Establishing a Suitable Tactical Design Module for Clear-Hold-Build Counterinsurgency Operations

The execution of the Baghdad Security Plan in 2007 to 2008 marked a turning point in United States (U.S.) Army counterinsurgency (COIN) methodology. It highlighted decentralized execution utilizing the maneuver battalion as the prime unit of employment. The plan incorporated the tenets of COIN operations--particularly the Clear-Hold-Build (C-H-B) approach outlined in Field Manual (FM) 3-24, Counterinsurgency, released in December of 2006. As battalions began execution of C-H-B operations, a critical issue emerged: how to design such operations for execution at the tactical (battalion) level. FM 3-24.2, Tactics in Counterinsurgency (still in draft form as of early 2009), was commissioned to establish the design principles for tactical echelons to utilize in the development of COIN operations. Despite having a section dedicated to the design of tactical level counterinsurgency operations, no suitable design model is presented in the draft. This thesis attempts to fill that void by analyzing the suitability of applying the elements of operational design to the tactical level of counterinsurgency. Chapter 6 offers the results of this analysis. It offers a method for tactical units to shape counterinsurgency operations by framing a military end state, mapping key tasks and counterinsurgency lines of effort, and arranging operations in time and space with the aid of continual assessments of performance and effectiveness.