irregular warfare

One of the earliest known uses of the term irregular warfare is Charles Edward Callwell's classic 1896 publication for the United Kingdom War Office, Small Wars: Their Principles and Practices, where he noted in defining 'small wars':

"Small wars include the partisan warfare which usually arises when trained soldiers are employed in the quelling of sedition and of insurrections in civilised countries; they include campaigns of conquest when a Great Power adds the territory of barbarous races to its possessions; and they include punitive expeditions against tribes bordering upon distant colonies....Whenever a regular army finds itself engaged upon hostilities against irregular forces, or forces which in their armament, their organization, and their discipline are palpably inferior to it, the conditions of the campaign become distinct from the conditions of modern regular warfare, and it is with hostilities of this nature that this volume proposes to deal. Upon the organization of armies for irregular warfare valuable information is to be found in many instructive military works, official and non-official."{{Cite book |last=Callwell |first=Charles E. |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/s/small-wars-their-principles-and-practice.html |title=Small Wars: Their Principle and Practice |publisher=Harrison and Sons |year=1906 |isbn=978-1438513881 |location=Cambridge |oclc=191719860}}

A similar usage appears in the 1986 English edition of "Modern Irregular Warfare in Defense Policy and as a Military Phenomenon" by former Nazi officer Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte. The original 1972 German edition of the book is titled "Der Moderne Kleinkrieg als Wehrpolitisches und Militarisches Phänomen". The German word "Kleinkrieg" is literally translated as "Small War."{{Cite book |last=Moses |first=A. Dirk |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P1KoR4vF3ysC&dq=Kleinkrieg+%22Small+War%22&pg=PA206 |title=German Intellectuals and the Nazi Past |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-511-51190-5 |location=Cambridge |oclc=191719860}} The word "Irregular," used in the title of the English translation of the book, seems to be a reference to non "regular armed forces" as per the Third Geneva Convention.

Another early use of the term is in a 1996 Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) document by Jeffrey B. White.{{Cite web |last=White |first=Jeffrey B. |date=14 April 2007 |title=Some Thoughts on Irregular Warfare |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/96unclass/iregular.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613113746/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/96unclass/iregular.htm |archive-date=13 June 2007 |website=CIA}} Major military doctrine developments related to IW were done between 2004 and 2007{{Cite web |date=2004 |title=The National Military Strategy of the United States of America |url=http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/ksil429.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610085546/http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/ksil429.pdf |archive-date=10 June 2007 |website=Strategic Studies Institute}} as a result of the September 11 attacks on the United States.{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Frank A. |date=15 March 2006 |title=Irregular Warfare – Perhaps Not So "Irregular |url=http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/ksil429.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610085546/http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/ksil429.pdf |archive-date=10 June 2007 |website=Strategic Studies Institute}}{{Cite web |date=September 2002 |title=The National Security Strategy of the United States of America |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/national/nss-020920.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031224183003/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/national/nss-020920.pdf |archive-date=24 December 2003 |website=GlobalSecurity.org |publisher=United States National Security Council}}{{unreliable source?|reason=See WP:GLOBALSECURITY.|date=October 2023}} A key proponent of IW within US Department of Defense (DoD) is Michael G. Vickers, a former paramilitary officer in the CIA.{{Cite web |last=Grant |first=Greg |date=7 April 2009 |title=The Man Behind Irregular Warfare Push: Mike Vickers |url=http://www.dodbuzz.com/2009/04/07/the-man-behind-irregular-warfare-push-mike-vickers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411113143/http://www.dodbuzz.com/2009/04/07/the-man-behind-irregular-warfare-push-mike-vickers |archive-date=11 April 2009 |website=DoDBuzz}} The CIA's Special Activities Center (SAC) is the premiere American paramilitary clandestine unit for creating and for combating irregular warfare units.{{Cite book |last1=Southworth |first1=Samuel A. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/49594086 |title=U.S. Special Forces : A Guide to America's Special Operations Units : The World's Most Elite Fighting Force |last2=Tanner |first2=Stephen |publisher=Da Capo Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-306-81165-4 |edition=1st |location=Cambridge, MA |oclc=49594086}}{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101030203/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030201095351/http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101030203/|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 1, 2003|title=Waller, Douglas, "The CIA Secret Army", Time Inc., 3 February 2003|website=Time}}Stone, Kathryn & Williams, Anthony R., All Necessary Means: Employing CIA operatives in a Warfighting Role Alongside Special Operations Forces, United States Army War College (USAWC), 7 April 2003 For example, SAC paramilitary officers created and led successful irregular units from the Hmong tribe during the war in Laos in the 1960s,Shooting at the Moon: The Story of America's Clandestine War in Laos, Steerforth Press, {{ISBN|978-1-883642-36-5}}, 1996 from the Northern Alliance against the Taliban during the war in Afghanistan in 2001,Woodward, Bob, Bush at War, Simon and Schuster, {{ISBN|0-7432-0473-5}}, 19 November 2002 and from the Kurdish Peshmerga against Ansar al-Islam and the forces of Saddam Hussein during the war in Iraq in 2003.Tucker, Mike & Faddis, Charles, Operation Hotel California: The Clandestine War inside Iraq, The Lyons Press, {{ISBN|978-1-59921-366-8}}, 2008Woodward, Bob, Plan of Attack, Simon and Schuster, {{ISBN|978-0-7432-5547-9}}, 2004[https://web.archive.org/web/20170329092804/https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Documents/jfq/jfq-67/JFQ-67_32-39_Berger.pdf Covert Action: Title 10, Title 50, and the Chain of Commanaad]

