Irregular Warfare: U.S. Army’s IW Doctrine

Currently, the U.S. Army’s Irregular Warfare (IW) doctrine is being reviewed and updated by the Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate at Fort Leavenworth, KS. This film is part of that ongoing discussion and highlights some of the most basic and important parts of current IW doctrine that should remain in place, while suggesting some needed changes as well.

The character and form of war are constantly changing, yet its fundamental nature remains the same. Though Great Power Competition is now our primary national security challenge – a departure from conducting almost two decades of continuous irregular war against violent extremist organizations worldwide – the requirement for mastery of irregular warfare persists. Far from abandoning these critical competencies, we will sharpen these capabilities for application against peer competitor, nation-state adversaries. – 2020 Irregular Warfare Annex to the National Defense Strategy

IW Reality: Conventional forces have, and always will have, a role in IW across a variety of missions, and a range of military activities

IW Myth: Irregular Warfare (IW) is Counterterrorism (CT), CT is Special Operations Forces (SOF), therefore IW is SOF.

00:17: Introduction
01:44: Definitions of Irregular & Regular Warfare
07:26: Strategic Competition
10:12: Application of Irregular Warfare
13:51: Irregular Warfare and People
18:25: Needed Training & Changes
21:42: Conclusion
24:44: Credits

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