Small Units, Big Problems?

Following the Gen. Patreus VTC at the Joint Warfighting Conference was a group of experts discussing small unit excellence who took a serious look at what troops on the ground face today and in the future. Few deny that the all of the services are at least looking at operating in smaller groups-a la special operations units-to fight in environments like Afghanistan. The panelists agreed that outdated processes that govern the U.S. Defense Department need to be changed. From training, to personnel and acquisition, to the term "lessons learned," the U.S. military organization is still designed to fight WWI scenarios against today's adversaries, they concurred. Col. Thomas X. Hammes, USMC (Ret.), proposed that what the U.S. military will have in the future is a smaller budget and worn out equipment. One of the reasons this is particularly disturbing is that much of the equipment in use by most warfighters today was only available to special operations units in the past. Once the budget has been reduced, however, commanders will have to decide what is needed and what is just nice to have. On the subject of training, Maj. Gen. Stephen R. Layfield, USA, director, Joint Training Directorate, JFCOM, said many agencies are studying the joint operating environment concept, and the conclusions so far are that future concepts can only be examined to a certain degree because the uncertainty the military faces today is likely to last for a long time. In response, JFCOM developed the Capstone Concept for Joint Operations, a document that describes the future warfighting environment as one that comes down to combat, security, engagement and reconstruction. "We're asking our forces to do that right now. That's incredible," Gen. Layfield said. Panel moderator Brig. Gen. David L. Grange, USA (Ret.), believes that the enemy coalition forces face in Afghanistan today resembles that faced in Vietnam. Adversarial troops may move in so close that coalition forces cannot deploy their systems. At the same time, multinational forces may decide to rely on air strikes only to have the enemy use weapons that destroy aircraft. "Some things never change," Gen. Grange said. Master Chief Danny Marshall, USN, Naval Special Warfare Group Two, U.S. Special Operations Command, stated that small unit excellence is a matter of processes not doctrine. Activity takes place so quickly that warfighters do not have time to wait for written orders and must rely on permission to act by phone instead. Unfortunately, this process does not leave a paper trail that can benefit future warfighters who find themselves in similar situations. The best that can be strived for is incrementally passing lessons down. "I have to be able to say to the guy coming behind me, 'This is where I made mistakes. This is where you in the rear as you follow me can do it better.' Pride is not on the line here. It's effectiveness. It's a mindset. It has to be a high level of importance," Master Chief Marshall stated.