Put this together for my Army Basic Instructors Course

1. Mr. Andrew R. Major
162nd IN BDE - Security Force Assistance BN
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2. 2/1/2013
How did we prefer to fight wars prior to
Sept 11, 2001?
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3. 2/1/2013
Traditional Warfare Irregular Warfare
• Warfare between nation-states • Among state and non-state actors
• Indirect approach/elements of
• Direct military confrontation national power important
Playing into their hands. A military force, culturally programmed to
respond conventionally (and predictably) to insurgent attacks, is akin to
Seeks to defeat adversary’s military • Seeks to erode power, influence,
the• bull that repeatedly charges a matador’s cape – only to tire and
and will
eventually be defeated by a much weaker opponent. This is predictable –
the bull does what comes naturally. While a conventional approach is
• Influence adversary’s is self defeating.
instinctive, that behavior government • Gain legitimacy and influence
COMISAF Gen McChrystal a relevant population
over
• Operations focusedGuidance 2010 • Operations focused on relevant
COIN on terrain
population
• Offensive and defensive
operations • Complex mix of offense, defense,
predominate and
stability operations
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4. 2/1/2013
“There is no substitute for a "close reading" of the
environment. But it is a reading that resides in no book,
but around you; in the terrain, the people, their social
and cultural institutions, the way they act and think. You
have to be a participant observer. And the key is to see
beyond the surface differences between our societies
and these environments to the deeper social and
cultural drivers of conflict, drivers that locals would
Why ASCOPE? understand on their own terms
David Kilcullen
Small Wars Journal 2007
ISAFs CDR’s COIN Guidance:
Protecting the people is the mission
The conflict will be won by
persuading the population, not by
destroying the enemy
Secure and Serve the Population:
The decisive terrain is the human
terrain. The people are the center
of gravity
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5. 2/1/2013
Action: Define the Operational
Environment Using the ASCOPE
Methodology
Terminal
Conditions: Given a class of approximately
Learning 20 students, course handouts, PowerPoint
slides, and a regular classroom setting
Objective
Standards: Demonstrate understanding the
Operating Environment using the ASCOPE
method IAW FM 3-24.2 (Tactics in COIN)
I. Given a printed exam, correctly answering
5 out of 7 questions to receive a GO for this
course.
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6. 2/1/2013
• Class Conduct
• Speak up if uncertain, mutual learning environment
• Look out for the person to your left and right
• Maintain professionalism, keep conduct appropriate, don’t
distract from soldiers seeking improvement
• Safety Requirements
• If building evac is necessary, conduct link up in the front
parking lot
Administrative •
• Stay alert, stay safe
Risk Assessment: Low
Notes • Environmental Considerations:
• It is mandatory for all DA civilians and service members to
protect the environment from waste and damage. Army
values and general courtesy apply
• Evaluation:
• There are multiple checks on learning throughout the class
• ELO B concludes with a peer graded PE
• A printed exam will be completed following ELO B. Students will
be graded based on a GO/NO-GO basis. Students must
correctly answer 5 out of 7 questions to receive a GO.
• Formal Introduction: Mr. Major facilitating the learning
discussion on Defining the Operational Environment Using
ASCOPE.
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7. 2/1/2013
Action: Recognize the purpose of ASCOPE
and it’s function
Enabling
Learning Conditions: Given a class of approximately
20 students, course handouts, PowerPoint
Objective: A slides and a regular classroom setting
Standards:
I. Describe the components of ASCOPE
II.Identify significant elements within the OE to produce
ASCOPE
IAW FM 3-24.2 (Tactics in COIN)
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8. 2/1/2013
OE: Operating Environment
A composite of the conditions, circumstances, and influences
that affect the employment of capabilities and bear on the
decisions of the commander.” In other words, the operational
environment is everything, everybody and every event
around you.
COIN: Counterinsurgency
Counterinsurgency is those military, paramilitary, economic,
psychological and civil actions taken by a government to
Terms and defeat an insurgency (JP 1-02)
Definitions
IPB: Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield
It is the systematic, continuous process of analyzing the threat,
terrain, and environment. It is conducted throughout planning
and the execution of the operation.
