indian Ocean.13 The development of Burmas transportation infrastructure gave China access to assist in Burmas naval infrastructure. Chinese technicians helped the Burmese navy upgrade facilities and build bases. China also provided tangible assistance with the installation of surveillance and communications equipment. Since 1998, four electronic listening posts were strategically placed along the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.14 Two posts were located on the Coco Islands, close to the Andaman Islands, and on Zadetkyi Island, near the mouth of the Strait of Malacca.15 The other two posts were located in Man-aung, along the northwestern coastline, and in Hainggyi, near the southwestern tip of Burma. Chinese engineers, technicians, instructors and naval officers were spotted at nearly all of the facilities. Clearly, China had developed tangible relations with Burmas navy.16 Another example of Chinas strategic actions in Burma involved two separate but related naval incidents. In August 1994, the Indian coast guard caught three boats fishing close to the Andaman Islands. Although the trawlers were flying Burmese flags, the crew of 55 was Chinese. Moreover, no fishing equipment was discovered on board, only radio communication and depth-sounding

Strategic actions
Through the lens of political warfare, one may understand Chinas strategic actions in Burma and how it has developed relationships with the junta and the hill tribes. Overt and covert, political warfare is a non-lethal instrument of grand strategy. Targeting groups and individuals, it comprises activities that are tangible with direct effects on peoples lives. Political-warfare operations include targeted economic aid, development projects, exchange visits, public pronouncements, as well as the training, arming and equipping of military or other forces. Political warfares purpose is determined by the users intent; its success, based on the extent to which it is based on detailed and factual information of the target group or individual.9 Even before its formal establishment, China used political warfare prominently in Burma. To accommodate the growing trade with Burma, China undertook several infrastructure development projects in the 1990s. These projects demonstrated Chinas awareness of the need to develop a strategic line of communication through Burma. In October 1992, Chinese engineers completed a bridge over the Shweli River. The bridge connected the Chinese border town of Ruili and the town of Muse in Burma. In addition, the Chinese upgraded the World War II-era Burma Road, which connected Lashio in northeastern Burma with Yunnan Province. Furthermore, the Chinese promised to build three new roads linking Yunnan with Burmas northernmost state, Kachin.10

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Special Warfare

equipment. Three years later, reports revealed that two Chinese radar specialists had visited Burmas southeastern seaboard. Accompanied by officers from the Burmese army engineering corps, the specialists spent two weeks at a radar station in the Mergui Archipelago, a similar facility at Zadetkyi, and a naval base on Saganthit Island near Mergui.17 In addition to these naval incidents, China signed a 30-year agreement with Burma in March 1997, allowing more than 200 Chinese fishing boats to operate in Burmese waters, a culmination of concerted Chinese political warfare targeting Burmas strategic position along the Indian Ocean. China has also long used politicalwarfare efforts to expand ties beyond the state in Burma. Early on after Burma gained independence in January 1948, elements within the Burmese Communist Party began to reach out to their Communist allies in China. In the early 1950s and again in the late 1960s, China provided direct support to what was known as the White Flag faction of the BCP. Training and arms were provided first to Burmese Communists, Sino-Burmese and Burmese-speaking Chinese in Yunnan.18 Later, the reconstituted BCP was comprised of Shan, Kachin, Wa and other ethnic tribes from both sides of the border. By the early 1970s, the anti-government forces controlled a strip of Shan State east of the Salween River along the Chinese border and forged alliances with other separatist groups among the Kachin and Shan.19 While ties with the BCP were reportedly broken in 1981, China continued to exert influence with anti-government elements in Burma.20 More recently, since 2008, it has been reported that Chinese intelligence personnel have begun operating with the antigovernment hill tribes and their armies in Burma. These represent similar groups previously supported by China: the Karen and Shan in Burmas east as well as the Chin and Arakanese, in the west.21 Perhaps not coincidentally, the ceasefire between the anti-government tribal forces unraveled more completely in summer 2011, with the failure of the governments border guard force initiative despite Chinas call for continued negotiations between all parties.22 The exact nature and extent of Chinas political-warfare operations among Burmas tribes remains unclear. But, given the historical experience, the Chinese may be

revisiting old ties with the anti-government elements, which demonstrates pragmatic, long-term actions to further Chinas strategic goals, regardless of changing policies of the Burmese government. Through the use of multiple forms of political warfare with the government and anti-government forces, China has achieved a strategic position in Burma, unlike the United States. China has exploited the divisions and fissures within Burma for short- and longterm strategic benefit. Through the historical use of political warfare, it has divided its efforts, interacting with Burmas military government as well as the anti-government elements among the hill tribes. This has demonstrated a strategic understanding of the landscape in the country, where stability is nonexistent and ethnic rights and the balance of ethnic power are critical, given the countrys more than 60 years of civil strife. The extent to which the United States comprehends these facts and nuances in Burma is unclear, as nothing clear is demonstrated in U.S. policy, recent changes included. The U.S. government would be wise to think and act beyond the persistent calls for multi-party elections and human rights. Instead, the U.S. should nurture its newfound ties with the military junta while, at the same time, explore strategic ties with the hill tribes and their armies. Placing all U.S. hopes in the personage of Aung San Suu Kyi and the indigenous pro-democracy forces is narrowminded and, more to the point, ignorant of the overall local conditions within Burma. Strategic influence in Burma is too important to leave to hopes and wishful thinking of politicians and policymakers in Washington, D.C. Concrete U.S. strategic actions are needed now to compensate for more than a half a century of uncreative and ineffective U.S. policy toward Burma. Such a policy starts on the ground, in the jungles and villages of Burmas borderlands, leaning on all sides, not unlike the Chinese. Dr. Donovan C. Chau, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of political science at California State University, San Bernardino, Calif.

Notes

Continued moves

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1. Mao Zedongs 1949 On the Peoples Democratic Dictatorship quoted in Conrad Brandt, Benjamin Schwartz, and John K. Fairbank, A Documentary History of Chinese Communism (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1952), 453-454. 2. Bertil Lintner, Allies in Isolation: Burma and China Move Closer, Janes Defence Weekly 14, no. 11 (September 15, 1990), 475. 3. A distinction between Mountain Chinese and Maritime Chinese in Burma may be made. Victor Purcell, The Chinese in Southeast Asia (London: Oxford University Press, 1966), 49. 4. Bertil Lintner, Rangoons Rubicon, Far Eastern Economic Review 156, no. 6 (February 11, 1993), 28. 5. Xinhua News Agency cited in Bertil Lintner, Burma Road, Far Eastern Economic Review 160, no. 45 (November 6, 1997), 17. 6. Ross Munro, Chinas Waxing Spheres of Influence, Orbis 38, no. 4 (Fall 1994), 590. 7. For a full-length explication, see Robert Kaplan, Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power (New York: Random House, 2010). 8. A Communist Mistake, The Times (London), January 6, 1955, 6. 9. Donovan C. Chau, Political Warfare An Essential Instrument of U.S. Grand Strategy Today, Comparative Strategy 25, no. 2 (April-June 2006): 114-115. 10. Lintner, Rangoons Rubicon, 28. 11. Munro, 590. 12. Lintner, Burma Road, 17. 13. In September 2009, the construction of oil and gas pipelines began from Kyaukpru Port, Arakan State, in Burma to Ruili, Yunnan, in China. U Tun Kyaw, Sino-Burma Oil and Gas Pipelines to be Constructed in September, Narinjara, August 22, 2009. 14. Ibid. 15. Bertil Lintner, But Stay on Guard, Far Eastern Economic Review 161, no. 29 (July 16, 1998), 21. 16. The Peoples Liberation Army Navy made its first port call visit to Burma in late August 2010. Chinese Navys Escort Formation Arrives in Burma for Friendly Visit, Xinhua Domestic Service, September 4, 2010. 17. Ibid. 18. Harold Hinton, Chinas Relations with Burma and Vietnam: A Brief Survey (New York: Institute of Pacific Relations, 1958), 42. 19. Melinda W. Cook, National Security, in Burma: A Country Study, ed. Frederica M. Bunge, (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1984), 223-224. 20. Shelby Tucker, Burma: The Curse of Independence (London: Pluto Press, 2001), 227. 21. Robert D. Kaplan, Lifting the Bamboo Curtain, The Atlantic Monthly (September 2008), 88. 22. Phil Thornton, Uncertain Futures, Bangkok Post, August 7, 2011; and Mongla: China Wants A Negotiated Settlement, Shan Herald Agency for News, June 30, 2010.

July - September 2012

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THE CHINESE PEOPLES

LIBERATION ARMY
AND SPECIAL OPERATIONS
BY DEAN CHENG

Since the end of the rst Gulf War in 1991, the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army has steadily evolved its view of how future wars will be fought. Where the PLA had originally expected to ght with massed air, land and sea forces in local wars under modern conditions, it shifted, rst to preparing for local wars under modern, high-tech conditions, and now local wars under informationized conditions, where quality and technology play an ever greater role.
In order to fight such wars, the PLA has placed much greater emphasis on the ability to conduct joint operations. At the same time, it is an article of faith that the human factor will continue to play a key role in any future war; therefore, the PLA has also remained interested in the conduct of political warfare (zhengzhi zhanzheng; ), which roughly correlates with the American concept of psychological warfare. These Chinese approaches have important implications for the American special-operations community. Special strikes, including at enemy strategic and operational command posts and key personnel, as well as countering enemy deep penetration forces; Disruption of enemy facilities, including transportation and logistics sites; ambushes and other hit-and-run attacks; and Special technical combat, including various forms of computer network attacks, broadcasting propaganda and disruption of enemy navigation and positioning systems.2 The Chinese view of the role of special operations and specialoperations forces has been influenced, in part, by the evolving PLA concept of how future wars will be fought.

Chinese discussion of special-operations forces seem to resemble American and western concepts. Special operations (tezhong zuozhan; ), for example, are described as the use of specially organized, trained and equipped elite units to achieve particular operational and strategic goals, through the conduct of unconventional or irregular warfare means.1 Chinese concepts of special-operations forces missions appear to closely resemble the SOF core activities as enumerated by U.S. Special Operations Command. They include: Special reconnaissance missions (strategic or operational reconnaissance deep in an opponents territory);

How the PLA Defines Special-Operations Forces

Since at least the end of the Cold War, the PLA has been a careful student of foreign, and especially American, military developments. As the PLA has not fought a war since concluding the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War, it has necessarily had to rely upon close observation and analysis of foreign military experience to help shape its own preparations for future conflict. From these analyses, the PLA appears to have concluded that future wars will be marked by several characteristics.

Evolution of Chinese Concept of Warfare

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Special Warfare

assume that they would be at a significant disadvantage), but One key conclusion is that future wars will require joint also how the two sides fight. That is, far from the two sides operations, i.e., cooperation by forces drawn from all the services grappling head-on in battle, with similar forces using similar (which in the case of the PLA includes not only land, sea and tactics, each will instead seek out the others weak spots and air forces, but also the Second Artillery, which is responsible try to exploit them. The two sides are not only likely to deploy for missile operations). This marks an enormous shift for the different forces, but are also likely to employ different tactics, PLA. Prior to the first Gulf War, the PLA was focused on ground exhibit different operational patterns and pursue different forces, and engaged in learning how to perform combined arms strategies in the process. Chinese writings suggest that they see operations, i.e., the ability to have various branches interoperate. the 2003 Iraq War as embodying many of these aspects, as the The PLA Navy and PLA Air Force seemed to be relegated mainly United States employed various forms of operations, engaging to supporting roles. With the conclusion of the first Gulf War, on land, sea, air, outer space and cyber-space in order to utterly however, the PLA concluded that it had not understood the imoverwhelm the Iraqis.5 pact of modern technology on warfare, and the resulting global military transformation. The third conclusion seems to be that political warfare will After extensive debate in the 1990s, the PLA moved from foplay a growing role in future conflicts. Political warfare (zhengzhi cusing on combined arms operations from a ground force-centric zuozhan ; ) or wartime political work ( zhanshi zhengzhi perspective towards a concept of joint gongzuo ; ), according operations, where the various services to both the 2003 and revised 2010 were at least more nominally equal. Chinese Peoples Liberation Army This shift was codified in the 1999 Political Work Regulations, includes New Generation Operations Regulapublic-opinion warfare, psychotions. Under these new regulations, logical warfare, legal warfare and the PLA made joint operations the other measures to undermine the basis for operational thinking by all enemys will and morale. Political parts of the PLA. Service campaigns, warfare, in this context, strikes at whether by the ground forces, navy, an opponents psychology and is air force or second artillery (responequated with Western concepts of sible for missile operations) were psychological warfare.6 subordinated to joint campaigns, In some ways, one might considPATCHWORK Opposite page, emblem of the Peoples Liberation which are seen as more important, er political warfare an extension of Army. Above, the PLA special-operations Ffrces ensign. Wiki and more decisive. the three nons. It employs politiCreative Commons images In addition, PLA analysts apcal means (including legal, public pear to have concluded that future wars will be marked by the opinion and psychological elements) to attack an opponent three non warfares: non-contact (fei jierong; ) warfare, non-symmetrically and in a non-lethal manner at a remove from non-linear (fei xianshi; ) warfare and non-symmetric (fei their physical location. The goal of political warfare is to sap duicheng; ) warfare. Wars will be non-contact, in that the an opponents will to fight, both in the military and the larger more advanced side will tend to remain out of reach of the majorpopulation, thereby shortening a conflict and reducing the cost, ity of the other sides weapons, while itself retaining the ability especially to ones own side. to engage the enemy. The emphasis will be on concentrating Impact on the Chinese View of Special Operations firepower from a variety of sources, rather than massing troops.3 Moreover, it may employ not only very long-range, precision Each of these conclusions has an impact on special operations. munitions capable of covering the entire strategic depth, but also A recent assessment of the Iraq War noted the importance of inexploit soft-kill methods (e.g., computer-network attacks) that corporating special operations in joint operations, alongside land, will effectively nullify an opponents forces without having to sea, air, space and cyber operations.7 Similarly, a Chinese volume directly confront or engage them. on the role of mobilization in modern warfare notes that unified Wars will be non-linear, both physically and temporally. In the joint operations, entails melding special-operations capabilities physical aspect, given the non-contact nature of future wars, the with other, more conventional-warfare forces.8 battlefield will not have many set battle-lines. Instead, opposing Meanwhile, Chinese writings about the three nons of future forces are likely to find themselves intermingled. Moreover, given wars also often refer to special-operations forces and missions. the vulnerability of concentrated forces to modern precision Non-linear warfare, for example, is likely to involve airborne inmunitions, each side is likely to field smaller forces that will opersertion of special-operations forces throughout the enemys strateate in a more dispersed fashion throughout the strategic depth of gic depth. These forces will reconnoiter enemy transportation and the theater. In the temporal aspect, operations are likely to occur energy infrastructure, communications nodes and command and simultaneously, rather than sequentially.4 control systems once thought safely distant behind the lines, and either attack them directly or else provide targeting information Wars will be non-symmetric, not only in terms of the quality for other weapons systems.9 of the forces involved (where Chinese analysts have tended to
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CHINESE PEOPLES LIBERATION ARMY

leaflet drops, but also actions with more operational and strategic impact, such as Arabic language broadcasts by EC-130 Commando Solo aircraft. Another major contribution attributed to special-operations units were computer network attacks, including hacking into Iraqi computer systems. Undertaken in coordination with more lethal actions, the result was an undermining of Iraqi will and the inducement of psychological shock and awe.15 Special operations are not solely worrisome for their propaganda activities, however. PLA writings have also expressed concern about the ability of technologically more advanced opponents to employ special operations to weaken their opponents confidence. SOF are able to observe closely the enemys strategic targets, identify hidden sites such as underground facilities and provide better targeting information for key command and communications centers, as well as essential personnel. Moreover, SOF can also potentially strike at targets that are hidden or otherwise protected from precision-guided munitions.16 In so doing, they can help demoralize Political Warfare and PSYOP A Vintage Chinese propaganda poster, showing the enemy forces by creating a sense PLA. The caption reads, An Army of the People is Invincible. Special Operations of vulnerability and making their The soldier on top is shown to be holding a copy of Quotations resistance appear futile. It is the political warfare aspect, from Chairman Mao Zedong. Wiki Creative Commons photo This combination of tactical, though, and especially the Chinese operational and strategic effects took its toll in Iraq, influencing conception of psychological warfare (which is seen as a subset of not only Iraqi military commanders, but the broader Iraqi public, political warfare), that would seem to most touch upon special Iraqi leaders and global public opinion. Because of the developoperations. Psychological warfare, according to the PLA, is the ment of techniques, broadening of efforts and intensification of employment of psychology, through such means as propaganda, methods, psychological offensives have already been elevated to to sap the will of an opponents military and civilian populace, the national strategic level, and become a vital aspect of strategic as well as to counter an opponents effort to do the same.12 The activity which will affect the entire military strategic picture.17 advent of modern information technology provides many new avenues for conducting psychological-warfare operations. At the Not surprisingly, given the concerns about psychological warsame time, it demands a more careful planning and execution fare and the potential role of special operations in that context, effort; as the PLA notes, many nations, especially the U.S., have the PLA has shown great interest in defensive measures against created dedicated psychological-warfare operations units in part them. Given the political nature of psychological operations, the for this reason.13 foremost concern is to strengthen the morale, will and political support of both the military and the civilian populace. Bolstering From the PLAs vantage point, observing foreign wars, the abiltroop and public morale, in turn, highlights the saliency of the ity of SOF to wage political warfare, including psychological warpublic-opinion warfare (or media warfare) component of politifare, has become a major potential threat. The advent of so much cal warfare. In the PLAs view, western military operations, often information technology, and its permeation of modern society, broadcast globally, are fundamentally shaping global perceptions allows psychological-warfare activities to reach an unprecedented of western (and especially American) military capability, creataudience and generate widespread effects. PLA assessments of ing psychological pressures on potential adversaries and directly the 2003 Iraq War, for example, highlight the role of dedicated influencing their views and decisions. This was a major technique psychological-warfare units. These were observed conducting a employed in the Iraq conflict, with the U.S. orchestrating a global large-scale and intense effort to comprehensively undermine Iraqi media campaign to highlight the forces arrayed against Saddam resistance.14 This included not only tactical activities, such as In addition, special operations are likely to occur on a non-linear timeline. Chinese analyses note, for example, that allied SOF deployed to Iraq long before the commencement of hostilities in March 2003. As important, special operations are likely to occur simultaneously with each other, and in close synchronization with conventional forces, further jettisoning concepts of linear time. In terms of non-symmetric warfare, SOF, by their nature small, elite and flexible, can have a disproportionate effect on an opponent. Indeed, successful special operations deep into an opponents territory, eliminating key targets and key personnel, are seen as the embodiment of asymmetric application of force. 10 U.S. and allied special operators ability to provide targeting information on key Baathist leaders during the 2003 Iraq War, and the seizure of key airfields by U.S. Special Forces, exemplify the asymmetric impact of special operations. The successful conduct of these actions had a major affect on the effort to overwhelm Iraqi defenses. 11

