Very Special Forces

The Washington Post published an article yesterday largely centered on MAJ Jim Gant’s One Tribe At A Time piece. Not a bad article from Doug Stanton until he infers that conventional forces are incapable of operating in a complex, asymmetric environment like Afghanistan, and incapable of fulfilling the roles advocated by Gant. His recommendation instead is to go back to the early days of the war and turn the fight over to Special Forces Teams. Certainly some conventional Battalions and Brigade Combat Teams are better suited than others, but my experience tells me that it is more a question of command emphasis and climate than a conventional Soldiers’ inability to operate in this kind of scenario. Read Stanton’s article here.