IW: Irregular Warfare
A violent struggle among state and non-state actors for
legitimacy and influence over the relevant populations.
Irregular warfare favors indirect and asymmetric approaches,
though it may employ the full range of military and other
capabilities.
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9. 2/1/2013
OAKOC: Terrain Analysis
Observation/fields of fire, Avenues of approach, Key terrain,
Obstacles, Cover & concealment, Civilian considerations
METT-TC: Mission Variables
Mission, Enemy, Terrain/Weather, Troop/Support – Time, Civil
Considerations
Terms and
Definitions
PMES-II: Operational Variables
Political, Military, Economic, Social – Infrastructure,
Information
ASCOPE: Civil Considerations
Areas, Structures, Capabilities, Organizations, People, Events
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10. 2/1/2013
• In a COIN environment ASCOPE is used to
analyze the cultural and human environment or
what is sometimes referred to as “human terrain”
• Understanding ASCOPE is essential to identifying
the Root Causes of an insurgency
ASCOPE • It provides the who, what, when, where, why,
and how of the environment. ASCOPE helps us
approach the problem from the perspective of
the nature of the population and nature of the
insurgency
• It is essentially a tool that anyone can use at any
level to see the environment through the eyes of
the populace
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11. 2/1/2013
What ASCOPE
Can Look Like
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12. 2/1/2013
Address Terrain Analysis From A Civilian
Perspective.
• Religious boundaries
• Political boundaries
Areas • Social enclaves
• Criminal enclaves
• Agricultural, mining, labor regions
• Trade routes
• Government centers
• Police centers
• Military Centers
• Temporary settlements for IDPs
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13. 2/1/2013
How does a structure’s location, function,
and capabilities support or hinder
operations?
Traditional high payoff targets: bridges,
Structures communications towers, power plants, and dams.
International and locally significant sites: churches,
mosques, national libraries, and hospitals,
cemeteries, historical ruins, religious sites, cultural
areas, and other protected sites
Practical sites: jails, warehouses, toxic industrial
storage sites, print plants, television and radio
stations; may influence operations.
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14. 2/1/2013
Capabilities: the ability of local authorities
to provide key functions and services.
Those areas whereuseful tool to look at
“SWEAT-MS” is the populace needs
Capabilities
help after combat operations:
Capabilities Public health
Sewer – Local government (Mayor and council)
Water – Security
Tribal leader (historical - for hundreds of
years, tribal leader controlled and protected wells.
Public works and utilities
Electricity – Town engineer
Economics
Academic – Government and religious leaders
Trash – Private business (local entrepreneurs)
Commerce
Medical – Tribal doctors
Security – Police, tribal militia
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15. 2/1/2013
Consider all nonmilitary groups or
institutions in the AO (Political, Cultural,
Social, Religious)
Organizations •
•
Tribes
Political Wings of Insurgent Groups
• PRT
• Non-government organizations (NGO)
• Private Sector (Companies, Contractors)
• International Red Cross
• Other Government Agencies (OGA)
• Media (TV, Radio, Newspapers, periodicals)
• Criminal organizations
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16. 2/1/2013
All nonmilitary personnel that military
forces encounter in the AO… whose
actions, opinions, or political influence can
affect the mission
People • City council leaders
• Imams/clerics
• Professionals
• Displaced persons or “squatters”
• Sources
• Mullahs, Tribal Leaders
• Identify the key communicators and the formal and
informal processes used to influence people.
• In addition, consider how historical, cultural, and social
factors that shape public perceptions beliefs, goals,
and expectations.
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17. 2/1/2013
Events are routine, cyclical, planned, or
spontaneous activities that significantly
affect organizations, people, or military
operations.
Events • National Elections
• Anniversaries (independence, etc.)