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Hussein, and the hopelessness of the Iraqi cause.18 Countering the perception that the war is lost before it is even fought is an essential task for political warfare operations. To this end, one essential task is to remove or at least limit doubts among officers and troops. This is likely to be especially difficult, from the Chinese perspective, given the likely technological disparity between the Chinese military and their likely opponents. A more technologically sophisticated enemy will appear to be capable of striking apparently at will. Increased political indoctrination efforts by party cadre are useful, but more concrete measures are also necessary, such as displays of prisoners or downed aircraft.19 Indeed, a key responsibility for the jointoperations headquarters is to counter enemy special operations. It is therefore likely that enemy SOF will be especially targeted, both in order to limit their effectiveness, and to provide concrete evidence that the opponent is not running the table. One method to achieve this is for the joint operations headquarters to consider what objectives special-operations units are likely to have, and what methods they are likely to employ to achieve them. By effectively reverse engineering what SOF might be trying to achieve, it may then be possible to counter those forces, or otherwise frustrate their ability to achieve objectives. This can include mobilizing rear area security, heightening the alert level of local security forces and deploying ones own special-operations units to ambush them. It is suggested that PLA psychological-warfare units would be armed for self-protection, but would rely on evasion if they are discovered.20 It may be that the PLA expects similar behavior on the part of foreign SOF. In addition, some units such as psychological-warfare units may also be targeted with strike assets, if and when they are identified on the battlefield, in order to disrupt their activities.21 Ground-based units may be subjected to concentrated artillery shelling, while aerial forces would likely suffer the attention of various air defenses.22 The PLA clearly sees SOF as occupying an essential role in any future conflict. In future local wars under informationized conditions, special operations are likely to be called upon to undertake a range of activities, including mounting direct attacks, providing targeting information to enhance the effect of other forces and affecting not only the materiel but information available to enemy forces. In particular, SOF are seen as an integral part of any political warfare effort; countering foreign SOF are therefore also likely to be a major concern. Dean Cheng is a Research Fellow at the Asian Studies Center, The Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C. Cheng focused on Chinese political and security affairs. In particular, he focuses on the relationship between Chinas military and foreign policy as it relates to the rest of Asia and the United States. Cheng earned a bachelors degree in politics from Princeton University in comment here 1986 and studied for a doctorate at MIT.

Notes
1. Zhang Yuliang, Chief Editor, The Science of Campaigns (Beijing, PRC: National Defense University Press, 2006), p. 196. 2. Zhang Yuliang, Chief Editor, The Science of Campaigns (Beijing, PRC: National Defense University Press, 2006), pp. 199-200. 3. Fan Gaoyue, Fu Linguo, The Iraq War: The First Implementation of an Informationized Form of War (Beijing, PRC: Academy of Military Sciences Press, 2008), p. 165. 4. Wang Baocun, An Analysis of the Three Non Warfares, National Defense Newspaper (July 12, 2004). http://www.pladaily.com.cn/gb/defence/2004/07/12/20040712017055.html 5. Fan Gaoyue, Fu Linguo, The Iraq War: The First Implementation of an Informationized Form of War (Beijing, PRC: Academy of Military Sciences Press, 2008), p. 138. 6. Fan Gaoyue, Fu Linguo, The Iraq War: The First Implementation of an Informationized Form of War (Beijing, PRC: Academy of Military Sciences Press, 2008), p. 147. 7. Fan Gaoyue, Fu Linguo, The Iraq War: The First Implementation of an Informationized Form of War (Beijing, PRC: Academy of Military Sciences Press, 2008), p. 139. 8. Ren Min, The Science of National Defense Mobilization (Beijing, PRC: Academy of Military Science Press, 2008), p. 471. 9. Fan Chengbin, The Study of Hi-Tech Campaign Paralyzation (Beijing, PRC: National Defense University Press, 2003), pp. 47, 140. 10. PLA Academy of Military Sciences, Foreign Studies Office, First Section Director, Three Nons Warfare Guides Modern Conflict, Global Times (December 8, 2003). http://www.people.com.cn/GB/junshi/2237719.html 11. He Zhu, Experts Discuss the Iraq War (Beijing, PRC: Academy of Military Sciences Press, 2004), p. 103. 12. Guo Yanhua, Chief Editor, Study Volume on Psychological Warfare (Beijing, PRC: National Defense University Press, 2005), p. 1. 13. Guo Yanhua, Chief Editor, Study Volume on Psychological Warfare (Beijing, PRC: National Defense University Press, 2005), p. 4. 14. Fan Gaoyue, Fu Linguo, The Iraq War: The First Implementation of an Informationized Form of War (Beijing, PRC: Academy of Military Sciences Press, 2008), p. 153. 15. Fan Gaoyue, Fu Linguo, The Iraq War: The First Implementation of an Informationized Form of War (Beijing, PRC: Academy of Military Sciences Press, 2008), pp. 147, 148. 16. Zhang Yuliang, Chief Editor, The Science of Campaigns (Beijing, PRC: National Defense University Press, 2006), p. 196. 17. Fan Gaoyue, Fu Linguo, The Iraq War: The First Implementation of an Informationized Form of War (Beijing, PRC: Academy of Military Sciences Press, 2008), p. 153. 18. He Zhu, Experts Discuss the Iraq War (Beijing, PRC: Academy of Military Sciences Press, 2004), pp. 86-87. 19. Guo Yanhua, Chief Editor, Study Volume on Psychological Warfare (Beijing, PRC: National Defense University Press, 2005), p. 222. 20. Guo Yanhua, Chief Editor, Study Volume on Psychological Warfare (Beijing, PRC: National Defense University Press, 2005), pp. 210-211. 21. Guo Yanhua, Chief Editor, Study Volume on Psychological Warfare (Beijing, PRC: National Defense University Press, 2005), p. 206. 22. Guo Yanhua, Chief Editor, Study Volume on Psychological Warfare (Beijing, PRC: National Defense University Press, 2005), pp. 222-223.

Conclusion

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CHINA QUICK FACTS

Size/Population
China is the fourth largest country in the world (after Russia, Canada, and the U.S.). It has an area of 3,719,275 square miles (slightly smaller than the U.S.) One in every five people in the world is Chinese. Chinas population was estimated to have reached a whopping 1,338,612,968 in July 2009. Chinas population is four times that of the United States. Chinas one child policy has contributed to female infanticide and has created a significant gender imbalance. There are currently 32 million more boys than girls in China. Before the Communist party took power in 1949, about 80 percent of Chinas population was illiterate. By 2008, the adult illiteracy rate in China dropped to only 3.58 percent. Today, Chinese youth (15-24-years-old) have a 99 percent literacy rate. Since 1998, China has invested in a massive expansion of education, nearly tripling the share of GDP devoted to it. The number of higher-education institutions in China has more than doubled in the past decade, from 1,022 to 2,263. More than 60 percent of high-school graduates in China now attend a university, up from 20 percent in the 1980s. The number of students in China enrolled in degree courses has risen from 1 million in 1997 to 5 million today.

Literacy/Education

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COVER STORY

CAPITOL CITY Beijing, capitol of the Peoples Republic of China, is the nations political, economic, cultural, educational and international trade and communication center.

Economy/Labor
By the end of 2011, the population at working age (15-64 years) was an estimated 1.0024 billion and the unemployment rate was around 6.5 percent. China is the world leader in gross value of agricultural and industrial output. China has more than 1,200,000 IT professionals and is adding 400,000 technical graduates each year. China ranks number1 in the world for tech jobs (followed by India and the U.S.). Defense spending is 2.3 percent of Gross National Product (compared to 25.5 percent in North Korea, 3.8 percent in the United States and 0.6 percent in Ghana). China has the worlds largest armed forces, with 2.3 million troops (1.7 million in the army. 220,000 in the navy and 420,000 in the air force) in 2007. By contrast the United States has 1.45 million troops; Russia, 1.24 million troops; and Argentina, 65,000 troops. China has said its defense budget for 2010 will be 532.1 billion yuan ($77.95 billion), an increase of 37.1 billion yuan over what was actually spent in 2009. Many analysts believe real military spending is much higher. The U.S. military budget is still higher, with a record $708 billion proposed for fiscal year 2011. About 35 percent of the Chinese defense budget is spent on personnel costs.

Military

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CONFLICT WITH CHINA

Over the next 20 years, Chinas gross domestic product and defense budget could exceed those of the United States.1 If it chose, China could therefore become a more capable opponent than either the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany at their peak. Yet China is seeking neither territorial aggrandizement nor ideological sway over its neighbors. It shows no interest in matching U.S. military expenditures, achieving a comparable global reach or assuming defense commitments beyond its immediate periphery. Such intentions might change, but if so, the United States would probably receive considerable warning, given the lead times needed to develop such capabilities. Despite cautious and pragmatic Chinese policies, the risk of conflict with the United States remains, and this risk will grow in consequence and perhaps in probability as Chinas strength increases. Below we review the sources of conflict we believe most likely to occasion a China-U.S. military clash over the next 30 years, arrayed in descending order of probability. All are on Chinas immediate periphery, where we believe Chinese security interests and capabilities will remain focused. We do not believe a China-U.S. military conflict to be probable in any of the cases, but that judgment is based on the view that the United States will retain the capacity to deter behavior that could lead to such a clash throughout this period. After reviewing the plausible sources of conflict, we turn to the operational implications these scenarios might present the United States and the resultant requirements for defense and deterrence. We examine the capabilities the United States will need to maintain to ensure that a conflict with China does not occur, and conclude with thoughts on Americas longterm strategy for dealing with the challenges posed by a rising China.

Occasions for Conflict

A North Korean collapse could emanate from a failed economy, a contested power transition. Following the death of Kim Jong-il or defeat in a war with the South. In any such scenario, the situation in North Korea would likely be chaotic and

North Korea

confused. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of civilians would migrate toward North Koreas borders in search of food and safety from clashes between rival armed groups. Collapse of central control would also jeopardize the security of the Norths weapons of mass destruction and missile assets. China might fully mobilize in the Shenyang Military Region, and could well send sizable forces across the Yalu in an effort to sort out refugee flows on the Korean side of their border. The immediate operational concerns for United States ForcesKorea/Combined Forces Command would be to secure ballistic missile launch and WMD sites. If any coherent North Korean army remained, neutralizing Korean Peoples Army long-range artillery threatening Seoul could also be needed. For these missions, special-operations forces, forced entry and airlift capabilities will be at a premium. China meanwhile would view the insertion of U.S. and Republic of Korea forces north of the demilitarized zone with concern, and might move its own forces in, if it had not already begun to do so, both to contain the disorder and preempt a ROK/U.S. takeover of the entire country. While the ROK would provide sizable forces and capabilities for these missions, they would be inadequate to deal with the scope and complexity of a complete DPRK collapse. Substantial and extended commitments of U.S. ground forces would be required to rapidly seize and secure numerous locations, some with vast perimeters. SOF and dedicated chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosives units will be insufficient to deal with the situation. The likelihood of confrontations, accidental or otherwise, between U.S. and Chinese forces is high, with significant potential for escalation. Beyond the pressures to intervene and deal with the immediate consequences of a failed DPRK, the U.S. will be forced to confront the thorny issue of the desired end-state: unification (the preferred outcome of our ally, the ROK) or the continued division of Korea (Chinas strong preference). While relations between China and Taiwan are improved and improving, no

meaningful progress has been made on the key issue between the two states, which is if, when and how the islands ultimate status as an independent polity or as part of a reunified China will be determined. The chance of conflict across the Taiwan Strait will remain so long as this fundamental disagreement persists. A cross-strait conflict could take many forms, from a Chinese blockade of Taiwanese ports, to varied levels of bombardment of targets on Taiwan, to an outright invasion attempt. Should the U.S. engage directly in any such contingency, its goals would be to prevent Chinese coercion or conquest of Taiwan and limit to the extent possible the damage inflicted on Taiwans military, economy and society. Core missions for the U.S. would include preventing China from gaining air and sea dominance, and limiting the impact of Beijings land-attack missiles, all achieved through flexible combinations of active and passive defense and offensive action, including the possibility of U.S. strikes on mainland targets associated with the offensive against Taiwan, with all the attendant risks of further escalation. Indeed, China might well anticipate and seek to preempt such U.S. actions with attacks of its own on U.S. assets in the region.3 As Chinas military modernization progresses, the ability of the U.S. to confidently accomplish these missions is eroding. In the near term, China is deploying capabilities that threaten U.S. land and sea power projection platforms air bases and aircraft carriers as well as Taiwans own defenses. Absent an unlikely reversal in the ongoing rebalancing of military power in the area, and even recognizing the very considerable difficulties in mounting an amphibious assault against determined local resistance, a direct defense of Taiwan has already become a challenge and is likely to become increasingly difficult in coming years. Sino-U.S. cyber-war could be an aspect of or prelude to armed hostilities. Or it could begin and stay in cyber-space. This case is confined to that domain, though with some danger of triggering armed conflict.

Cyber-Space

Taiwan

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NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH Chinas relations with its neighbors could potentially impact the U.S.

Having conducted repeated intrusions into U.S. networks to exfiltrate sensitive data without U.S. reprisal, the Peoples Liberation Army might seek and receive authority to interfere with U.S. intelligence collection and dissemination on Chinas strategic-nuclear programs. Chinese civilian leaders might not grasp that such operations would be defined as a cyber-attack by the U.S., and thus lead to retaliation. The attack could disrupt systems the United States relies on for critical intelligence, including warning. If confident that the PLA was the attacker, the United States might decide to retaliate. Given that corresponding PLA intelligence networks are not easily accessed, and choosing to signal dangers of

escalation, the United States might retaliate against networks that support Chinese transport systems, including commercial shipping as well as military logistics. The impact on Chinese trade could be immediate. In addition, because the U.S. ability to observe Chinese forces had been impaired, Pacific Command might be told to increase the readiness of its forces. While China does not want armed conflict, it could respond by conducting soft-kill attacks (e.g., link interference) on U.S. satellites that serve the Pacific command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance grid, to which the United States responds in kind. Because both Chinese and U.S. network

defenses are of limited value against such large and sophisticated attacks, both sides might resort to counterattacks in hopes of restoring deterrence. In the ensuing escalation, both China and the United States could suffer temporary but major disruptions of critical networks, precipitating shocks in stock, currency, credit and trade markets. Although both sides avoid escalation to armed force, economic damage would be considerable. Sino-U.S. cooperation on Iran would likely come to a halt, and the situation in Korea could heat up. There are no lives lostjust extensive harm, heightened antagonism and loss of confidence in network security. There would be no winner.
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There are numerous potential flash points in the South China Sea region. Chinas assertion of some degree of sovereignty over virtually the entire area rubs up against the rival claims of numerous other states, and the areas around the Paracel and Spratly islands in particular have witnessed limited clashes since the mid-1970s. A confrontation at sea could lead to a broader conflict if, for example, an oceanic dispute between Vietnam and China escalated into a land war between the two. The presence of a U.S. treaty ally, the Philippines, may elevate the stakes for Washington if some deep crisis arises in or around the South China Sea. Chinas recent claims that the

South China Sea

operate efficiently so far from home. This assessment will change if China builds aircraft carrier and air refueling capabilities in the coming years. Direct defense in the South China Sea and Southeast Asia should remain a viable strategy for the next 20 years. Sino-Japanese relations are contentious for at least two reasons. First, on the Chinese side, anger, fear and resentment over Japanese actions from the last years of the 19th century until 1945 remain alive and are not-infrequently exacerbated by what China sees as insensitive or insulting Japanese behavior. Second, an ongoing territorial dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu

tion in Japans own self-defense capabilities, however, direct defense of Japan should remain a credible if increasingly challenging strategy for the next 20 to 30 years. Conflict between China and India, which view each other as geostrategic rivals on the Asian landmass, could be triggered by an incident along their long-contested common border or a dispute over how to respond to a failing neighboring state such as Burma/Myanmar. Above and beyond the dangers posed by a clash between the worlds two most populous countries, the presence of nuclear weapons on both sides creates substantial escalatory risks.

