Inter-Bella: Understanding the Area of Operations Ecosystem (Wineera, 2009)

Inter-Bella: Understanding the Area of Operations Ecosystem (Wineera, 2009)

In: COLLOQUIUM, 2009, vol. 2, no. 2 (June)

JLJ - the point made here is that military operations must appreciate the interrelationships and interconnections of the operational environment.

p.2 Kilcullen [in Counterinsurgency Redux] contends that "in modern counterinsurgency, the security force must control a complex conflict ecosystem - rather than defeating a single specific insurgent adversary…hence, we might conceive of the environment as a conflict ecosystem with multiple competing entities seeking to maximize their survivability and influence."

p.7 Recognizing a change in the interrelationships and the interdependencies in the ecosystem could become the new named areas of interest (NAIs).

p.7 In short, the entire squad, platoon or company should comprehend, be aware of the patrol's area of operations ecosystem (AOE), and know how this nests into the next level's bigger picture. [JLJ similar in concept to Vickers' appreciative system]

p.8 Earlier, the HTT [Human Terrain Team] member and the platoon leader took the squad leaders through the area of operations ecosystem, carefully explaining the relationships between the entities, such as the local village in the south, the tribal warlord in the north, the crops in the west and the flow of cash coming across the border from the east.