• Carnival/Ramadan (religious)
• Funerals
• Political Rallies
• SIGACTS (Significant Activities)
• Weather and Climate Patterns
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18. 2/1/2013
A - Area:
• Where do people live, work, play, meet,
worship?
S - Structures:
• Why are structures in the area important?
ASCOPE C - Capabilities:
• Who in the community is capable of providing
Simplified
for the people?
O - Organizations:
• What are the different groups of people in the
area?
P - People:
• How do the people communicate/interact?
E - Events:
• When are things occurring?
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19. 2/1/2013 A - Area: S - Structures:Capabilities: P - People:
C- O - Organizations:
E - Events:
• Where doWhy are live, work, What are thedo the people
• people•structures in communitydifferent things occurring?
Who in •
the the • How• isWhen are
play, meet, worship?
area important? groups of people in the
capable of providing for the
communicate/interact?
people? area?
Mosque NGO
Gov. Tribe B
NGO Council M
Poor
Member Merchants
G IED RPG
Graffiti
Tea IED IED
IED
Shops Poor
IED IED
Overlay
IED
RPG IED
RPG
G
M N
IED RPG
Mosque
T RPG
RPG N
Example
IED
RPG
RPG IED
IED
IED
Gov.
RPG IED
RPG
RPG Graffiti G Council
Tribe A
IED
IED
Member Poor
RPG
G
IED Merchants
Mosque
M IED Tribe D
Rich
Tribe C Gov. Ex Regime
G
Legend Council $
Merchants G
IED IED Attack
Member
SAF Gov. Poor
Council
IED
Looting IED
Member Tea T IED
Assassination M
$ Extortion Shops Mosque
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20. 2/1/2013
Example
Spreadsheet
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21. 2/1/2013
Example
Combined
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22. 2/1/2013
ELO A Action: Identify the purpose of
ASCOPE and it’s functions
ELO
Summary
Questions, Comments?
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23. 2/1/2013
• What does the acronym ASCOPE represent?
Area, Structure, Capabilities, Organizations, People,
Events
Check on • Which type of warfare is the U.S. currently
employing in Afghanistan?
Learning IW or Irregular Warfare
• Which acronym is useful for defining the
Capabilities of an AO?
SWEAT-MS
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24. 2/1/2013
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25. 2/1/2013
Action: Produce an ASCOPE chart that accurately
defines the immediate operational environment
Enabling Conditions: Given a classroom setting, PPT
Learning presentation, student packet containing a partially
filled ASCOPE sheet, a brief fictional narrative and
Objective: B memory aids
Standards: Students will demonstrate an
understanding of the assigned OE by completing
an ASCOPE chart within 5 minutes, IAW FM 3-24.2
(Tactics in COIN)
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26. 2/1/2013
• Understanding the nature of IW and change of mindset
• “Killing a fly with a brick”
• “Patching bullet wounds with Band-Aids”
• “Experiencing Afghanistan for the first time 12 years in
a row”
• What resources are out there to help jump-start
Where to ASCOPE development?
• RIP/TOA Unit
Start? • Partnered or Host Nation Security Forces
• HN Populace (Elders, leaders, prominent individuals,
random…)
• NGO
• Inter/Intra-agencies (DEA, CIA, DoS, CF Equivalents…)
• CF Intel Networks (S-2, CA, CMO, COist, etc…)
• Personal research
• It has been said that Afghanistan is the graveyard not of
empires, but of databases. There is so much information out
there that has been gathered and then lost in the morass of
isolated (unlinked) proprietary databases.
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27. 2/1/2013
Think outside the box, but write
Bottom your answer in the box… where
Line you can find it when you need it.