India

Japan

...the United States needs a wide range of advanced military capabilities to deter or prevail, and in any case to preserve stability and exert influence in regional affairs despite Chinas growing power and reach.
region is part of its exclusive economic zone, and therefore subject to Chinese control, represent a test to global norms of free navigation and are a direct challenge to U.S. interests in East Asia. Depending on the nature and severity of a conflict, U.S. objectives could range from enforcing freedom of navigation against a Chinese effort to control maritime activities in the South China Sea, to helping the Philippines defend itself from an air and maritime attack, to supporting Vietnam and shielding Thailand another treaty ally in the event of a land war in Southeast Asia. Any likely contingency in the South China Sea or Southeast Asia will make demands on U.S. air and naval power to assure friendly dominance of the battlespace. A war on land could create a demand for U.S. land forces especially SOF and forced-entry capabilities. Chinas current ability to project substantial power into the South China Sea region is limited; in particular, the PLAs land-based combat aircraft lack adequate range to islands and overlapping claims to exclusive economic zones in the East China Sea are persistent irritants to the relationship. Conflict could arise from an at-sea incident in the East China Sea, or from the escalation of a war of words amplified by some sort of maritime encounter. U.S. goals in the event of a SinoJapanese dispute would be to help defend Japan and, not incidentally, make the case that the United States remains the preferred security partner in Asia despite Chinas rise. Doing so would require helping limit damage to Japan and its military and regaining control of the pertinent air and maritime domains. This might require consideration of U.S. as well as Japanese strikes on mainland targets, with all the attendant concerns for escalatory risk. Growth in Chinas military capabilities, particularly its naval, air, and missile power projection forces, will steadily increase the costs of dealing with a contingency of this kind. Absent a general U.S. withdrawal from the Western Pacific or a dramatic reducIn either circumstance the United States would probably seek to stay out of the conflict, with its chief immediate concern being the safety of tens of thousands of U.S. civilians in the region and the potential need for large-scale and complex noncombatant evacuation operations in one or more of the affected states. The political hurdles will be complicated and the operational challenges daunting; significant air and naval components along with ground forces would be required. The United States would likely extend overt diplomatic support for India as well as quietly provide New Delhi with intelligence and military equipment. U.S. strategic goals would be to prevent a Chinese victory and avoid vertical escalation (i.e., the use of conventional or nucleararmed ballistic missiles) or horizontal escalation (e.g., involvement of Pakistan).

Operational Implications
The above cases represent the range of plausible military contingencies involving China that the United States could face in and beyond the next decade. They dem-

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onstrate that while Sino-U.S. hostilities may be unlikely, the United States needs a wide range of advanced military capabilities to deter or prevail, and in any case to preserve stability and exert influence in regional affairs despite Chinas growing power and reach. This need is shaped by an increasingly capable PLA and by the diverse circumstances, geography and domains land, sea, air, space, cyber in which conflict could occur. In North Korea, U.S. ground, tactical air, strike and SOF could be needed; in Taiwan, a full array of naval and air forces; in the South China Sea, U.S. blue-water superiority. In addition, these contingencies could place heavy demands on U.S. command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities (largely space-based), given the distances, possible intensity and U.S. concepts of operations. Other than Korea, the contingencies do not call for sizable U.S. ground forces. U.S. involvement in large-scale land warfare anywhere in East Asia other than Korea is especially improbable. The Korean collapse scenario, judged the most likely, could well involve some competition but probably not open conflict with China, but would in either case call for a significant ground force contribution. Generally speaking, direct defense by U.S. forces as an operational option is feasible at present, though confidence in this varies from the South China Sea (high) to North Korea (medium) to Taiwan (medium-low). This is the result of the geographic orientation to date of improvements in Chinese anti-access, area-denial and limited power-projection capability e.g., short-range missiles which is especially pronounced along Chinas eastern coast and toward Taiwan. For the next few years, China would find it difficult to exploit these advantages in a Korean contingency, and the South China Sea lies outside the reach of Chinese sensors, communications and missiles, much less power projection. Over time, China will be able both to increase its anti-access advantage where it currently exists and to expand it into the Pacific, to Northeast Asia and eventually to Southeast Asia. In addition, Chinese cyber and anti-satellite capabilities may in time be able to disrupt U.S. C4ISR and thus impair direct defense.

In sum, forward operating U.S. forces could become more vulnerable, precisely the top priority of Chinas military investments and deployments. The difficulties of direct defense could be greatly accelerated by Chinese development and use of cyber-attack and ASAT weapons, given the dependence of U.S. forces and operating concepts on computer-networked and space-based C4ISR. For this reason, the PLA appears to think that hostilities in space and cyber-space would favor China, and so might initiate them. At the same time, as China extends the reach of its own forces and C4ISR into the Pacific, they will become vulnerable to U.S. cyber-attack and ASAT. In any case, any Sino-U.S. armed conflict will be increasingly affected if not decided by warfare in these new domains. The erosion of capabilities for direct defense will push the United States toward enhanced weapons, ranges, geography and targets both to regain survivability and to strike Chinese forces, launchers, sensors and other capabilities on the mainland (or elsewhere in the region outside of the immediate theater). In addition, as the PLA develops cyber and ASAT capabilities but also comes to rely more on advanced C4ISR, the United States will have to consider striking Chinese satellites and computer networks. These trends will thus lead both sides to widen their choice of targets in order to achieve dominance over any particular geographic objective, however limited. The increasing difficulty in ensuring direct defense can be consequential even if Sino-U.S. hostilities are unlikely, for they could stimulate Chinese risk-taking, increase U.S. inhibitions and weaken the resolve of U.S. allies and Chinas neighbors in facing a China more insistent on settling disputes on its terms. These trends are the result of underlying general technological progress, sustainable growth in military spending, PLA reform and doctrinal adaptation and geographic distances for China and the United States. On the other hand, most of Chinas neighbors are growing economically and in technological sophistication, and some may choose to keep pace in quality if not quantity with Chinese advances in the military field. Barring unforeseen technological developments that assure survivability

for U.S. forces and C4ISR, it will not be possible or affordable for the United States to buck these trends. As the defense of Taiwan is already becoming problematic for U.S. forces (e.g., carriers and nearby air bases), so will U.S. operational options in the event of a confrontation with China over North Koreas collapse and a crisis in Southeast Asia. Over time, the United States will feel the need to rely increasingly on its more distant and less vulnerable capabilities. As U.S. forward operating survivability declines, strike range must increase. U.S. military-operational emphasis in the Western Pacific will thus shift from geographically limited direct defense to more escalatory responses and eventually, when even these will not suffice, from deterrence based on denial to deterrence based on the threat of punishment, with the speed of the shift varying from, first of all, Taiwan, then Northeast Asia, then Southeast Asia at a somewhat later date. This will move the United States toward a choice between escalation and deterrence based on Chinese fear of escalation and noninvolvement in hostilities near China that could bring about direct armed conflict. Escalation can take several paths. Starting with the most severe, the United States can make more explicit what has been only faintly implicit in its strategy toward China: the threat to use nuclear weapons if conventional defense fails, if U.S. forces face defeat, and/or if vital U.S. interests in the region could be harmed. Yet in none of the above cases are U.S. vital interests at stake. Moreover, however low the credibility of a U.S. nuclear threat may be today, it will be lower in the future because of Chinas clear determination and sufficient capacity to have a survivable second-strike deterrent force able to defeat U.S. missile defense (e.g., through mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, multiple re-entry vehicles/multiple independent re-entry vehicles and penetration aids). Two more plausible and proportional escalation paths for the United States are to disable Chinese satellites and computer networks, starting with those that enable Chinese forces to operate. In both ASAT and cyber-war, it is easier to imagine how hostilities would start than how they would end very likely with attacks by
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CONFLICT WITH CHINA

both sides on critical civilian and economic space systems and networks. The main reason for this is the dual-use nature of much of the space and cyber infrastructure on which the U.S. military, and in due course the PLA, rely. Compounding the problem is that both escalatory domains are offense-dominant, in that both satellites and computer networks are exceedingly hard and costly to protect against very capable attackers. Even with superior ASAT and cyber-war capabilities, the United States stands to suffer at least as much as China in space and cyber escalation, given its greater reliance on these domains for military and intelligence missions and for its economic health. Perhaps the most promising military escalation path for the United States most credible, least dangerous and most onesided in its effects is that of conventional precision strikes against Chinese warfighting and war-supporting targets on the mainland or wherever else they might be. To the extent such strikes can be carried out from survivable platforms and/or beyond the range of Chinas medium-range missiles, the United States can recover both technological (in targeting at any distance) and geographic advantages. It could also halt or reverse the growing vulnerability of U.S. C4ISR to Chinese cyber and ASAT attacks. How long such advantages, if recovered, could be extended beyond another decade or so depends on how long it takes China to extend the reach of its surveillance, targeting and strike capabilities. Given Chinas economic and technological potential, the answer might not be comforting for long-term U.S. planning. In any case, U.S. conventional escalation, and thus deterrence based on the threat of it, risks Chinese escalation, including cyber and ASAT risks that may be mitigated but not eliminated by careful choice of targets (avoiding strategic locations, civilians, economic and leadership targets), but will nonetheless grow over time. Conventional threats to the command and control of Chinese nuclear forces could even prompt a Chinese nuclear response.

CHINA PRIORITY CAPABILITIES Priority

Surface fleet Submarine (attack) Submarine (strike) Tactical air Long-range airstrike Long-range missiles Heavy land forces Heavy mobility Light expeditionary land forces Fast mobility SOF Unmanned platforms Ballistic missile defense (BMD) Cyber-war (offense and defense) ASAT
capabilities associated with the threat of escalation. The above chart indicates the capabilities that are currently important and those that may become more relevant in the future. Sanctions have typically been an option of choice for the United States when the risks, poor cost-effectiveness and lack of support associated with military force are too great. But China is far from typical, given the scale and intensity of Sino-U.S. economic interdependence. It is true that for China the loss of export revenue, interest and liquidity of credit, investment returns and critical imports (oil, food and commodities) would have a calamitous effect on its economic and possibly domestic stability. However, the effects on U.S. equity and credit markets, the value of the dollar, inflation, investment, consumption and employment while less as a

Direct Defense
X X

Escalation

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
percent of GDP would also be devastating and lasting. Economic war against China would more accurately be described as economic war with China, Americas principal creditor and source of manufactured goods. Such war would likely lead to a global contraction much worse than the one of 20082009. Thus, the question a very fateful question for the United States is whether it could design economic measures that could hit China disproportionately hard, even while acknowledging the impact on the U.S. and world economies. One such measure would be interference with seaborne oil shipments to China (food presumably being off-limits even in war). However, oil-transport routes and arrangements are such that the entire region, including Japan, would suffer some level of disruption as a result of a distant U.S. blockade of Chinese trade. Of course, China would consider such

Economic Warfare

Priority Capabilities
As Chinese anti-access and areadenial enhancements improve, the United States will become more dependent on

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an action to be a major escalation aimed at crippling its economy and endangering domestic stability and the regime itself. China has been expanding its strategic oil reserve and building oil and gas pipelines to Central Asia in order to mitigate such dangers and would likely retaliate by other means.

Strategic Alternatives
Americas capacity to ensure the defense of its friends and allies on Chinas periphery will diminish over the next several decades. This can be offset by a U.S. willingness to employ horizontal and vertical escalation. China also has options in this regard, however. For the United States, a strategy based upon escalation and ultimately on deterrence by punishment means assuming greater risks in the future than in the past to achieve the same objectives. Some American interests in the region may not justify such increased risks. This suggests the need to supplement military deterrence with other forms of dissuasion, resistance and persuasion.

Mutual Assured Economic Destruction (MAED)

Short of a nuclear exchange, the greatest damage from any conflict with China is likely to come in the economic realm. Massive and mutual economic harm would indeed result from any significant SinoU.S. armed conflict, even if the two sides eschewed employment of economic weapons. The two economies are linked with each other and with the rest of the world in a manner unparalleled in history. This mutual dependency can be an immensely powerful deterrent, in effect a form of mutually assured economic destruction. At the moment the balance of advantage rests with the United States, but even the winner in such a contest will wish it had been avoided. The operation of MAED is somewhat different from classic mutual assured destruction. It is at least theoretically possible to limit the escalation of a military clash to the subnuclear level. It is not possible to so limit the economic consequences. China is not going to continue buying U.S. Treasury notes while the American and Chinese navies clash somewhere off

Taiwan or in the South China Sea. Apple is not going to be shipping iPads from its factories in China. Markets will anticipate widespread disruption in U.S.-Chinese and world trade, and advance the consequences, however much Beijing and Washington seek to limit the damage. As is the case with MAED, even the weaker party gains deterrent benefit from the mutual, if unevenly distributed, destruction. The point could be reached sometime in the next few decades, however, when the balance of dependency had shifted so far against the United States that it no longer represented an effective deterrent to Chinese advances against important if not vital American interests in East Asia. This is not an argument for seeking to decouple the U.S. economy from the Chinese economy, as that would simply be to dispense with the existent deterrent effect while it still has great force. It is a reason to ensure that the balance of dependency does not shift too heavily against the United States. It is often said that a strong economy is the basis of a strong defense. In the case of China, a strong U.S. economy is not just the basis for a strong defense, it is itself perhaps the best defense against an adventurous China.

of disputes, from maritime and territorial questions up to and including the fate of North Korea and Taiwan.

Building Partner Capacity

Avoidance of direct military defense and escalation does not equate to U.S. passivity in particular contingencies or in regional security generally. The United States has very capable allies in the region in Japan, South Korea and Australia, as well as other existing and prospective partners that are already bristling at Chinas growing power and assertiveness, as the developments of the last year suggest. To date, there is no indication of diminishing resolve on the part of Chinas neighbors. Whether this pattern continues, strengthens or is reversed by increased Chinese capability to overcome U.S. direct defense and neutralize U.S. escalation threats depends on how the United States encourages regional states to stand up to China, politically and materially. In seeking to stimulate greater local self-reliance, the United States will need to avoid two possible pitfalls. First it will want to avoid extending guarantees that it may not wish to deliver on, and in so doing actually decrease incentives for great local defense efforts. Second, were the United States to be seen trying to align East Asia against China something it has so far been careful not to do it could stimulate an arms race with China which, at least locally, it would be hard pressed to win. If instead the United States follows a dual strategy of engaging China, including in regional security cooperation, while backing and enabling Chinas East Asia neighbors, it might be able to contribute to regional stability, sustain U.S. influence and at least protect if not advance U.S. interests in the region. Enabling allied and partner military capabilities, thus increasing the costs of Chinese aggression, could have two basic components: (1) providing critical capabilities (e.g., surveillance and targeting) that only the United States can provide and (2) deterring Chinas own escalatory options by the threat of counter-escalation, including in space and counter-space, as well as nuclear deterrence in those rare instances where U.S. vital interests are truly engaged.
July - September 2012

Reliance on Diplomacy
If U.S.-localized direct defense is endangered by Chinese anti-access capabilities in the near term, and U.S. escalation is constrained by growing risks and growing Chinese military reach in the mid- to long-term, the United States may be increasingly left without good military operational alternatives in regional contingencies involving Chinese forces. As several of these cases suggest, this may weigh against U.S. involvement in contingencies where important U.S. interests are not at stake. Unless China commits naked and large-scale aggression which, to be clear, is not indicated by its current pattern of use of force this may involve greater reliance on U.S. diplomacy and attempts to head off conflict by accommodating Chinese interests, especially if they have merits. Of course, the declining efficacy of direct defense and increasing riskiness of escalation (and thus of deterrence) would deplete U.S. influence over the outcome

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CONFLICT WITH CHINA

A climate of mutual distrust and suspicion clouds the U.S.-China relationship, producing a potent security dilemma. If ignored this dynamic could spiral out of control. Altering it will require both the United States and China to fundamentally rethink their national-security goals and strategic assumptions in Asia and beyond. The U.S.-China competition should not be viewed as a zero-sum game; indeed, the United States has a strong interest in changing these perceptions. As China becomes a true peer competitor, it also becomes potentially a stronger partner in the defense as well as economic field. At present, the United States, as the worlds only superpower, bears a disproportionate burden for policing the global commons, protecting international commerce and travel, and maintaining international security. China, like most of the world, is a free rider on these efforts. Even as the United States seeks over the next several decades to sustain its defense commitments and advance its interests in East Asia, it will also have an interest in encouraging the worlds other emerging superpower to assume greater responsibilities for international peace and security. Chinas efforts to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean and its growing interest in UN peacekeeping should, thus, become the basis for enhanced U.S.-Chinese cooperation. In the long term, the United States will want to look for other ways to leverage Chinese power as well as restrain it. This will be easier and safer to do from a position of relative strength, which argues for starting this process of cooperation sooner rather than later.

