At the core of U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine is the concept of “hearts and minds.” Although the concept has significantly deviated from its historical grounding and has become a nebulous concept that is frequently maligned, misunderstood, and...
In November 2004, ODA-166 deployed to Zormat, Afghanistan. The detachment operated in the Zormat area for six months. The detachment’s primary mission was to maintain stability in the Paktia Province. In conjunction with the Afghan National Army,...
America's prosecution of the War on Terror has identified a need for more Special Forces Operators, as they are ideally suited for this type of conflict. The ethical dilemma comes in the question of quality versus quantity and the production of...
United States armed forces have historically fought alongside allied forces, and are currently engaged in several multinational operations around the world. Most, if not all, future U.S. military peacekeeping, combat, or stability operations will...
Not all commissioned officers, noncommissioned officers (NCOs), or enlisted Soldiers assigned to United States Army Reserve (USAR) civil affairs (CA) units possess skills or qualifications equivalent to those commonly associated with functional...
From March through November 2005 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan, Major Kevin Lovell served as program and project manager for the counternarcotics and police programs as part of the US Army Corps of Engineers' Afghanistan...
From November 2001 through July 2002 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan, Major Kevin Lovell commanded Bravo Company, 92nd Engineer Battalion (Combat Heavy), a position from which he planned, prepared and supervised construction of...
From July 2005 through July 2006, Major Doug Ross - a field artillery officer in the Kentucky National Guard - supported Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan on an embedded training team (ETT), assigned to the 4th Kandak of the 1st Brigade, 205th...
From August through December 2002, and again from March through June 2004 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan, Major Sholto Stephens of the New Zealand Army served as the intelligence officer (S2) for his country's special...
In 2003-2004 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan, Specialist David McGuire deployed with the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment and served initially as lead driver for an uparmored unit running missions and then later moved to the...
From February 2006 through January 2007 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan, Major Ira Smith served as the 10th Mountain Division's foreign disclosure officer. In this interview, he discusses his principal responsibility of...
From June to December 2003 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan, Major Nikolai Andresky served as the S3, S2 and de facto XO trainer on an advisory team assigned to train the first and only Afghan National Army armor battalion....
A veteran of two deployments in support of the Global War on Terrorism, Major Geoff Van Epps, in this two-part interview, discusses each of them, beginning with his July to December 2002 tour as part of Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan,...
A veteran of two deployments in support of the Global War on Terrorism, Major Geoff Van Epps, in this two-part interview, discusses each of them, beginning with his July to December 2002 tour as part of Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan,...
From May 2007 through May 2008 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan, Major Stephen Boesen served variously as the chief of three different embedded training teams (ETTs) within 1st Brigade, 203rd Afghan Regional Security Integrated...
From April 2004 through April 2005 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan, Major Derrick Johnson served as commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC) for 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Light), based in Kandahar. In...
From April 2004 through April 2005 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan, Major Dudley Capps served as commander of B Company, 1st Battalion, 111th Aviation Regiment (Attack Helicopter) - a Florida National Guard AH64 unit that, for...
From February 2003 through February 2004 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Major Steven Fahlenkamp served as HHB commander for the 101st DIVARTY, and from April 2007 through April 2008 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan, he...
From April 2004 through March 2005 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan, Major Stephen Kolouch served as commander of Charlie Company, 65th Engineer Battalion, part of 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division. He was additionally...
In this first part of a two-part interview regarding his February 2005 through February 2006 deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan, Major Ryan O'Connor discusses his command of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 508th...