Preparing the Scout Platoon for Combating an Insurgency (Paperback)

The trends of the operational environment either provide a cause for an insurgency or a means for an insurgency, thus shifting the focus of the scout platoon away from major combat and towards insurgency. This shift to insurgency causes the scout platoon to shift its focus from the enemy to the population. Furthermore, recognizing how these factors affect the scout platoon enables the US Army to understand how to prepare the scout platoon. The scout platoon must shift its focus to gathering information on and from the population. To train the scout platoon to gather information on and from the population, the commander must resource the platoon with a trained population with which to interact. The commander must also focus the scout platoon on the proper tasks; ones oriented on gathering information from people affected by the trends in the operational environment. Finally, the commander must establish standards for the platoon that ensures these tasks have the desired effect on the population. Scout platoons play and will continue to play a vital role in operations in the insurgency band of the spectrum. As trends dictate a focus on insurgency, the US Army needs to understand how to prepare its organizations. This study concludes that preparing the scout platoon for the insurgent environment provides valuable insights into preparing the rest of the US Army.