Shifting the U.S.-China Relationship

nese mainland, China will develop escalation options of its own, including ASAT and offensive cyber-warfare capabilities, thus increasing U.S. risks in escalation. Chinese strategic nuclear force improvement, and the limited stakes in the most plausible scenarios for Sino-American conflict, will reduce the credibility of any U.S. threat to use nuclear weapons. One means of improving the prospects for direct defense and reducing the risk of escalation is for the United States to enable the capabilities and buttress the resolve of Chinas neighbors. Such a strategy should be designed to raise the costs of Chinese use of force and to check Chinese assertiveness at the expense of regional stability and U.S. interests. Such a strategy should not be or be seen as a U.S. attempt to encircle or align the region against China, lest it produce greater Chinese hostility. Indeed, a parallel effort should be made to draw China into cooperative security endeavors, not only to avoid the appearance of an anti-China coalition but also to obtain greater contributions to international security from the worlds second strongest power. The United States should also continue to explore cooperative solutions to some of the above-cited sources of conflict. For instance, the collapse of North Korea could become an opportunity for U.S.-Chinese collaboration. The economic consequences of a SinoAmerican conflict could be historically unparalleled, even if both sides avoid economic warfare. This is a powerful mutual deterrent, one marginally in the U.S. favor at present. Strengthening the

U.S. economy is the best way of ensuring that the balance of interdependence and of the associated deterrence does not shift dangerously against the United States over the next several decades. While the risk of conflict with China cannot be ignored, neither should it be exaggerated. Any number of other conflicts are more likely, some in places we cannot even vaguely foresee at present, just as no one foresaw our engagement in the Balkans in 1989, our invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq or our current commitment in Libya as recently as six months ago. These more likely conflicts will be with opponents quite different from China and will call for capabilities quite dissimilar from those required to deal with a real peer competitor. Individually, these contingencies will be less consequential than a conflict with China, but collectively they will shape the international environment in which both countries interact and will fundamentally influence Chinese perceptions of American power and determination. Coping successfully with these smaller challenges may be one of the best ways to ensure that we never have to fight the larger conflict. This article is reprinted with permission from the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. Conflict With China: Prospects, Consequences and Strategies for Deterrence by James Dobbins, David C. Gompert, David A. Shlapak and Andrew Scobell. Copyright 2011 comment here RAND Corporation.

Notes

Conclusion
With the passage of time and improvement of Chinese capabilities, the United States will find itself forced to shift from deterrence by denial, based on direct defense of its interests and allies in the Western Pacific, to deterrence by punishment, based on the threat of escalation, using longer-range weapons and more survivable platforms. Although the United States can have escalation dominance for some time, assuming it is prepared to conduct conventional strikes on the Chi-

1. Chinas economy is expected to grow at roughly twice the rate of the American over the next fifteen years. At market exchange rates, Chinas GDP is about 40 percent of the U.S. GDP, and RAND estimates that by 2025 it will be about half. 2. China currently commits about 2.5 percent of its GDP to defense expenditures, roughly half the current American rate. 3. Although Chinese defense spending has risen significantly in recent years, keeping pace with and even exceeding overall economic growth, the U.S. defense budget has, since 2001, grown even faster. Thus in 2000 the U.S. defense budget was seven times that of China, and in 2010 it was ten times bigger. As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down, the U.S. rate of spending is likely to decrease, although probably not to Chinese levels. By 2025, RAND estimates that Chinese defense spending will probably be somewhat more than half of Americas. Of course, all Chinese defense spending will be focused on the Western Pacific, whereas only a fraction of Americas will be relevant to that region. 4. These figures are much disputed in both the academic and intelligence communities. They rest on the somewhat shaky foundation of current trends extrapolated far into the future. Using purchasing power parity rather than market exchange rates, China catches up to and surpasses the United States much more quickly. Purchasing power parity is a better reflection of personnel costs, while market exchange rates better capture equipment costs, particularly high-tech equipment, which tends to be the area of U.S.-Chinese competition of most concern to the United States.

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TEAM EFFORT Armed Forces of the Philippines litter teams transport wounded Philippine Marines from a helicopter-landing zone at Camp Bautista, Jolo Island to an ambulance receiving point with the assistance of U.S. Forces. U.S. Army photo

Real Results: Military Partnerships in the Philippines

BY MAJOR MATTHEW J. GOMLAK AND MAJOR STEPHEN FENTON
In the May-June 2010 edition of Foreign Affairs, the former Secretary of Defense, Robert M. Gates, wrote an article entitled Helping Others Defend Themselves, wherein he emphasized that the effectiveness and credibility of the U.S. will only be as good as the effectiveness, credibility and sustainability of its local partners. He also wrote that, well-integrated training and assistance efforts can achieve real results. The recent actions of a small special-operations task force working with Marines from the Armed Forces of the Philippines on a very remote island in the Sulu Archipelago illustrate what Gates meant by real results. On July 28, 2011, two platoons of AFP Marines infiltrated into an historical Abu Sayaaf Group encampment located on Jolo Island that held an estimated 100 ASG and Jemiah Islamiah members and affiliates. In the darkness of the early morning, the marines observed several men walking with flashlights. Both the darkness and terrain hid a series of tarps and prepared defensive positions along the high ground to the left and right flanks of the AFP Marines. At approximately 4:20 a.m. the AFP initiated contact, focusing their fire on the activity to the front. The marines immediately took heavy automatic rifle fire and 40mm grenades from both flanks. The initial exchange killed two marines and wounded several others; both AFP corpsman, the only medics in the formation, were among the fallen. One heroic platoon commander directed both platoons into a dry creek bed and then maintained a forward perimeter with four others to cover their withdrawal. After the firefight these five men were found dead and decapitated. The remaining elements of the two platoons suffered two killed in action and 21 wounded in action most of them with gunshot wounds. By 8:30 a.m., the AFP Sulu Island Command and American advisers from Joint Special Operations Task Force Philippines began responding to a mass-casualty situation. In previous operations on Jolo Island, the AFP suffered heavy casualties. In August 2007, for example, they sustained 25 KIA from a roadside ambush. The events on July 28, however, stand out because of the number of wounded sustained in a short period of time and the successful treatment and evacuation of the patients through the combined efforts of the U.S. military and AFP organizations. All U.S. forces supporting Operation Enduring Freedom-Philippines operate under the Kapit Bisig Framework, a mutually agreed U.S. and Government of the Republic of the Philippines accord by which JSOTF-P accomplishes its mission through and with its partner forces. The task force does not engage in combat operations and does not operate from independent locations they advise and assist Philippine security forces where they are on Philippine government bases, compounds and outposts in jungle, village and urban areas. Their efforts include intelligence sharing, support for mission preparations and rehearsal, civil-military and military-information support operations, casualty evacuations and logistics. Through this framework, JSOTF-P personnel successfully executed the mass casualty through and with partner-nation forces. The outcome was a tremendous success, resulting in the evacuation of 16 patients, the performance of two life-saving surgeries and one limb-sparing surgery. Thirteen kilometers separated the WIAs from the nearest AFP trauma center on Camp Bautista, the main Filipino military base on Jolo Island. Units from the Philippine Air Force evacuated all 21 patients from the encounter site to the Helicopter Landing Zone on Camp Bautista in a period of four hours. Once the patients reached the HLZ, AFP and U.S. advisers facilitated transportation to the local treatment center, where Filipino doctors and five members of a U.S. Air Force Forward Surgical Team conducted triage, treatment and in some cases surgery. From the trauma center, both PAF and U.S. aviation assets moved the critically injured patients to two different medical centers in Zamboanga City, 155 kilometers north of Camp Bautista. JSOTF-Ps efforts on July 28 provide a snapshot of what Gates meant by real results from well-integrated training and assistance efforts to partner-nation forces. Medical training between U.S. and AFP personnel provided the requisite individual and collective skills for casualty treatJuly - September 2012

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MILITARY PARTNERSHIPS IN THE PHILIPPINES

STATE OF EMERGENCY Above, Philippine and U.S. medical personnel work together to provide medical care in the field and in the trauma bay to evaluate and manage critical casualties. U.S. Army photos

ment and evacuation. Overall command and control executed by Task Force Sulu, the subordinate JSOTF-P element in charge at Camp Bautista ensured that all U.S. and AFP non-medical personnel contributed in essential supporting roles. It also facilitated a collaborative medical evacuation/casualty evacuation plan that incorporated both AFP and JSOTF-P rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft. Finally, the extraordinary performance of the forward surgical team provided order to patient treatment and increased the treatment capability of the AFP trauma clinic. Special Forces detachments have been living and working with the Filipino forces on Jolo Island since 2003. Part of this relationship has been consistent training on first aid, self-care, buddy aid and patient triage. The results of this exchange were evident on July 28 when all 21 wounded Marines arrived at the Camp Bautista landing zone. All AFP wounded arrived with the majority of their wounds dressed. Several had pressure dressings and those with more severe extremity wounds had a tourniquet applied. Many of the dressings and tourniquets were makeshift out of ripped cloth and sticks, and the soldiers with severe wounds also had Quickclot within the wound itself. Despite the loss of their organic corpsman in the initial encounter, AFP Marines demonstrated proficiency in first aid and their unilateral efforts saved lives. Additionally, technical exchanges between the TF Sulu Forward Surgical Team and the AFP military staff of the Camp Bautista trauma center set the conditions for an unusually efficient and successful MASCAL. One month prior to the start of this ongoing offensive op-

eration against the ASG on Sulu, the FST assisted the AFP trauma center in erecting two triage tents. Additionally, they presented classes on the tenets of adequate triage. FST personnel also instructed the trauma center staff on how to properly stock their emergency rooms, operating rooms and trauma stations. This prevented the large volume of casualties from overwhelming the AFP trauma center staff and facilities. Unilateral efforts by the partner-nation force also contributed to the overall success. On July 28, after the initial notification of Marine casualties, the AFP generated a list of potential casualties by blood type and obtained type-specific whole blood from a walking blood bank of AFP Marines on the base camp. Marines on Camp Bautista manned ambulances, litter teams, patient prep and ground movement teams for all wounded personnel. They also handled the remains of the five KIA and conducted mortuary affairs on site. Another factor in the success of the MASCAL was Task Force Sulus orchestration of all AFP and U.S. military and medical assets during the event. Immediately after notification of friendly casualties, the task force promptly organized and assigned non-medical personnel at the arrival landing zone, within the triage tents and inside the trauma bay. Every uniformed member of the task force had a designated role prior to the arrival of the first casualty. They promptly organized combined AFP and U.S. litter teams, triage support teams, landing zone security and placed liaison elements in the trauma center, SIC headquarters and TF Sulu operations center. On-scene Special Forces and special-operations

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BETTER TOGETHER Center, AFP Marines load patients in an aircraft while U.S. advisers assist. Above, Civil Affairs and Special Forces Soldiers provide aid to AFP patients in the trauma center. U.S. Army photos

trained medics ensured the simultaneous passing of nine line MEDEVAC requests through both AFP and JSOTF-P channels. This facilitated the integration of JSOTF-P contract aircraft into the CASEVAC plan when PAF assets proved unable to handle the volume of patients and the severity of the injuries. Finally, the extraordinary performance of the AFST in providing timely and appropriate medical care to 21 patients saved lives and strengthened the relationship between TF Sulu and their Philippine counterparts. The AFST at Camp Bautista has the mission of providing routine and emergency medical care to U.S. personnel on the base. However, they are always willing to assist with AFP casualties, at the request of the AFP trauma center commander. On the morning of the encounter, the FST emergency department physician assistant worked jointly with the trauma center commander at the arrival HLZ in order to ensure proper initial triage. The PA then returned to the hospital to continue evaluation and care for the casualties as they arrived. The orthopedic PA worked at the triage tents and trauma bay for evaluation and treatment of the casualties. The lead trauma surgeon, nurse anesthetist and operating room technician remained in the trauma bay and within the operating room once the surgical patients arrived. With support from the AFP doctors, they performed surgery on three of five surgical candidates. Furthermore, they stabilized two additional surgical candidates and facilitated their transport on the first MEDEVAC to Zamboanga City for follow-on surgical care.

Dr. Stephen Fenton, U.S. Air Force major, AFST general surgeon and co-author of this article stated that, the MASCAL was conducted as well as those in which I have participated at Combat Surgical Hospitals in Afghanistan and stateside Level I trauma centers. This was a joint, combined, special-operations effort with both U.S. and Filipino medical and non-medical personnel. Due to the interoperability of U.S. and AFP forces and the constant communication and coordination by the SOTF, all AFP casualties who arrived at the trauma center survived. On Jolo Island, the effects of well-integrated training and assistance efforts at the tactical level achieved real results by saving Philippine Marine lives. AFP actions at the point of injury and during CASEVAC to Camp Bautista illustrate the long-term effects of consistent medical training by U.S. SOF. The collaboration that took place at the HLZ and at the trauma center shows the synergistic results of combined efforts by U.S. and partner-nation military forces. Finally, the precise application of professional U.S. military capability in the OR and during MEDEVAC for the critically wounded illustrates how U.S. efforts can make our partners stronger. Maj. Matthew J. Gomlak was the Task Force Sulu Commander and Maj. Stephen Fenton, U.S. Air Force, served as a general surgeon on Task Force Sulu Forward Surgical Team.

comment here
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July - September 2012

GRAINS OF TRUTH: THE ROLE OF CIVIL-MILITARY SUPPORT

Purpose and mission of Civil-Military Engagement
The recently published national defense strategic guidance states, Whenever possible, we will develop innovative, low-cost, and small-footprint approaches to achieve our security objectives, relying on exercises, rotational presence, and advisory capabilities.1 Small, flexible and centripetal forces by nature, special-operations Civil Affairs teams fit the bill for this strategy. CA elements plan and execute CA operations that range from integration into tactical missions with other special-operations forces to strategic deployment within a foreign country at the direction of a U.S. Ambassador. It is the latter scenario that will be the focus of this article. U.S. Special Operations Command deploys civil-military support elements that are SOF CA teams who plan, coordinate, facilitate, manage and lead programs and projects that support U.S. and host-nation objectives under the Civil-Military Engagement Program.2 This program allows global combatant commanders to deploy, with the approval and endorsement of U.S. Ambassadors, small SOF CA teams to U.S. Embassies to conduct operations that are concurrently beneficial to U.S. defense, diplomacy and development objectives. The types of operations vary by region and country but FM 3-57, Civil Affairs Operations, offers a succinct summary: Best described as nation assistance, CME operations identify and address critical civil vulnerabilities in undergoverned and ungoverned areas or high-threat environments where indigenous authorities or the interagency (specifically the country team and especially U.S. Agency for International Development) cannot engageCME as a concept is USSOCOMs contribution, and part of the Department of Defenses strategy, to building partner capacity in a preventive, populationcentric and indirect approach to enhance the capability, capacity and legitimacy of partnered indigenous governments. The successful execution of CME identifies the causes or drivers of instability or popular grievances of the indigenous population that violent extremist organizations can exploit by destabilizing the civil component of the operational environment.3 A typical CMSE deployment would seem to be very routine and bland in its lack of notable controversies and standout achievements, especially if viewed from standard weekly reports that describe interagency coordination meetings, key leader engagements, site visits and opening ceremonies for humanitarian assistance construction projects. What these reports do not capture, however, are subtle and unquantifiable measures of effectiveness such as the rapport and enduring relationships that SOF CA teams build with key host-nation officials, nongovernmental organizations and other international organizations which facilitate the achievement of the United States foreign policy and security goals. Maintaining a persistent presence in a country, a CMSE team becomes a highly effective tool for the Defense and State Departments and USAID, able to quickly respond to emerging situations while contributing to the effectiveness of longterm U.S. Government strategies. Along with its subordinate teams, the company responsible for this mission collectively achieves a great deal without extraordinary fanfare. The purpose of this article is to highlight the achievements of our unit after returning from a CMSE deployment which can and should be considered routine. While we did have a successful rotation that can be lauded for several significant and unprecedented accomplishments, these were nothing more than what should be the baseline for every mission set with the outlook of increasing our SOF brethrens understanding of SOF CA, standardizing our support regardless of the theater of operations and reinforcing our value-added to country team goals and objectives. The mission of CA forces is to support commanders by engaging the civil component of the operational environment to achieve CMO or other stated U.S. objectives and ensure the sustained legitimacy of the mission and the transparency and credibility of the military force before, during or after other military operations. Regardless of the setting in which they are assigned, whether it is a combat zone or a U.S. Embassy conference room, SOF CA teams provide a critical capability for combatant and special operations commanders. In order to make commanders cognizant of and more comfortable with employing this tool, teams must first and foremost build cred-

ELEMENTS IN SPECIAL OPERATIONS

BY MAJOR JEFFREY S. HAN AND MAJOR BRION D. YOUTZ

How is this done?

