Some Thoughts On ROE and COIN

Life has had me tied up of late (not even in a fun way, alas), but the recent hysteria over ROE (and COIN) did not escape my notice. Yes, I did say hysteria, as about the only thing I haven't seen blamed on ROE in Afghanistan is the jailing of Lindsey Lohan. The same is true of COIN, as the two are inexorably linked. As a plodding pedantic, I thought it time to take a closer look at ROE and COIN. I also want to caveat here and now that some of this is a gross oversimplification, both for time/space and because I don't want to tap dance too close to some lines. ROE is, of course, Rules of Engagement. In simplest terms, ROE determines what force can be used at what time and at what location. There are many levels of ROE, and many people can have their finger in the ROE pie, so let us explore a bit. First up is our strategic ROE, which depends on a number of factors including DEFCON, THREATCON, and more. For those of us who grew up during the Cold War, the terms Failsafe, Roundhouse, Glass House, and others did not describe the ROE, but were tied into what could be done when, where, and how. For most situations, our ROE is that we may not play with nuclear weapons, and all lesser weapons are to be on safe, or even unloaded except under very specific circumstances. Declared combat or war was one such. Our overall strategic ROE is officially set by the Commander in Chief, though day-to-day management resides lower as the President rarely starts each day by announcing the ROE. We hope. There are some exceptions to this, based on the Cold War and the fear of a sneak attack, but they are the exceptions and designed to be a last ditch in the event the President is unable to act/communicate in the event of same. Frankly, it is a complex and fascinating topic, and all I will say here for now is that 9-11 proved that some of them (IMO) should not have been eliminated as part of the so-called peace dividend. Technically, there is a level just down from the strategic that is the ROE for a declared war or other large-scale combat operation. While some consider it a subset of the strategic ROE, it truly is a separate level in my opinion. In this level of ROE, the Commander-in-Chief sets the general guidelines for what is allowed to happen in that conflict, an obvious one being no use of nukes unless certain parameters are met. If done smart, it is a broad guideline that allows the theatre/war/other commander to best employ the weapons and tactics at their disposal. At worst, it can be complex and extremely restrictive (see Johnson and Viet Nam for a great and glaring example of how it can result in rather incompetent micromanagement; also, see Hitler and Stalin for for same -- not a comparison between them and LBJ either) and extend not simply to weapons and broad considerations, but to tactics as well. Within a given theatre or location, the area commander can and does set the ROE for operations in that area. The actual ROE document is classified, because fact it, to give it to your enemy would be pretty frelling stupid. You don't give the opposing team your detailed playbook and codes, and you don't hand the enemy the complete ROE so that they know what do when, where, and how to nail you in ways where you can't respond. General features are going to get out, now way around it, but the details -- that's a different story. Ideally, the ROE once again sets the broad outline and the general parameters -- including major exceptions to the guidelines laid down in the ROE. Good commanders avoid an excessively detailed ROE because the enemy can quickly figure out the ROE and exceptions; it puts your people in harms way since conditions can vary in combat over relatively short distances; and, it also puts the small unit commanders into the position of having to break the ROE on a regular basis with the problems that entails. Where the theatre/area ROE gets complicated is that every level of command below the theatre/area commander can add to the restrictions on ROE, they just can't take things out. I've also decided that some commanders are like some bad editors. A good editor goes in and makes subtle changes that take good prose and make it sing. Bad editors make major changes simply to show that they are there and doing their job, as if they didn't make major changes (no matter how bad or stupid) how else would anyone know they were there and what a good job they were doing? A good commander is going to add to it in ways to make it work as best possible in their area of operations. Someone interested only in protecting their rear and career, on the other hand, can (and do I am told) add to it massively so as to ensure no career threatening event takes place on their watch -- no matter the cost to those below them. What this means is that by the time ROE gets down to the squad level what started as a fairly flexible and lean ROE can look like the health reform act with all the add-ons. Private Stumpy (or even the LT) doesn't know that it started out looking like Twiggy, all Stumpy knows is that something to make Divine look petite and demure has landed on him/her. All Stumpy knows is that it came from higher, not who added what and when, or why. This is a fact Blackfive has patiently pointed out several times (here for example). Pedantic though I am, I am going to be shorter and sweeter on COIN. COIN as such is a strategic doctrine. If you read the COIN manual...

Read the complete post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Blackfive/~3/ElhfofHeDt8/some-thoughts-on-roe-and-coin.html

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Posted Aug 01 2010, 02:57 AM by BLACKFIVE