How many times will we fight here for one year?
There are many changes Gen. McChrystal must make in order to have a chance at success, and this is one of them. Even we that are tired and on our last few weeks in country, ready to go home, acknowledge that the tours are too short for us to reach our potential. In Vietnam, soldiers were expected to adapt to guerilla fighting tactics in a foreign, tropical environment. I have no doubt that proficiency at warfighting was difficult to attain, but I’d say it was less challenging to achieve than it is in the current conflict.
Because it’s now so much more than warfighting. With COIN as our M.O., an organization for centuries devoted to the application of ordnance struggles to understand the application of diplomacy. The alien and manifold cultures of Afghanistan cannot be taught at Ft. Bragg. COIN is not really a tactic, it’s a way of thinking that doesn’t necessarily come naturally to combatants. A doctrine that demands more thoughtful analysis requires more immersive study.
I am not sure that McChrystal can foster continuity downrange from general staff, but I think it is a worthy pursuit. The American public might not be able to stomach longer deployments, but I think that my line of work would benefit immensely from rolling relief, where only a few positions turn over at a time. Continuity in this complicated strategic environment is worth sacrificing a bit of cohesion for.
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