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ibility with military leaders. SOF CA personnel are not intended to be door-kickers by trade; there are units with far greater means to achieve success with such skill sets. Our branch would not exist if its purpose was to merely compete with other elite organizations on these terms. High standards of fitness, discipline and individual and team force-protection capability are fundamental in ARSOF and SOF CA personnel and elements have all three. However, our greatest asset is the ability to gain access to, engage, understand and influence key areas and relevant individuals, groups and populations in full disclosure, thus enabling our military commanders and civilian leaders to achieve their objectives. Perhaps one of the most important capabilities that trained SOF CA Soldiers have is to quickly and effectively establish relationships with the interagency in order to collaborate, synchronize and ultimately achieve unity of effort with other branches of the U.S. Government. This characteristic is specifically highlighted in FM 3-57, which states CME more directly supports a broader host-nation internal defense and development strategy through its support of the American Embassy, country team. While the representatives of other government agencies usually cannot be tasked for support in military operations, their resources are extremely valuable and relationships are often mutually beneficial. In an era of increasingly ambiguous threats and corresponding unprecedented employment of the elements of national power as a counter, the promotion of military and interagency collaboration and unity of effort is critical. In addition to fostering collaboration between U.S. Government entities, SOF CA teams are adept at seeking and capitalizing on opportunities to promote relations between the United States and countries in which we have a diplomatic or military presence. We are trained to gain the trust of host-nation representatives by becoming cultural and regional experts. However, speaking a certain language or studying a certain culture do not make one an expert in a country or region. The ability to quickly adapt to customs and courtesies, to respect taboos, to appreciate sources of pride: these are the skills that enable a commander to achieve his or her objectives. SOF CA personnel are screened and selected to ensure they have the aptitude, endurance and character for SOF CA. They develop their skills through a rigorous qualification course and comprehensive pre-mission training that enables them to tailor what they have learned for a particular area of operations and mission. Special operations differ from conventional operations in degree of physical and political risk, operational techniques, modes of employment SOF are conducted in all environments, but are particularly well suited for denied and politically sensitive environments. SO can be tailored to achieve not only military objectives through application of SOF capabilities for which there are no broad conventional-force requirements, but also to support the application of the diplomatic, informational and economic instruments of national power.5 The latter part (application of DIME) is especially true for CMSEs because they act as bridges between other SOF elements and the U.S. country team and strive to identify, implement and transition enduring interagency mitigating solutions to address underlying civil vulnerabilities In order to ensure that missions are compatible with the capabilities of SOF, FM 3-05: Army Special Operations Forces states that command-

How do we gain this credibility?

ers must ensure ARSOF personnel undergo careful selection processes or mission-specific training beyond basic military skills to achieve entry-level SOF skills. Being proficient in these skills makes rapid replacement or generation of personnel or capabilities highly unlikely and that mature, experienced personnel must maintain a high level of competency in more than one military specialty.6 These descriptions apply to the process for selecting and manning SO CA teams. It is far from adequate to devise a cookie-cutter training plan with a random group of assigned individuals. For this reason, the chemistry that develops at the company level and the leadership that fosters this camaraderie and shared sense of purpose are critical to mission success. Leaders who are able to influence the manning of CA teams will benefit from being able to devote more time to mission analysis and accomplishment rather than to building the necessary unit cohesion. Understanding the dynamics of special operations encompasses much more than simply understanding and executing the mission. The CMSE is task organized from the CA regionally aligned battalions of the USASOC-assigned CA brigade Upon deployment, the CMSE falls under OPCON of the TSOC and provides direct support to the American Embassy of the country of employment.7 The company assembled for our recent Pacific Command CMSE mission is an example of an ideal balance of experience and raw talent that SOF CA units need to accomplish the objectives described earlier. Seventy-five percent of our company had successful overseas SOF CA experience. Successful is the operative word here because experience without proven results would only replicate mediocre performance. A poor performer can be especially detrimental on a small team in the high-profile working environment of an embassy or sensitive meetings with foreign-government officials. Successful team members, however, can build on their experiences and exponentially advance sophisticated initiatives that serve to advance strategic U.S. interests according to the supported commander and U.S. Ambassadors intent. Many of our repeat offenders, as they are affectionately known at Special Operations Command Pacific, reestablished relationships and continued to develop relationships that had started in previous deployments. Our Civil Information Management noncommissioned officer-in-charge continued a mutually beneficial and productive professional collaboration with SOCPACs National Geospatial Agency liaison that began during a previous deployment. Reports from our teams provided up-to-date information for NGAs mapping database while we gained exposure to highly sophisticated geospatial analysis tools. Team members who returned to a country after a previous rotation or visit were welcomed enthusiastically by local U.S. Embassy staff members who looked forward to working with known, friendly personalities. Complementing this experience was a group of individuals who demonstrated the potential to perform well based on their skill sets and demeanor. A rigorous screening process throughout the Civil Affairs Qualification Course pipeline continues to graduate only those officers and noncommissioned officers best suited for our line of work. Through the course of our pre-mission training cycle, informal vetting based on interactions with experienced members validated the selection of these individuals. The new members of the team also brought experience from their backgrounds or previous military occupational specialties to the table.
July - September 2012

Formula for Success

What it Takes

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GRAINS OF TRUTH
Chemistry was critical to bringing these individuals together into a cohesive, productive organization. The companys leadership planned several informal social events that included family members. These events were combined with internal team-building activities designed to build and reinforce camaraderie and trust throughout the company. We enjoyed spending time together, but worked to avoid the potential for group-think or an overly casual command climate with the appropriate distinction between personal and professional lives. The comfort level we had with one another at home served us very well during the deployment, resulting in an informal communication and support network that spanned seven countries across the Asia-Pacific region. Our families back home also came to instinctively turn to one another for assistance when they needed help during the deployment. There were several occasions when family members had medical emergencies that required transportation to the hospital or child care and immediately turned to other families within the company for assistance. These incidents were a testament to the extent of trust and mutual support within the company. Training for any mission starts with the basics. During our predeployment training cycle, advanced rifle and pistol marksmanship, fitness and survivability training were routine. When individuals struggled with certain events, there was more than enough expertise within the company to ensure that all members met the requirements. With this proactive and cooperative approach, these training events were almost effortless, because, as true professionals, our Soldiers understand them to be fundamental requirements and execute them as such. After achieving an adequate baseline of ARSOF standards, we were able to progress to the implementation of more unorthodox ideas. This type of training was enhanced through the camaraderie we had within the company. Teams were able to progress to more advanced training such as an unanticipated, mentally and physically challenging urban evasion and survivability exercise that tested team members trust in their leadership and one another as well as their dedication to the mission. That almost all of the members of the company appreciated the exercise and considered it the best part of pre-mission training spoke to team members level of dedication and the cohesion within the unit. Furthermore, the ability to complete this type of exercise significantly increased team members confidence in working in uncertain environments. As a result, teams were able to not only operate in unfamiliar areas but excel in them as well. Another positive outcome of training flexibility was the teams engagement with non-traditional outlets for training. Along with the skills developed through advanced training exercises, the teams increasing confidence led them to take calculated risks to further expand their knowledge base and ultimately make the mission more successful. The Cambodia CMSE reached out to a diaspora community through the University of Hawaii in order to learn more about Cambodian culture and gain perspectives about the country outside of standard academic research. The Indonesia team reached out to the Indonesian Embassy in Washington, D.C. In this case, the team learned a valuable lesson in official coordination because the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta was unaware of the engagement and made a query that came down through our chain of command. Team members learned that a simple courtesy notification to the U.S. Mission in Jakarta would have avoided any misunderstandings. They were later able to apply this lesson in their interactions with Indonesian government officials, significantly enhancing their credibility among seasoned diplomats. The end result was an organization composed of professional, highly skilled, yet personable SOF CA personnel who could easily counter typical stereotypical prejudices about military personnel which often negatively influences civilian-military interactions. In order to challenge these stereotypes, SOF CA teams must be as personable and transparent as possible. Throughout our pre-mission training, teams went out of their way to successfully interact with civilians, demonstrating that members could relate very effectively to people outside of the military. From the simplest of interactions such as a transaction at a hardware store to more sophisticated meetings with North Carolina county managers and planners, teams demonstrated their approachability and tact. The interpersonal skills teams honed during training set them up for success in dealing deftly with host-nation, international and non-governmental civilian officials in their assigned countries. The Civil-Military Operations Center is a standing capability formed by all CA units from the company level to the CACOM level. Army CA units are organized to provide the supported commander the manpower and equipment, to include a robust communications package, to form the nucleus of the CMOC. A CMOC is tailored to the specific tasks associated with the mission and normally augmented by assets (engineer, medical, transportation) available to the supported commander The CMOC is the operations and support element of the CA unit as well as a mechanism for the coordination of CAO.8 For the CMSE mission, the Civil-Military Operations Center organic to the company evolves into the theater civil-military support element, the operations and support element that supports the forward-deployed teams. The TCMSE consisted of our assigned CMOC personnel and an augmentation of members of the CMSE teams that did not deploy forward initially. Having these team members (who became desk officers) working with the CMOC facilitated communication with their team leaders and team sergeants. An indication of the success of this task-organized element was the fact that every member of the TCMSE traveled to a country in the region in support of a team. These trips were not only seamless but mission enhancing. Typical issues faced by new personnel integrating with an existing team were nonexistent due to the strong foundation of camaraderie and trust that existed within the organization. The camaraderie the company developed during pre-mission training made it very easy for team leaders and team sergeants to contact the TCMSE and vice versa to obtain clarification or make requests. We maintained a connection with the forward-deployed teams on almost a daily basis through traditional and non-traditional communications means and continued to gain excellent situational awareness of their activities and issues. This ease of working with teams empowered the CMOC to accomplish its primary task, which is to facilitate civil-information management for the company. CIM is the process whereby civil information is collected, entered into a central database and internally fused with the supported element, higher headquarters, and other U.S. Government and Department of Defense agencies, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations. This process ensures the timely availability of information for analysis and the widest possible dissemination of the raw and analyzed civil information to military and nonmilitary partners throughout the area of operations.9 In practice,

The organizational glue: the CMOC

Training to fit the mission

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Special Warfare

the information takes the form of geospatial information systems files, Excel spreadsheets and online databases on both classified and unclassified portals. The CMOC takes the raw products that teams produce and consolidates them, editing them for content and fusing them with information available from the supported command headquarters in order to create a civil common operating picture that the commander, his staff and subordinate units can use to make key decisions. During our rotation, the TCMSE was fully engaged in this process and worked extensively with the SOCPAC staff with accurate and up-to-date situational awareness of the PACOM region. As a theater composed of mostly permissible environments and countries, civil information was a critical component of the COCOM and TSOC commanders information set. Conduct humanitarian, disaster relief and other operations. The nation has frequently called upon its Armed Forces to respond to a range of situations that threaten the safety and well-being of its citizens and those of other countries. U.S. forces possess rapidly deployable capabilities, including airlift and sealift, surveillance, medical evacuation and care, and communications that can be invaluable in supple-

Execution

into a semi-formal relationship that involved periodic discussions on potential training for our personnel and opportunities to participate in major disaster preparedness exercises and similar events within countries in the region. Maintaining these types of relationships will enable great cross-pollination and collaboration with one of the most prominent agencies within the DoD. The COE provided seats for our deputy CMOC chief and a CMSE team member to attend a Humanitarian Assistance Response Training course. The primary instructor for the course was the PACOM Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance representative. Through this training, we came to better understand our role as military representatives during foreign-disaster situations and more about our interaction with the OFDA. We were able to exercise this training when Thailand declared a disaster due to heavy flooding at the end of our rotation. When SOCPAC began planning a potential response, the OFDA representative became a conduit of information from a key-interagency partner and enabled us to provide informed, timely updates to the SOCPAC commander. Our teams set out with clear objectives as determined by SOCPAC and the country teams of the U.S. Embassies to which they were

Training for any mission starts with the basics. During the predeployment cycle, advanced rifle and pistol marksmanship, fitness and survivability training were routine.
menting lead relief agencies, by extending aid to victims of natural or man-made disasters, both at home and abroad. DoD will continue to develop joint doctrine and military response options to prevent and, if necessary, respond to mass atrocities. U.S. forces will also remain capable of conducting non-combatant evacuation operations for American citizens overseas on an emergency basis.10 In addition to coordination with teams, the TCMSE leveraged access to resources at our supported theater special operations command (SOCPAC) and combatant command (PACOM) headquarters. Building rapport with the representatives of civilian agencies working within these headquarters proved to be an especially valuable asset. We leveraged relationships with PACOM officials to gain seats at the Pacific Command Security Assistance Conference (PACSAC), a high-profile planning forum with wide-ranging implications for SOF CA missions. PACOM, DoD and Department of State officials learned about CMSEs, often for the first time, and their direct interactions with team leaders piqued interests and spurred ideas for the innovative application of SOF CA capabilities. Discussions generated unprecedented ideas for new regional initiatives, including requests for support from security cooperation officials in countries that currently do not have SOF support. One of our desk officers took the initiative to contact the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management when the team in Indonesia requested some updated disaster-management handbooks for a program in which the team was involved. This initial outreach evolved assigned. They developed civil-military engagement plans based on these objectives that consisted of innovative programs to influence key areas and relevant populations via building partner capacity, facilitating PACOM component events and increased engagements with host nation militaries. Two of the teams most notable accomplishments were theater security-cooperation plan event support and multiple build partner capacity initiatives. CMEs population-centric and indirect approach is manifested in three lines of effort: Enable partners to combat violent extremist organizations; deter tacit and active support of violent extremist organizations; Erode support for extremist ideologies.11 As noted in FM 3-57, CA contributions to the TSCP can include liaison and coordination, education and training and area assessments.12 Inevitably, TSCP support can be a double-edged sword and draw a significant amount of criticism, primarily from a TSOC that is hesitant to have a SOF element tasked to support non-SOF programs for the Office of Defense Coordination. In our case, supporting TSCP events was not a burden, rather a means of gaining access to previously denied geographic areas. Each of our teams was able to leverage one or several TSCP events into a TSOC named area of interest and provide persistent U.S. access and influence. The partnership is mutually beneficial equally important to the component executing the event. Our teams provided initial site scoping of any project or CA program sites, coordiJuly - September 2012