• IW is a form of warfare that has as its objective the credibility and/or legitimacy of the relevant political authority with the goal of undermining or supporting that authority. IW favors indirect approaches, though it may employ the full range of military and other capabilities to seek asymmetric approaches in order to erode an adversary's power, influence, and will."Irregular Warfare Special Study," United States Joint Forces Command Joint Warfighting Center, 4 August 2006 [https://web.archive.org/web/20120717052640/http://merln.ndu.edu/archive/digitalcollections/irregwarfarespecialstudy.pdf]
• IW is defined as a violent struggle among state and non-state actors for legitimacy and influence over the relevant population(s)
• IW involves conflicts in which enemy combatants are not regular military forces of nation-states."Quadrennial Defense Review Report", United States Department of Defense, 6 February 2006 [https://web.archive.org/web/20090613035700/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/dod/qdr-2006-report.pdf]{{unreliable source?|reason=See WP:GLOBALSECURITY.|date=October 2023}}
• IW is "war among the people" as opposed to "industrial war" (i.e., regular war).{{Cite web |url=http://rdsc.md.government.bg/BG/Activities/Publication/MilitaryLead/3-4-Benest.pdf |title=Benest, David, "British Leaders and Irregular Warfare," 29 August 2007 |access-date=28 August 2009 |archive-date=26 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226131731/http://rdsc.md.government.bg/BG/Activities/Publication/MilitaryLead/3-4-Benest.pdf |url-status=dead }}

{{prose |section |date=October 2023}}

Nearly all modern wars include at least some element of irregular warfare. Since the time of Napoleon, approximately 80% of conflict has been irregular in nature.

However, the following conflicts may be considered to have exemplified by irregular warfare:

• Afghan Civil War
• Algerian War
• American Indian Wars
• American Revolutionary WarAccording to the definition of "regular forces," which came much after the American Revolutionary War (ARW), the American forces did not meet the following criteria at all times during the ARW:
• having a fixed distinctive emblem recognizable at a distance
• carrying arms openly
• conducting operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war

Notwithstanding, in terms of modern international humanitarian law which was also developed much later than the ARW, the American forces formed part of the armed forces of a party to an armed conflict but not belonging to that party's regular forces (since the United States of America did not exist and hence could not have had regular forces; the American forces were an insurgency at least until 1776) and operating in or outside of their own territory even if the territory is under occupation.

American forces did become regular forces but cannot be considered regular forces during the entire period of the ARW. For example, the American flag got established (1777) 2 years after the ARW started (1775). Also, there were great disparities between the American and British forces. It was not until France started to assist American forces (1778) that the disparity started to be narrowed. Conflict during the disparity surely counts as Asymmetric warfare. Also, the Boston Tea Party (1773) can be viewed as guerrilla tactics. At the very least, a good portion of the ARW should be counted as IW, although the entire ARW being counted as IW is controversial. However, since more than 1/2 of the ARW was fought as ARW then it is thought that it is safe to classify it as IW even though that the American forces acted in all respects as regular forces towards the end of the conflict.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mQCRNfiB1-EC&q=american+revolution+irregular+warfare&pg=PA15|title=The American Revolution 1774-1783|last=Marston|first=Daniel|publisher=Osprey Publishing|year=2002|isbn=978-1-84176-343-9}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

• Arab Revolt
• Chinese Civil War
• Cuban Revolution
• First Chechen War
• First Sudanese Civil War
• Iraq War
• Kosovo War
• Lebanese Civil War
• Portuguese Colonial War
• Rwanda Civil War
• Second Boer War
• Second Chechen War
• Second Sudanese Civil War
• Somali Civil War
• Philippine-American War
• The Troubles
• Vietnam War
• Libyan Civil War (2011)
• Syrian Civil War
• Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017)
• Second Libyan Civil War
• Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)

{{prose |section |date=October 2023}}

Activities and types of conflict included in IW are:

• Asymmetric warfare
• Civil-military operations (CMO)
• Colonial war
• Foreign internal defense (FID)
• Guerrilla warfare (GW)
• Insurgency/Counter-insurgency (COIN)
• Law enforcement activities focused on countering irregular adversaries
• Military Intelligence and counter-intelligence activities
• Stabilization, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction Operations (SSTRO)
• Terrorism/Counter-terrorism
• Transnational criminal activities that support or sustain IW:
• narco-trafficking
• Illicit arms trafficking
• illegal financial transactions
• Unconventional warfare (UW)

According to the DoD, there are five core activities of IW:

• Counter-insurgency (COIN)
• Counter-terrorism (CT)
• Unconventional warfare (UW)
• Foreign internal defense (FID)
• Stabilization Operations (SO)