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28. 2/1/2013 ASCOPE Practical Exercise Narrative
After six months of arriving in country, you’ve noticed an
increase in hostility towards the CF and Host Nation
Government. IEDs have substantially increased in your area and
local officials are being kidnapped or assassinated almost
weekly. From the time of your initial arrival until now, things were
relatively quiet in the area. Projects were being developed,
resources were distributed amongst the locals, and the local
officials were making progress gaining back the trust of the
populace, more so within the urbanized regions where most of
the wealthier and educated citizens resided. However, the Capabilities Organizations
# Areas Structures People Events
outlying rural swamplands, primarily occupied by
The Standard
AORs Security Primary Local
undereducated and poorer citizens, are still seeing small pockets
within OE HN tribe Official
Arrival
of insurgents, criminals and sporadic violence. Decreasing s
1
The two sub-tribes of the dominant Leesvillan tribe
PE Normal Speed (Beaudreauxs and Thibideauxs) have both contributed members
to the local government and security forces. Bernard
Beaudreaux, the Beaudreaux’s tribal elder has made significant
Rural
progress towards settling ancient blood feuds with the
swamps
• Once you’re comfortable with what you do
2
Thibideauxs by using the customary and accepted form of
community council, the Shira, locally referred to as a “Crawfish
Boil”. The “Boil” takes place monthly at the district center
know, start looking for what you don’t.
located near the Government HQ building in downtown
Leesville. Official members from the Leesvillans along with both
3
sub-tribes attend the council to include the two sub-tribe leaders
Bernard Beaudreaux and Hebert Thibideaux, their deputies
Bobby Beaudreaux and Henry Thibideaux, varied other tribal
officials and seniors, and of course concerned citizens. USAID
• Try to identify sources to fill those
reps have also been seen in attendance but they usually just
return to their HQ located a few miles south of the local market
without providing any input or feedback.
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information gaps. You can add ?s to the
Things appeared to be stabilizing until recently and
the CF/HN intelligence analysts cannot identify the source of the
recent escalation in violence. Maybe ASCOPE can help reduce
ASCOPE as well
some of this instability or at least identify the cause before your
remaining six months are up.
5
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29. 2/1/2013
After six months of arriving in country, you’ve noticed an
increase in hostility towards the CF and Host Nation
Government. IEDs have substantially increased in your area
and local officials are being kidnapped or assassinated almost
The Product weekly.
PE Talk Through Process
# Areas Structures Capabilities Organizations People Events
Security:
OP areas: Arrival to
HNSF, CF
CF, HNSF, the OE
1 HN Govt
Trending down
IEDs
Assassinations
2 Kidnapping
Weekly
3
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30. 2/1/2013
From the time of your initial arrival until now, things
were relatively quiet in the area. Projects were being
developed, resources were distributed amongst the
The Product
locals, and the local officials were making progress
gaining back the trust of the populace….
PE Walk Through Process
# Areas Structures Capabilities Organizations People Events
Security: Local official
OP areas: Projects legitimacy Arrival to
HNSF, CF
CF, HNSF, the OE
1 HN Govt
Trending down
Areas of HN
IEDs
Influence
Assassinations
2 Kidnapping
Weekly
Project
development,
3 Resources
distribution
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31. 2/1/2013
• Do not overthink the scenario. Just focus on
placing identified elements in proper categories
• ASCOPE can be subjective in certain cases. If it
makes sense to you, make sure you can explain
why
Practice • Only add what you see in the scenario. Don’t
add implied or unspecified elements. When
defining the OE, what you DON’T know is just as
important as what you do. Blanks or “Gaps” in the
data equal questions and focus points for your
next patrol
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32. 2/1/2013
• Minimize talking until after the PE
• You have 5 minutes to complete
Practical this task
Exercise
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33. # 2/1/2013
Areas Structures Capabilities Organizations People Events
Social classes: District Center Governance: USAID Tribe B. Elder: Violence:
Wealthy T. Elders Bernard IED,
1 Poor HN Govt Beaudreaux Assassinations,
Trending down Deputy: Bobby Kidnappings,
Sporadic
Education levels: Govt HQ Academics: Tribe: Leesvillan Tribe T. Elder: Crawfish Boil
Higher, Lower HN Sub: Thib. And Hebert
2
Neutral Beaux Thibideaux
Deputy: Henry
Tribes: USAID HQ Economic: Criminal Monthly council Projects,
Beaudreaux HN, USAID “Crawfish Boil” resource dist.