Theater Security Cooperation Plans

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GRAINS OF TRUTH
The DoD Irregular Warfare: Countering Irregular Threats Joint Operating Concept 2010 identifies foreign internal defense as one of the ways or actions or operations designed to address irregular threats in irregular warfare and defines irregular warfare as a contest for legitimacy and influence over the relevant populations. A simple conclusion is that among other grievances, the ability, inability or simply the populations expectation of a government or government apparatus to execute some of their implied or specific duties can serve as the wedge for violent extremists organization introduction. While traditional military BPC initiatives focus on military units, SOF CA BPC initiatives may equally involve local government units where no military CA or CMO units exist. MEDICAL ASSESSMENT Civil Affairs Soldiers, along with a Navy medical team, conduct a key-leader engagement and During this rotation, one site assessment at a prenatal clinic in Bangladesh in order to discuss future medical seminars. Courtesy Photo of our major BPC campaigns worked solely with a military unit, the Cambodian Royal Gendarnation and approval with local governments, and local knowledge when merie, while our medical BPC initiative in Sri Lanka focused on both the advance and main parties arrive, thus ensuring optimal results. military and civilian partners. Regardless of the partner, both clearly During our rotation, there were two examples of TSCP coordinafall under the umbrella of FID and exemplify the statement that CME tion that illustrate the value of SOF CA involvement in component as a concept is USSOCOMs contribution, and part of DoDs strategy, events. In Cambodia, the execution of Operation Pacific Angel was a to building partner capacity in a preventive, population-centric, and tremendous success and provided positive public relations for both the indirect approach to enhance the capability, capacity, and legitimacy of U.S. Pacific Air Force and the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces as cited partnered indigenous governments.15 in several local news outlets.13 In Indonesia, the CMSE team supported site surveys in advance of the visit of the hospital ship, the USS Mercy. The Royal Gendarmerie in Cambodia is a great example of this The team was able to direct the event to North Sulawesi for the first core mission. A 2006 U.S. PACOM Strategic Study of the Royal Camtime and serve the interests of both Indonesian and U.S. governments. bodian Armed Forces recommended the development of a civil-milWithout the assistance of the CMSE, the U.S. Pacific Fleet would likely itary capability within the Royal Gendarmerie. For five years this was have conducted the event in a convenient area based on historical a neglected opportunity until our CMSE team conducted a capabiliprecedent, rather than contemporary needs. As planning for Operaties assessment and designed a multi-year BPC campaign that gradution Pacific Angel 2012 is underway in Nepal and a newly established ally introduces new concepts starting with humanitarian assistance CMSE there supports PACAF and the ODC in site scoping and local and disaster response and culminates with evolving the gendarmerie coordination, yet another example of mutually beneficial and valuable into a fully capable CMO organization with a similar force structure. CMSE support to TSCP is taking shape. The initial unit assessment is a cross-domain systems analysis similar to the DOTMLPF in the military but based upon the 15 emergency support functions as designated in the national response framework. Building Partner-Capacity Initiatives These are 15 functions that apply in a disaster regardless of country Provide a Stabilizing Presence. U.S. forces will conduct a susand can be used as an initial and subsequent assessment. tainable pace of presence operations abroad, including rotational In Sri Lanka, the CMSE conducted a number of key-leader endeployments and bilateral and multilateral training exercises. These gagements that pointed to the need for particular types of medical activities reinforce deterrence, help to build the capacity and comevents such as eyeglass distribution and behavioral seminars covering petence of U.S., allied and partner forces for internal and external topics such as post-traumatic stress disorder. The 30-year war with defense, strengthen alliance cohesion and increase U.S. influence. A the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam took a tremendous toll on the reduction in resources will require innovative and creative solutions emotional and mental health of people in affected areas in addition to maintain our support for allied and partner interoperability and to the physical damage and trauma from which the country is still building partner capacity.14

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recovering. As the medical planners at SOCPAC sought to plan a high-impact, low-resource event for engagement, the CMSE was able to provide detailed assessments toward the effort. Sri Lanka has one of the best health systems in South and Southeast Asia, as indicated in the World Health Organizations profile of the country.16 This caused the planners to tailor medical programs accordingly rather than to apply the rudimentary MEDCAP model to a country with an already robust basic healthcare infrastructure. As a result, these programs were very well received by the Ministry of Health, National Center for Disaster Management and other key government agencies. The representatives of these agencies appreciated the conscientious effort on the part of U.S. Government representatives to take the time to understand their needs and provide assistance accordingly. The favorable relationships that the team developed with these representatives also provided ample opportunities for the ambassador and other country team officials to maintain their engagements with the host nation. In Bangladesh, multipurpose cyclone shelters and coastal crisis management centers are yet another example of partnership capacity-building through infrastructure development. Cyclone Sidr in 2007 was a terrible tragedy for the country but it provided an opportunity for the U.S. Government to demonstrate its commitment to the people of Bangladesh with not just short-term assistance but investment in sustainable infrastructure development. SOF CA personnel were among the first international response teams on the ground after the cyclone struck. There has been a CMSE rotation in the country ever since, complementing the Government of Bangladeshs efforts to deter violent extremist organizations from gaining footholds in the country through improved infrastructure and services. The MPCS and CCMC programs have been at the forefront of this effort. Sound, durable structures provide the people of Bangladesh with the means to mitigate the effects of disasters as well as inviting community and education centers that foster cooperation and learning.17 The site selection and construction of these structures depends on CMSE teams venturing into remote areas and identifying suitable locations while gaining the buy-in and trust of key leaders at the local level. A team members native Bengali fluency was critical to rapidly building rapport with local officials and key leaders. Conduct stability and counterinsurgency operations. In the aftermath of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States will emphasize non-military means and military-to-military cooperation to address instability and reduce the demand for significant U.S. force commitments to stability operations. U.S. forces will nevertheless be ready to conduct limited counterinsurgency and other stability operations if required, operating alongside coalition forces wherever possible. Accordingly, U.S. forces will retain and continue to refine the lessons learned, expertise, and specialized capabilities that have been developed over the past 10 years of counterinsurgency and stability operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, U.S. forces will no longer be sized to conduct large-scale, prolonged stability operations.18 With the size and resource constraints once again affecting the kinds of missions we conduct as a military force, the CME program and CMSE teams stand out as an extremely small footprint, costeffective bang-for-the-buck for not only military commanders but ambassadors and other civilian U.S. Government officials as well. SOF CA personnel are a highly skilled, select group in which a small

number of individuals amplify their actions through surgically precise impact. While the CME program is relatively new, CMSE teams have cumulatively demonstrated their ability to achieve operational and strategic successes. During our rotation, teams were able to capitalize on the foundation of their predecessors to further a number of U.S. defense and foreign policy goals. In order to preserve SOF CA as an effective tool, it is critical to maintain the most important element: the men and women in our ranks. The SOF Truth that Humans are more important than hardware could not be more relevant to SOF CA. As debates carry on among our governments leadership regarding budgets for various weapon systems and the size of personnel, we submit CMSE teams as examples of low-cost but highly perishable assets that must be carefully preserved to maintain their capabilities. This requires not an investment in financial resources as much as dedicated time and attention to recruiting and retaining the best possible people for the job. Such an effort offers unlimited potential to address some of the most confounding national security challenges we face today. However, the failure to recognize and respond to this necessity will ultimately destroy the capabilities we have developed over the past several years. Major Jeffery S. Han is the Civil-Military Operations chief assigned to 96th Civil Affairs Battalion, 95th Civil Affairs Brigade. Major Brian D. Youtz is the executive officer at the 92nd Civil Affairs Battalion, 95th Civil Affairs Brigade.

comment here

NOTES
1. Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense, 3. 2. Statement of Admiral Eric T. Olson, Commander United States Special Operations Command before the Senate Armed Services committee on the posture of Special Operations Forces, March 4, 2008. 3. FM 3-57 paragraphs 3-125 and 3-127. 4. Ibid, paragraph 1-1. 5. FM 3-05, pg ix. 6. Ibid, paragraph 1-60. 7. FM 3-57, paragraph 3-131. 8. Ibid, paragraph 2-3. 9. Ibid, 10. Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense, 6. 11. FM 3-57 paragraph 3-129. 12. Ibid, paragraph 2-134. 13. Operation Pacific Angel 11-1 Treats near 5,000 Cambodian, Agence Kampuochea Presse, 21 April 2012: http://www.akp.gov.kh/?p=9282. U.S. airmen commence civilmilitary assistance activities in Koh Kong province, Nokorwat News Daily, 9 August 2011: http://www.nokorwatnews.com/detailnews.php?lng=en&newsid=13326&mnu=2. U.S., Cambodia partner for civil military assistance mission, The Official Web Site of the U.S. Air Force, 9 August 2011: http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123267268. 14. Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense, 6. 15. FM3-57, paragraph 3-127. 16. The World Health Organization website: http://www.who.int/countries/lka/en/ 17. Reduced death rates from cyclones in Bangladesh: what more needs to be done? Bulletin of the World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/90/2/11-088302/en/ 18. Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense, 6.

Looking Forward

July - September 2012

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CAREER NOTES
Fourth-quarter selection-board schedule
DATE 11 October 2012 17 October 2012 18 October 2012 18 October 2012 29 November 2012 BOARD Army Special Operations Forces Command Sergeant Major Command Select List U.S. Army Reserve/Active Guard Reserve Master Sergeant Board Army Major Board Active Component Master Sergeant Board Maneuver, Fires and Effects Command Lieutenant Colonel Board

ARSOF

ARSOF Captains Career Course

Beginning in October, the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, in conjunction with the School of Advanced Leadership and Tactics, will conduct a pilot course of the Captains Career Course Common Core. Upon successful completion and accreditation of the pilot, SWCS will conduct Phase 1 (common core) and Phase 2 (branch technical/tactical qualification course) for future Civil Affairs, Psychological Operations and Special Forces officers, with SWCS gaining recognition as a fully accredited institution for awarding Military Education Level F (MEL F) credit.

ENLISTED
Army implements new career retention programs
The Army is implementing new programs to improve noncommissioned grade/ military-occupational specialty readiness levels, retain NCOs with the greatest potential for future contributions and support viable career paths for all MOSs and grades. MILPER Message 12-089 announced the inclusion of the Qualitative Service Program into the FY12 Sergeant Major Training and Selection Board. The MILPER also expands the Qualitative Management Program applicability to all SFCs and above with a minimum of 19 years active federal service. This will also incorporate the enlisted Over-Strength Qualitative Service Program and the Promotion Stagnation Qualitative Service Program Board for consideration of possible DA involuntary separation from active duty.

WARRANT OFFICER
Advanced Civil Schooling for Special Forces warrant officers
There are myriad options for lifelong learning and obtaining an advanced degree while serving as an SF warrant officer. Several options worthy of your consideration include: Self study on your own time (tuition assistance/GI Bill) ILE/SAMS (Fully Funded) Naval Post Graduate School (Fully Funded) National Defense University FBNC (Fully Funded) National Intelligence College (Fully Funded) Norwich University (Fully Funded) The primary requirements for these educational opportunities are: completion of a bachelors degree program, support from the first O6 in your chain of command and promotion potential. These focused degree programs provide a win-win opportunity for the Soldier and the Army. At a time when the Army is downsizing, higher education will also keep Soldiers competitive for promotion when combined with superior performance. ACS opportunities come with a 3:1 ADSO that begins upon completion of the course. In most situations, returning to an affiliated SF group after graduation from a masters program is very likely and some positions within the groups will count as a utilization tour. For more information contact the USAJFKSWCS Special Warfare Education Group, or visit the AKO SF Branch Page at: https://www.us.army.mil/suite/ page/666441

Sergeant Major nominative and personnel coding

The Army G1 has recently approved a request initiated by the Office of the Sergeant Major of the Army to revise the Command Sergeant Major/Sergeant Major nominative position and personnel coding conventions, Revision of the Command Sergeant Major (CSM) and Staff Sergeant Major (SGM) Nominative Position and Personnel Coding Convention. The actions transfer all nominative SGM positions and personnel to MOS 00Z (retitled to sergeant major nominative) and revises the following: A. Professional Development Proficiency Code to limit utilization/ positions and personnel associated with the following; 1. ASI 8C/BG level CSM 2. ASI 8D/MG level CSM 3. ASI 8E/LTG level CSM 4. ASI 8F/GEN level CSM B. PDPC to limit utilization/positions and personnel associated with principal NCO adviser/senior staff NCO with the following: 1. ASI 8S/BG level CSM 2. ASI 8T/MG level CSM 3. ASI 8U/LTG level CSM 4. ASI 8V/GEN level CSM

Implementation for these revisions will be FY13 for active component and FY15 for reserve component. Details will be announced and reflected in DA PAM 611-21, Smartbook.

Sergeants First Class board set

Sergeants first class need to ensure that supporting documents and enlisted records are up to date, reviewed and validated for the October 2012 DA Centralized Master Sergeant Promotion Board. The active component master sergeant/ Qualitative Service Program is scheduled to convene on Oct. 18. All documents for consideration by the board must be received at Army Human Resources Command no later than Sept. 14. Specific information concerning eligibility, procedures for nomination, declination and requirements will be outlined in an upcoming MILPER message.

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CAREER NOTES
ADMIN
Notes from iPERMS on OMPF documents

OFFICER

Broadening Opportunity Programs for officers

1. iPERMS files all unit awards authorized for permanent wear in Soldiers commendatory section of their performance folder. 2. iPERMS does not restrict or mask enlisted courses that can be taken as an officer (Airborne, Air Assault, etc.). 3. Course completion certificates are authorized even if there is a DA Form 1059 in the Soldiers record for that same course. 4. Certificates of achievement are authorized awards and wont be moved to the restricted file, masked or deleted. 5. The correct procedure for handling erroneous orders is for the S1 or G1 to produce an amendment or revocation order so that it can be added to the Soldiers performance folder. iPERMS cannot restrict or delete orders unless they are an exact duplicate or directed by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records.

Every fiscal year, the Army offers the opportunity for the officer corps to apply for Broadening Opportunity Programs, formerly Non-MEL IV Fellowships, Scholarships and Internships. These programs offer a wide range of graduate degrees, some of which require utilization commencing upon graduation. They range in duration from 12-60 months. Majors through lieutenant colonels are encouraged to read the MILPER messages for each of the identified programs to determine their interest and eligibility. Officers should not exclude themselves from these opportunities for lack of knowledge or a belief that they are not competitive. ARSOF competes very well for all of these programs. The application window for this year is closed. Officers should consult their assignments officer to plan for the next cycle. BOPs that offer graduate degrees: Arroyo Center Fellowship (MILPER 11-362) Congressional Fellowship (MILPER 11-363) General Wayne A. Downing Scholarship (MILPER 11-364) Joint Chief of Staff, Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Department of the Army Staff Intern Program (MILPER 11-366) Olmsted Scholarship (MILPER 11-367) Strategic Education and Development Program (MILPER 11-369) Army Cyber Command Scholarship Program (MILPER 11-365) BOPs that DO NOT offer graduate degrees: Regional Fellowship Program LTC-level (MILPER 11-368) White House Fellowship (MILPER 11-295) Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA-SCFP) BOP Website: https://www.hrc.army.mil/OFFICER/Broadening%20Opportunity%20Programs

Human Resources Command

Points of Contact ARSOF Branch Branch Chief: LTC George Mick McGrath 502-613-5700 (DSN 983) george.mcgrath@us.army.mil Branch SGM: SGM Sergio Pruneda 502-613-5700 (DSN 983) x5699 serjio.pruneda@us.army.mil CA Ofcer Branch CA Branch Chief: LTC Tony Thacker 502-613-5700 (DSN 983) x6184 tony.thacker@us.army.mil PO Ofcer Branch PO Branch Chief: LTC Alexander Simmons alexander.v.simmons.mil@mail.mil SF Ofcer Branch SF Branch Chief: LTC Dennis Heaney 502-613-5700 (DSN 983) x6122 dennis.s.heaney@us.army.mil

School of Advanced Military Studies

For a complete list of HRC Branch POCs visit Special Warfare online.

The Advanced Military Studies Program at SAMS is a great professional opportunity for field-grade officers whether their next assignment is Intermediate Level Education, are enrolled in ILE or are coming out of a key and developmental assignment. The regiments have a priority on utilizing and building SAMS capability within the SOF community. SAMS confers a masters degree in military art and science upon graduation. It is a one-year program that focuses on military leadership, conceptual and detailed planning, critical thinking and staff support to decision making at the operational level. For more information about SAMS, visit the Special Forces Branch website (regardless of your branch) at https://www.hrc.army.mil/site/protect/ branches/officer/MFE/SpecialForces/MAJs-Assignments-Officer.htm 1. Pre-ILE Selection - Selection for AMSP prior to attending ILE at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., is similar to the Post-KD Field Nomination, with the same application requirements. If accepted, officers will serve a two year tour at Fort Leavenworth (ILE and AMSP). 2. Apply while attending ILE (including sister-service ILE schools, Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation and foreign staff colleges). Officers applying during ILE can do so in two windows, corresponding with the two AMSP classes: Applications to Class-01 occur in September-October each year, while applications to Class-02 occur in February-March each year. Announcement of application periods and requirements are made by MILPER message, posted to the SAMS website and disseminated through Command and General Staff College. Each officer must coordinate with his HRC branch before applying to AMSP . 3. Post-Key and Developmental (KD) Qualification Field Nomination. Officers applying from the field who are Post-KD-qualified, are eligible and must complete all AMSP selection requirements, including examination and submission of a supervisor assessment and recommendation from a lieutenant colonel or colonel-level supervisor, using the supervisor evaluation form from the SAMS website. All officers who graduate from AMSP owe an AMSP utilization tour. ARSOF officers will be utilized in accordance with manning priorities and the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and Schools AMSP Program Management Policy. If you have any questions about SAMS and the AMSP program, contact LTC Eric Walker, the SOF adviser to SAMS, via email at eric.laird.walker@us.army.mil, or by phone at 913-758-3289.