As a result of DoD Directive 3000.07, United States armed forces are studying{{when|date=August 2015}} irregular warfare concepts using modeling and simulation."U. S. Army Enhancement of Irregular Warfare Modeling & Simulation", United States Army Modeling and Simulation Office, 24 February 2009 [http://www.ms.army.mil/current/IW%20Current%20Initiative.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222175139/http://www.ms.army.mil/current/IW%20Current%20Initiative.pdf|date=2016-12-22}}"MORS Workshop Irregular Warfare (IW) II Analysis Workshop", Military Operations Research Society, 3–6 February 2009 [http://morsnet.pbworks.com/f/Carlucci+-+-+Phalanx+Article+Irregular+Warfare+Analysis+Workshop23Feb.pdf]Cragg, Lt. Jennifer, "Behavior Studies May Improve Irregular Warfare Techniques", American Forces Press Service, 20 April 2009 [http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=53997]

{{prose |section |date=October 2023}}

There have been several military wargames and military exercises associated with IW, including:

• Unified Action,{{Cite web|url=http://www.citmo.net/library/Military%20Support%20to%20Unified%20Action%20-%20ROL%20Focus%20for%20Policing%20WS.ppt|title=Av免费在线观看,国产免费A∨在线播放,国产高清AV免费观看,AV免费在线观看|access-date=2009-04-29|archive-date=2022-07-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702185457/http://www.citmo.net/library/Military%20Support%20to%20Unified%20Action%20-%20ROL%20Focus%20for%20Policing%20WS.ppt|url-status=dead}}
• Unified Quest,{{cite web |url=https://unifiedquest.army.mil/ |title=Home |website=unifiedquest.army.mil |access-date=2009-04-29 |archive-date=2011-07-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722183346/https://unifiedquest.army.mil/ |url-status=dead }}
• January 2010 Tri-Service Maritime Workshop,{{Cite web|url=http://docplayer.net/7416736-Maritime-stability-operations.html|title=Maritime Stability Operations - PDF|website=docplayer.net|access-date=2017-09-07}}
• Joint Irregular Warrior Series war games,
• Expeditionary Warrior war game series, and
• a December 2011 Naval War College Maritime Stability Operations Game focused specifically on stability operations in the maritime domain conducted by the Naval Service.

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}

• Civilian casualty ratio
• Endemic warfare
• Fourth-generation warfare
• Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)
• Information warfare
• Irregular military
• Low-intensity conflict
• Political warfare
• Psychological operations
• Small Wars Journal
• The Troubles
• War on Terror
• War on Drugs

{{div col end}}

Individuals:

• Che Guevara
• François Géré
• John R. M. Taylor
• T. E. Lawrence
• Robert Rogers' 28 "Rules of Ranging"

{{Reflist}}

{{Wiktionary|Irregular Warfare}}

• Military Art and Science Major - Irregular Warfare Specialty Track [http://www.usma.edu/dmi/irregular_warfare.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175808/http://www.usma.edu/dmi/irregular_warfare.htm |date=2016-03-03 }}
• Pincus, Walter, "Irregular Warfare, Both Future and Present," The Washington Post, 7 April 2008 [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/06/AR2008040601841.html]
• Phillips, Joan T., Fairchild, Muir S.,"Irregular Warfare", Maxwell Air Force Base, March 2007 [http://www.au.af.mil/au/aul/bibs/irregular.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501063515/http://www.au.af.mil/au/aul/bibs/irregular.htm |date=2017-05-01 }}
• Gustafson, Michael, "Modern Irregular Warfare & Counterinsurgency", Swedish National Defence College, 2009 [http://www.kkrva.se/Artiklar/091/kkrvaht_1_2009_6.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823164252/http://www.kkrva.se/Artiklar/091/kkrvaht_1_2009_6.pdf |date=2010-08-23 }}
• Coons, Kenneth C. Jr., Harned, Glenn M., "Irregular Warfare is Warfare", Joint Force Quarterly, National Defense University, 2009 [http://www.ndu.edu/inss/Press/jfq_pages/editions/i52/20.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109093002/http://www.ndu.edu/inss/Press/jfq_pages/editions/i52/20.pdf |date=2009-01-09 }}
• Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Center on Terrorism and Irregular Warfare (CTIW) [http://www.nps.edu/Academics/Centers/CTIW/]
• United States Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) Joint Irregular Warfare Center (JIWC) [http://www.jfcom.mil/about/abt_jiwc.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725001801/http://www.jfcom.mil/about/abt_jiwc.html |date=2011-07-25 }}
• Armed Groups and Irregular Warfare; Adapting Professional Military Education, Richard H. Shultz, Jr., Roy Godson, and Querine Hanlon (Washington, DC: National Strategy Information Center, 2009). [https://web.archive.org/web/20100725213733/http://www.strategycenter.org/publications/armedgroups]
• Tomkins, Paul, [https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo46811 Irregular Warfare: Annotated Bibliography.] Fort Bragg, NC: United States Army Special Operations Command, 2011.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irregular Warfare}}

Category:Warfare by type

Category:Military science

Category:Military doctrines

Category:Military strategy

Category:Guerrilla warfare tactics