3 Thibideaux Neutral Speeches/anno
PE Review
uncements
Govt trust: Market Security: Insurgent Other senior Downturn of
4 Urban HNSF, CF officials stability
Rural Trending down Word of mouth
Violence: Schools Intel: “Boil” attendees Marketplace Arrival in
5 High levels, low HNSF, CF Word of mouth country, halfway
levels Trending down mark
Govt legitimacy: Merchants USAID reps Blood feud
6 HN vs Tribal ??? Historical and
current
Social classes: District Center Governance: USAID Tribe B. Elder: Violence:
Wealthy T. Elders Bernard IED,
7 Poor HN Govt Beaudreaux Assassinations,
Trending down Deputy: Bobby Kidnappings,
Sporadic
Education levels: Govt HQ Academics: Tribe: Leesvillan Tribe T. Elder: Crawfish Boil
Higher, Lower HN Sub: Thib. And Hebert
8
Neutral Beaux Thibideaux
Unclassified Deputy: Henry 34

34. 2/1/2013
ELO B: Action Produce an ASCOPE chart
that accurately defines the immediate
operational environment
ELO
Summary
Questions, Comments?
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35. 2/1/2013
• What is the tool ASCOPE used for?
Defining the Operational Enviroment, attacking
the root sources of insurgency, seeing issues
through the populace
Check on • Who uses ASCOPE and when?
Learning Anyone, anytime they need information on their
surroundings
• Name 2 resources available in theater
for obtaining ASCOPE information?
RIP/TOA Unit, Partnered or Host Nation Security
Forces,HN Populace (Elders, leaders, prominent
individuals, random…), NGO, etc…
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36. 2/1/2013
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37. 2/1/2013
Action: Define the Operational Environment Using
the ASCOPE Methodology
Terminal Conditions: Given a class of approximately 20
Learning
students, course handouts, PowerPoint slides, and a
regular classroom setting
Objective Standards: Demonstrate understanding the
Operating Environment using the ASCOPE method
IAW FM 3-24.2 (Tactics in COIN)
I. Given a printed exam, correctly answering 5 out
of 7 questions to receive a GO for this course.
Unclassified 38

38. 2/1/2013
Student Evaluation:
• Given 3 minutes to complete the printed test,
students must identify which ASCOPE category
correctly corresponds with the adjacent
statements.
Evaluation • Students must properly identify 5 out of 7
Statement statements to receive a GO
• Any students receiving a NO GO will conduct
retesting shortly after ABIC class concludes in this
classroom (140)
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39. 2/1/2013
Start 1 Minute 2 Minutes Stop
Timer
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40. 2/1/2013 Defining the Operational Environment Using ASCOPE
Circle the letter that corresponds with the appropriate category
The town’s IED maker is arrested A S C O P E
The DEA is operating nearby A S C O P E
Local law enforcement’s jurisdiction A S C O P E
The nearest detention facility A S C O P E
The Mayor’s alias is “Al-Shabuti” A S C O P E
The insurgents operate at will, local security is
A S C O P E
ineffective
The Mayor calls local law enforcement and has the
A S C O P E
IED maker released due to unfair treatment
Student Grader Score
Name: Name: _____ Of 7
Date: Date: GO / NO-GO
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41. 2/1/2013
TLO Action: Define the Operational
Environment Using the ASCOPE
Methodology
TLO ELO A: Action: Recognize the purpose of
Summary ASCOPE and it’s function in today’s
environment
ELO B: Action Produce an ASCOPE chart
that accurately defines the immediate
operational environment
Questions, Comments?
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42. 2/1/2013
• What does the A in ASCOPE represent?
Areas
• True or False: Only Intel, Special
Check on Operations or TOC personnel should use
ASCOPE?
Learning False, anyone who’s operations affect or are
affected by the population should use ASCOPE
• The two primary types of warfare are
________ and ______?
(IW) Irregular Warfare, Traditional (Conventional)
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