July - September 2012

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CAREER NOTES
Army Officers Strive to Join Army Special Operations Forces Ranks
Each year, more than 800 officers from throughout the Army compete to join the Civil Affairs, Psychological Operations and Special Forces regiments, collectively known as Army Special Operations Forces. The first step for these officers is selection by the ARSOF Officer Accession Board, which is conducted by the Department of the Army Secretariat of the Human Resources Command at Fort Knox, Ky. In spite of more than a decade of continual conflict, ARSOF remains extremely popular among junior officers, which makes the selections process very competitive. The Directorate of Human Resources at the United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School oversees the selection process. The rigorous accession process begins with the submission of a comprehensive application packet to the Special Operations Recruiting Battalion by interested officers. The SORB stands ready to assist all interested officers with the process, which includes a thorough physical exam, the Defense Language Aptitude Battery, an Army Physical Fitness Test and security-clearance review. The SORB ensures each officer meets the prerequisites, including attendance at assessment and selection and attendance at requisite qualification courses within the approved officer-career timeline. Once the SORB has completed its work, the packet is sent to HRC for review and input into the Army Selection Board System. Each April, the ARSOF Board convenes at HRC. The ARSOF board is conducted to the same high standards of all Army selection boards, ensuring the integrity and fairness of the process to each candidate. The center of gravity for the board is its membership. The board is comprised by senior leaders from throughout the Army special-operations community. For the FY12 board, membership consisted of a colonel, who served as president of the board, three lieutenant colonels (one from each of the ARSOF branches), a chief warrant officer 5 and a command sergeant major. This cross-section of leaders from within all three ARSOF branches provides the best possible review of an officers potential for service in special operations. The board members review each applicants file, which consists of the DA photo, officer record brief, officer evaluation reports, college transcripts, Army physical-fitness test scorecard and a resume. The resume provides insight into the individuals character and an initial view of the level of which they possess the ARSOF attributes. In the resume, the officer has an opportunity to indicate their preference in regards to which regiment they wish to serve. The resume also outlines the experiences and accomplishments the officers views as the most significant of their career. The resume also allows the officer to explain to the board, in their own words, why they want to serve in Army special operations. At the close of each board, officers are rated on an order-of-merit list, from which the requirements for each branch are filled. Several officers will get their second or possibly even their third choice depending on their preferences and where they fall in the OML. Contrary to popular belief, the board does not force an officer into a branch in which they have not requested to serve. Following the placement by OML, officers will either receive a letter of acceptance or rejection. The acceptance letter is only the first step in the journey to becoming an ARSOF officer. The ARSOF community can take pride in knowing the next generation of SOF officers is identified by todays SOF leaders, who use the highest standards of board conduct.

Accession to CA, PO or SF Branches

Officers interested in the Army Special Operations Forces branches often have little information about the ARSOF-board process, eligibility windows and what they can do before entering the application window. The following is a listing of some of the common questions: I want to apply to CA, PO or SF, but my branch is fenced off from applying, what can I do? No branch is fenced off from applying to the ARSOF board. Any officer from any branch in the eligibility window can submit a packet to the SORB. I want to apply to CA, PO or SF, but my battalion commander told me to wait until after I have completed company/battery command because that is what his friend did when he was a captain. There is only one window to apply for an ARSOF branch. Officers have to apply while they are first lieutenants. Do I need a letter of recommendation for my application packet? There is no requirement for officers to submit letters of recommendation. The application process is also anonymous to prevent a potential bias against officers desiring to become ARSOF. Once the board results are released, all officers, selected and non-selected, will be contacted via email from their branch of choice. Can I make another deployment and apply to the ARSOF Board next year, as an out-of-year group officer? No. How do I begin the process of becoming an ARSOF officer? This is the most common question, and every assignment officer knows to direct the officer to the SORB. If the officer does not have a SORB recruiter at his location or on his base, the SORB website (www.bragg.army.mil/sorb) provides information needed for an application packet and will provide contact information to a recruiter in their region. I saw the ARSOF Board Announcement MILPER, and I am not eligible for another year, what can I do to get ready? Contact the SORB, they will begin the process with you. Officers should take the Defense Language Aptitude Battery and have the score updated on their ORB (the minimum score required is 85). Officers who fail to achieve the minimum of 85 must reschedule the test. Officers who already know a language and who have a proficiency of 1/1 or higher, should schedule a Defense Language Proficiency Test. The test must be taken within a year of the projected ARSOF Board. Do I need a DA photo for the ARSOF Board? Yes! Deployed officers can request a waiver for the DA photo, but they must submit a photo in lieu of the DA Photo to complete their packet.

Additional ARSOF recruiting information and local Special Operations Recruitng Battalion contact information can be found online at:

www.bragg.army.mil/sorb
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TRAINING UPDATE
SPECIAL FORCES
Special Forces Communication Sergeant (18E) Course redesign
The pilot redesigned 18E course is underway. The addition of two weeks to the course curriculum allows for the advanced training of the PRC-150 HF/ALE 3G radio set, integration of the SDN-L(VX) with the PRC-117G BGAN and COMP TIA Certification Preparation instruction. The near-term goal is to integrate these systems and training through the 18E FTX, Max Gain and Robin Sage exercises. Two additional weeks of training will be added to extend the course to a total of 18 weeks once the necessary equipment and trained instructors are introduced to the 18E course (goal of fourth quarter, Fiscal Year 2012).

CIVIL AFFAIRS
U.S. Army Reserve Integration
D Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st SWTG(A) implemented several changes to the existing 29-day course including five days of classroom work, ruck marches, single-day training lanes, one day of small-unit tactics and 11 days for Operation Sluss-Tiller. These changes enhanced training while challenging students, thus producing a greater quality Soldier for the regiment. The reserve students were fully integrated with active-duty students for mission planning and Operation Sluss-Tiller. The company completed the scope, concept plans, lesson plans and redesign concept for the 10-week distance learning way-ahead. The new plan increases student and instructor interaction throughout the 10-weeks, consisting of homework assignments, forums on blackboard, reading assignments, CA Core Tasks, Pineland Area Study and a final examination. Included in the distance-learning homework assignments are the Glean Aspects of Culture through Tactical video simulations and VCATs from the different regions (South America, Northern Africa, Afghanistan and Horn of Africa). Special emphasis was placed on ensuring students basic knowledge of the material and that an earlier integration with the active-component students could be achieved. The earlier integration timeline will allow the reserve students to receive classes otherwise not offered to them.

Small Unit Tactics (SUT)

The SUT Phase of the Special Forces Qualification Course has undergone major changes since transitioning to 4th Battalion, 1st SWTG (Airborne). Cadre now instruct their squads in a smallclassroom setting with a 2:15 teacher to student ratio versus a 1:180 ratio that was formerly used in a large-classroom setting. This has significantly improved the professionalism of the classes and, more importantly, removed the communication barriers between the instructors and students. Instructors are viewed more as mentors and coaches than they were previously, creating a more conducive learning environment. SUT has also increased the use of rotary-wing assets in order to make training more realistic through increased complexity of air insertions and the use of air assets to support simulated combat operations. The SUT committee is working with multiple Army aviation units to provide rotary-wing support for MEDEVAC training, air insertion for field-training exercises and, eventually, using air assets during patrol simulations. The most significant change for SUT is the culmination exercise. The students transition from squad operations to a training setting where they must train a partner-nation force on the skill sets they have learned in the first six weeks of SUT. As trainers, they must overcome the challenges of working with a partner-nation force in a foreign-internal defense environment and utilize their language skills while fine tuning their fundamentals and principles of patrolling. Initial results of the SUT changes have been extremely positive and will prepare SFQC students for the challenges they will face in the regiment as a member of a team.

PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS
Interagency Planning Exercise
5th Battalion, 1st SWTG(A) conducted its first full-scale interagency planning exercise for the Psychological Operations Qualification Course at Hoffman Elementary School in Hoffman, N.C. The exercise was designed to simulate a diverse embassy environment, exposing students to the various agencies of a typical post, as the cadre reinforced learning objectives and individual/ collective PSYOP critical tasks. The intent to simulate a real-world environment by exposing students to the various agencies and positions of a typical U.S. Embassy, while allowing them to experience the effects of their decisions was met; ultimately increasing their capability to conduct MISO in varying operational environments. Through realistic urban facilities, handpicked role-players and Department of State officials, the cadre was able to teach, coach and mentor in an interactive live environment, as they developed students while expanding their working knowledge in this strategic setting. Glen Davis, the State Departments Public Diplomacy Desk Officer for Afghanistan, provided support to the IAPX as both the public affairs officer role-player and adviser to our Comprehensive Training Environment role-players. He provided specific knowledge of Military Information Support Operations from his time in Colombo, Sri-Lanka, where he worked closely with the embassys Military Information Support Team. Students concluded the exercise with an Ambassador-series concept brief to James Moore, the deputy assistant secretary for public diplomacy South and Central Asia, and Raymond Maxwell (deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs). Each Military Information Support Team briefed its mission-support program as coordinated/synchronized with country team goals and ground combatant commanders/theater special-operations command objectives to the U.S. Ambassador.

Pre-Deployment Agricultural Training for Soldiers deploying to Afghanistan

United States Department of Agriculture and a consortium of American universities are delivering a curriculum of agricultural training that will meet the needs of all deploying United States Government personnel in support of the USG Agriculture Strategy in Afghanistan. The training will take place in Fresno and San Luis Obispo, California on the following dates during CY12: Aug. 13-17, Sept. 24-28, Oct. 0812, Nov. 12-16 and Dec. 17-21. Participants will be enrolled on a first come, first served basis. Contact Ryan Brewster, U.S. Department of Agriculture, at ryan.brewster@fas.usda.gov for further information.

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HUMAN PERFORMANCE
Interval Training For Improved Performance and Health BY STEPHEN M. MANNINO
Many people believe that adding miles to their endurance training routine will improve their run times. According to research, this more is better approach simply does not work. In fact, research shows us that Soldiers who ran between 34-44 miles per week had slower two-mile run times than those who ran between 26-39 miles per week. More notable, Soldiers in the higher mileage group had 10 percent more injuries than those who ran fewer miles. What this tells us is higher mileage produced more injuries and slower runners. Furthermore, excessive long, slow, distance training has been shown to compromise strength and power; qualities vital to the special-operations Soldier. So how can the special-operations Soldier improve endurance without sacrificing strength and power while minimizing the risk of overuse injuries? The answer may be interval training.

Interval training is a method of exercise that uses alternating periods of work and rest. The Soldier exercises at a relatively high intensity for a specified distance or time and then recovers for a time appropriate to the work performed. There are many ways interval training can be implemented. It can be done by running, biking or rowing, just to name a few. Because it is so versatile, interval training can be done anywhere and because workouts are shorter, they are not as monotonous as long, slow distance training. Also, because intervals are performed at a faster pace than can be maintained over longer distances, speed, as well as endurance is improved. Interval training has many benefits when compared to traditional long, slow, distance. Some of these benefits include: Faster development of VO2 Max (a measure of aerobic fitness) Increased testosterone levels Decreased body fat Increased lean mass Improved buffering mechanisms Increased glucose storage and utilization Shorter training sessions Improves insulin action, thus may be a viable way of preventing Type-2 diabetes What this means is you will spend less time exercising, yet you will be more aerobically fit, burn more fat and maintain/increase your lean muscle mass. One of the reasons for this is because of excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. Because interval training is performed at a higher intensity than long, slow, distance training it takes your body longer to return to its pre-exercise state. This means that your metabolism remains elevated for a longer period of time after interval training. Some research has shown that interval training can elevate metabolism for up to 38 hours after exercise. This means your body continues to burn extra calories even when you arent working out!

What is interval training?

There are two methods to design interval training programs. The first is the heart-rate method. The second is the work-to-rest method. The heart-rate method is slightly more complicated than the work-to-rest method. It requires a heart-rate monitor and knowledge of your max heart rate. For these reasons, a complete description of how to use the heart-rate method is beyond the scope of this article. With the work-to-rest method the amount of rest time is dictated by the amount of work time. Generally speaking, shorter (and by default more intense) intervals require a longer ratio of rest to work when compared to longer, less intense intervals. When implementing the work-to-rest method, the following chart can be used when structuring an interval training program.

Structuring an Interval Training Program

WORK-TO-REST INTERVAL TRAINING PROGRAM

Work
15 seconds 30 seconds 60 seconds 75 seconds 90 seconds 120 seconds 150 seconds 180 seconds

Benefits of interval training

Rest Novice
45 seconds 90 seconds 120 seconds 150 seconds 160 seconds 210 seconds 225 seconds 270 seconds

Advanced
30 seconds 60 seconds 105 seconds 130 seconds 135 seconds 180 seconds 190 seconds 225 seconds

Total Training Distance

600-1200 meters

900-1800 meters

1200-2400 meters

1600-3200 meters

The number of intervals performed will depend on your fitness level. In general the total amount of distance covered during an interval workout should be between 600 and 3,200 meters (depending on the length of each interval) and should not increase by more than 20 percent per week. Also, it is recommended that prior to each interval-training session an adequate movement-prep session is performed and that you allow 48 hours between each session. Incorporate interval training sessions once or twice a week for six weeks to increase in aerobic capacity, decrease training time and improve overall health. Stephen M. Mannino, MEd, CSCS is the Human Performance Program Coordinator for the THOR3 Program at the U.S. Army JFK Special Warfare Center and School.

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Reading about the Asia-Pacific Region

The scope of the Special Operations Command-Pacifics area of responsibility is enormous both in terms of size and diversity. This area, referred to here as the Asia-Pacific region, is more than one coherent grouping of nations. The region is best conceived as a series of interlinked sub regions extending from India east into the Pacific Ocean. Each sub-region has a different set of dominant cultures, key languages and strategic outlooks. Reading, combined with education and experience, is one route to help the Army specialoperations forces professional begin to understand the scope of the regions diversity and the implications for ARSOF operations. Just as no single language covers the region, no single volume provides a full range of understanding of the Asia-Pacific area of operations. The three recommendations below cover both the strategic issues resident in the region and help to explain the cultural and human fabric that shapes relationships, threat perceptions and strategic decisions. This list is not intended to be the final word on the Asia-Pacific region; instead, it is designed as a list of recent, accessible books to cover the broadest range of strategically relevant dynamics today in Asia in the shortest amount of words and time. The first recommendation is a book by Robert Kaplan. Kaplan has a long track record of penning of strategically relevant writings for military and special-operations professionals. In February 1994, he wrote a prescient article, The Coming Anarchy, in the Atlantic magazine that predicted many of the complex and unconventional challenges we now face. His book from the same year, Balkan Ghosts, gained fame during the military interventions in Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s. His most recent book and one that is recommended is: Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power. In Monsoon, Kaplans topic is actually broader than just the Asia-Pacific region; the book covers the Indo-Pacific, the connections between the land masses in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Monsoon contains insight into not only large swaths of South and Southeast Asia and China, but also on Pakistan, Oman and the eastern coast of Africa. While it reads like a travelogue, Kaplans book fuses geography, history, culture, literature, strategy and interviews with key figures throughout the region. While you might not agree with all of his strategic recommendations, his observations and analysis will stimulate you to think deeply about the region and its internal and external linkages. The second recommendation deals with China, a rising power and the topic of much commentary. Chinas long-standing civilization, geographic prominence and growing economic and military power give it a role in Asia that is essential to grasp. Given such prominence, China deserves coverage by at least one book in a short list of three. Among the many excellent books on China, Dr. Henry Kissingers On China meets the requirement. On China combines history, current affairs and strategic analysis. Kissinger provides insight into how Chinas leadership decisionmaking combines aspects of Sun Tzu, Confucius, Maos ideology and Chinas lengthy historical experience. He explains why China has engaged in what Americans might consider irrational wars in Korea, India and Vietnam. Kissingers book is backed up by his first-person observations as the principal architect of the reestablishment of U.S. relations with China during the Cold War. Among the many good and great works on China, if you can only read one, this is it. The last recommendation is not as well known as Kaplans Monsoon or Kissingers On China. Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia is more than just a book about Burma. Thant Myint-Us book discusses the ebb and flow of civilizations great and small in south and southeast Asia over a period of centuries. He provides much more than just a historical overview. The author shows how these and other dynamics

BY COLONEL MIKE LWIN

affect the interaction between people, nonstate groups and nation-states. Where China Meets India also includes economic considerations not only at the macro level of nation-states and multinational corporations, but also of the micro-level merchants, traders and others who flow across borders to make their living. His descriptions show both the challenges and opportunities for unconventional warfare and counterinsurgency in the region. For example, in a description of a region in India, he writes, To make a long and complex story short, in this little corner of the republic, with only about two and a half million people, there are no fewer than 40 different insurgent militias. Some fight the Indian state; nearly all fight each other. These three recommendations can help the SOF professional begin to understand the complexity, diversity and dynamics of the region. As with any short list of books on the Asia-Pacific region, some key topics remain uncovered. For those with the time and motivation to gain a wider grasp of the region, the reader may want to focus next on the topics of the Korean peninsula, the large Muslim populations stretching from India to Indonesia, Australia and the Pacific Island nation. Colonel Mike Lwin has recently completed a Senior Service College Fellowship at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. He is a Psychological Operations officer with a longtime regional focus on the Asia-Pacific region.

Three Recommendations

MONSOON The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power By Robert D. Kaplan New York: Random, 2010

ON CHINA By Henry Kissinger New York: The Penguin Press, 2011

WHERE CHINA MEETS INDIA Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia By Thant Myint-U New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011

The U.S. Pacific Command also has a more expansive reading list available online at: www.pacom.mil/web/site_pages/uspacom/Reading%20List.shtml

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BOOK REVIEW

WHITE TIGERS:
The scene: a lone American adviser with more than 100 partisans raiding an enemy stronghold deep behind enemy lines. The raid is carried out under a barrage of artillery shells and aerial bombs. This image conjures up the men of the World War II-era Office of Strategic Services conducting clandestine operations in German-occupied territories, or U.S. and Filipino guerrillas fighting against Japanese invaders or even Special Forces operational detachments in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, this image is of then-1st Lt. Ben S. Malcom leading the famed White Tigers, a North Korean partisan unit, against a heavily fortified coastal artillery gun position off the west coast of North Korea during the Korean War. Commissioned in 1950 through North Georgia College Reserve Officer Training Corps program, the author was assigned to Fort Knox, Ky., as a training officer for new recruits for a year before deploying to Korea in early 1952. In Korea, without any formal training on unconventional warfare and special operations, he was assigned to a top-secret special-operations unit known as the Guerrilla Division of the 8240th Army. Here, Malcom experienced the difficulties and hardships of UW as well as its strategic utilities. In this memoir of his firsthand experience of UW with the White Tigers, Malcom sheds light on this almost-forgotten chapter in the history of special operations, in an effort to teach the U.S. Army, not just special-operations forces, what he learned about the challenges of UW. Through Malcoms journey with the White Tigers, readers can appreciate UW from the perspectives of guerrillas who fought against well-organized and superiorly equipped conventional forces. These perspectives reveal the hard realities of conducting UW and its

MY SECRET WAR IN NORTH KOREA

strategic utilities in a tightly controlled and denied territory. The partisans were considered to be ragtag units operating on the fringes of the war by the South Koreans and the U.S. Army because they were ill-equipped, untrained and only able to conduct small raids using guerrilla tactics. After a quick assessment of the partisans, Malcom realized basic infantry tactics would enhance their combat capabilities without sacrificing the essence of small-unit operations and the fundamentals of guerrilla operations which are a must for survival behind enemy lines. After a few months of rigorous training and planning, Malcom and the White Tigers successfully executed a raid with combined fire support on the North Korean Peoples Army coastal artillery, boosting the lethality and capabilities of the partisans. According to Malcom, the key to the success of the partisans in his area of operations was that the partisans were recruited from the areas in which they were to operate. This gave the partisans an edge over the North Koreans People Army in terms of safe areas, intelligence, knowledge of the terrain and the support of the local population. However, this was not the case for all UW operations conducted in the North. One of the most notably failed operations in the North is known as the Baker Section, which was a covert operation with the mission of parachuting the partisans and their American advisers deep in enemy territories, establishing guerrilla bases and collecting intelligence. However, these operations resulted in heavy casualties and failures. Malcom attributes their failures to the insertion of partisans into areas of which they had no familiarity. These partisans did not know the terrain and could not solicit support from the locals without being exposed. Also, the effective North

DETAILS By Ben S. Malcom Washington D.C..: Brasseys Inc., 1996. ISBN: 978-1574880168 (hardcover). 241 pages. $27.95. Reviewed by: MAJ Dave (Young Min) Cho USAJFKSWCS, 1st SWTG (A)

Korean security apparatus brutally policed and controlled its populations movement making it difficult for the partisans to garner popular support; anyone who was not from the area was easily identified and captured. Regardless of the difficulties of conducting UW, the intended strategic objectives set by the U.S. Far Eastern Command were met by countless operations conducted by the partisans. On the operational front, the NKPA doubled its strength in the partisan areas of operations, forcing the enemy to divert its resources and troops from the front. On the intelligence front, vast amounts of intelligence was collected by the partisans enabling the U.S. to target key areas for aerial bombings and strategic exploitation. Thirty-one percent of the downed U.S. pilots were rescued by the partisans.

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OPINION

IS CHINA A THREAT?
Even though China continues to emphasize its peaceful intent, the current trajectory of its military growth and economic expansion inevitably causes alarm. A host of internal and external drivers will pressure China in the coming years, so current intentions are a poor guide to predicting future actions as Chinas strategic environment evolves. Chinas sovereignty and territorial issues, as well as mission-creep concerning its interests abroad, could create many friction points with the United States. Combined with an improving military capacity these friction points could create significant threats to U.S military forces and regional interests.

BY MAJOR KIRK WINDMUELLER

F=ma (Force = mass x acceleration) Second Law of Motion, Sir Isaac Newton
nese defense budget is averaging more than 10 percent a year, while the U.S. defense budget is predicted to begin shrinking in the near future. Moreover, Chinese defense spending represents only 1.3 percent of its gross domestic product (compared to the U.S.s 4.7 percent), thus suggesting much greater room for continued growth. 4 Concern about the economic and military rise of China is causing a reassessment of the U.S. National Security Strategy. The latest Defense strategic guidance issued in January 2012 by the President and the Secretary of Defense calls for a pivot towards the Asia Pacific region as the U.S. military draws down from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. 5 That this rebalance of effort is focused towards the most economically dynamic region in the world is hardly surprising. Growing economic might combined with ambition is the foundation of power and power is what matters: F=ma.

Chinas Mass and Acceleration

While geographically China is roughly the size of the United States, it is the worlds most populous country with more than 1.34 billion people. To put it another way, one out of every five people on the planet is Chinese. In addition to its sheer size, the International Monetary Funds World Economic Output from April 2011 predicts that China will overtake the U.S. as the worlds largest economy by 2016.1 While there is disagreement between economists on this forecast, the quibbling is primarily over the date this happens, not if this will happen. 2 As for military power, the Peoples Liberation Army is the largest in the world with an active force of 2.3 million. Moreover, Chinas Communist Party is currently presiding over the worlds largest military buildup and is rapidly modernizing its forces. 3 China already has the second largest defense budget in the world. While the U.S. defense spending remains greater by a factor of nine, the growth rate of the ChiWhite Tigers continued from page 52 Conversely, Malcom states that more could have been done by the partisans if strategic utilities of UW and the lessons learned from the successful operations of the OSS could have been learned by the U.S. Army. Without an understanding of UW, the U.S. Army failed to properly support the partisans who constantly suffered from lack of supplies, weapons, food, transportation, etc. He extends his argument to the Vietnam War, stating that UW lessons learned in the Korean War were not adopted by the U.S. Army. Malcom supports this argument stating that the U.S. Army failed to recognize the

Chinese vs. U.S. Military Power

There is much debate and analysis about China becoming a military threat to U.S. interests by achieving a peer or nearpeer status with American military might. China is not likely to be able to project significant military capability beyond its regional interests, nor to close the overall gap with American defense technology in the near to mid future. This, however, is not grounds for optimism. China can already exert significant military power in the Western Pacific region; an area of strategic interest to the United States and home to a number of important U.S. allies. As Chinese military capability improves and as it presses territorial claims and other interests in the

unconventional nature of the Vietnam War. Exacerbating the matter, conventional forces with limited training on UW were used to fight an unconventional war. One can argue that the U.S. Army created the Special Forces units, learning from the previous wars; however, Malcoms emphasis on learning the lessons of UW is not limited to a select portion of the U.S. Army but it extends itself to the U.S. Army as a whole. SOF has come a long way, still the concept of UW is yet to be understood and accepted by everyone in the U.S. Army. There is a misconception that UW is reserved only for SOF, but

the reality of todays war speaks otherwise. The army as a whole is engaged in an unconventional war. White Tigers is not an in-depth analysis of UW nor special operations but rather it is a memoir of a personal experience of special operations. It provides enough history of SOF during the Korean War for general readers to comprehend the basic concepts of UW during the war and for Asia-Pacific oriented readers to further drill down on the details of UW in Asia-Pacific region. It is a straightforward read that is recommended to those interested in UW during the Korean War.

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OPINION
area, its abilities in this region will only make the U.S.s strategic position more difficult. Those within the special-operations community are no stranger to the concept of an asymmetric fight and an inferior force defeating a superior one. What matters is the relative capabilities at a particular time and place. 6 Chinas military modernization has been focused on exactly the kind of high leverage capabilities needed to blunt Americas power projection in the region. Their anti-access/area-denial approach includes investing in capabilities such as a fleet of modern submarines (conventional and nuclear-powered), modern jets with anti-ship missiles, thousands of land-based ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as cyber operations and anti-satellite weapons systems designed to blind American forces.7 In addition to their acquisition of high-leverage technology, China has a first-strike doctrine based on avoiding direct force-on-force confrontation with a superior adversary. In order to prevail, Chinese strategists believe they must use surover the Scarborough Shoal. Maritime claims concerning resources in the South China Sea also mar Chinas relations with Vietnam and the Philippines. China views these territorial disputes as a core interest, and will become increasingly assertive in the air and maritime domain as it aggressively attempts to establish its perceived seabed rights on oil, gas and fisheries. Finally, China is also committed to support its client state, North Korea, on the Korean Peninsula. Since these situations are all geographically close to China and very distant from the United States, our new strategy means the U.S. military will be swimming in Chinas lake, and the potential for military miscalculations on both sides will be high.

Problems within China

Chinas rise depends on its ability to address a number of internal challenges. The country is, for example, managing several separatist movements. Tibet is struggling for independence, and Uyghur separatists (ethnic Muslims in the

It is important to understand Chinas drivers and challenges in order for the U.S. to navigate the changing geopolitical landscape over the coming decades.
prise and a first blow against the U.S. military before allowing a complete deployment and buildup of forces. No principle is more routinely emphasized in Chinese writing as the need for the PLA to seize the initiative from the outset of the conflict in the case of high-technology local war. 8 This particularly applies to the Taiwan Strait and a potential invasion and occupation of Taiwan by mainland China. Dr. Thomas J. Christensen, professor and director of the China and the World Program at Princeton University states: If Beijing elites become convinced that relatively limited military capabilities and coercive tactics might allow for the politically effective use of force against Taiwan and, if necessary, American forces, then war between the United States and China becomes a very real possibility.9 The combination of their anti-access technology and their preemptive doctrine could impede U.S. military responses to crises situations and could limit the locations from which U.S. forces can effectively operate. Unless we are willing to accept more risk, this would force the U.S. to operate from locations that are further from the conflict. Xinjianc province of China) have been conducting a campaign of violent attacks in their attempt at sovereignty, forcing the Chinese government to crack down on the Uyghurs in its own War on Terror. The threat of Islamic terrorism against China will only increase as China expands trade and influence in Muslim countries where the potential for blowback against these practices is high. More importantly, three decades of Chinas One-Child Policy (implemented in 1979) has left the country a demographic mess. First created to alleviate overpopulation as well as social, economic and environmental problems, the OneChild Policy has had negative effects that may very well be worse than the original problems it was intended to solve. One such effect is an aging population with upside-down family trees, where four grandparents produce two parents and one grandchild (called the 4-2-1 Problem). This places an increasing burden on the younger generation to care for their aging families. Another One-Child Policy side effect is an increase in female infanticide and selective abortions as sons are culturally preferred over daughters to work farms and provide financial support for the parents in retirement. This has left a massive gender imbalance; China now has 32 million more males than females under the age of 20.10 It is not entirely clear what the social implications of this policy will be, but tens of millions of Chinese men will be unable to find a wife in their own country. Other issues, such as pollution and air quality, human rights and treatment of political dissidents will put increas-

Chinas Territorial Disputes

While Taiwans independence may be the most pressing territorial issue for China, many other disputes and potential conflicts exists. The Chinese Communist Party and Japan contest sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. Likewise, China has territorial disputes with Vietnam over the northeastern Spratly Islands and with the Philippines

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Special Warfare

OPINION
ing pressure on the regime for reform. The wealth disparity between the poor, rural peasant class and the rich urban elites will become more precarious as the have-nots become more aware of their situation relative to the haves. Any challenges that threaten the CCPs power and status could lead to unpredictable and heavy-handed responses, both inside the country and externally to deflect attention from internal problems. Whether China is too big to fail, or too big to succeed remains to be seen, but either scenario could produce equally sobering results. construction. If you are afraid of war day in day out, what will you do if war eventually comes? First, I said that the East Wind is prevailing over the West Wind and war will not break out, and now I have added these explanations about the situation in case war should break out. Both possibilities have thus been taken into account. Mao Tse Tung, Speech at the Moscow Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties (November 18, 1957), quoted in Statement by the Spokesman of the Chinese Government (September 1, 1963). Between China and the U.S. there will be many friction points and conflicts of interest (as there tends to be between great powers). While the possibility of armed conflict will exist, it is not inevitable. It is important to understand Chinas drivers and challenges in order for the U.S. to navigate the changing geopolitical landscape over the coming decades. The way China pursues its interests, exerts global influence and deals with its internal challenges will perplex U.S. foreign policy-makers and strategists in the coming years. However, instead of spending an inordinate amount of effort attempting to interpret Chinas strategic intentions, time is better spent understanding Chinas rapidly evolving strategic environment. This is where Chinas mass and acceleration will apply its force. MAJ Kirk Windmueller is a Special Forces officer and Army Research Fellow at the RAND Arroyo Center in Santa Monica, CA. He is a graduate of the Citadel and the Naval Postgraduate School.

China, Imperialism and Global Presence

Unlike the Soviet Union, China has no overt ambitions to spread a competing ideology. China has a stake in the world economic order, and the CCPs legitimacy depends on its ability to honor its promise of prosperity for the Chinese people. With this in mind, current intentions are often poor predictors of future behavior. Chinas continued economic growth will necessitate expanding trade and investments and searching abroad for new suppliers of raw materials, energy and food. This expansion of interests will inevitably result in a reliance on cheap external commodities to fuel their internal growth. But the problem with cheap commodities is that they are often located in places that are politically unstable, unreliable and are prone to social unrest, insurgency, crime and other conditions that cause disruptions in supplies and price fluctuations. This will lead China to invest more in delivery systems (rail, ship and aircraft) and the necessary supporting infrastructure (roads, railways, seaports and airports). In many cases, they will also be compelled to help improve stability by offering aid, economic development and improving governance in order to protect their investments with their trading partners. Chinas resource nations will turn into de facto protectorates. China will have to patrol expanding sea lanes with their navy (anti-piracy), and in extreme situations, they will have to send in troops if local forces are insufficient to secure their investments. China could wake up one morning and find that it is doing empire duty whether it wants to or not. China already has an unfortunate stake in the preservation of regimes on the lower spectrum of the Failed States Index, including Chad, Sudan, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.11 Economic commitments with other unstable countries like Angola, Guinea and Turkmenistan may have been a cheap date initially, but the economic and political costs will continue to mount. One day you are looking for people to trade with, the next day you are policing third-world basket cases. Chinas behavior in the future will change out of necessity.

Notes
1. International Monetary Fund World Economic Outlook Data Mapper, April 2011 available online at www.imf.org/external/datamapper/index.php 2. Chinas per capita income for 2011 is $8400 (compared to $48,100 in the U.S) and is projected to remain low, which has significant implications for Chinas internal stability 3. The Dragons New Teeth, The Economist, p. 27, April 7, 2012 4. Statistics taken from the 2011 and 2012 editions of the The Military Balance, International Institute for Strategic Studies, London 5. Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense, January 2012, available online at www.defense.gov/news/Defense_Strategic_ Guidance.pdf 6. Thomas J. Christensen, Posing Problems without Catching Up: Chinas Rise and Challenges for U.S. Security Policy, The MIT Press Journals, available online at http://mitpress.mit.edu/journals, p. 6-7. 7. Chinas Military Rise, The Economist, p. 13, April 7, 2012 8. Cliff, Roger, Mark Burles, Michael S. Chase, Derek Eaton, and Kevin L. Pollpeter, Entering the Dragons Lair, Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND Corporation, 2007, pp. 28-29. 9. Christensen, p.10 10. Teri Schure, Chinas Gender Imbalance, January 6, 2011, available online at http://www.worldpress.org/Asia/3676.cfm 11. Ely Ratner, The Emergent Security Threats Reshaping Chinas Rise, Winter 2011, The Washington Quarterly, p. 32

China and the US: Navigating the Way Ahead

We desire peace. However, if imperialism insists on fighting a war, we will have no alternative but to take the firm resolution to fight to the finish before going ahead with our

July - September 2012

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