Military Review English Edition September-October 2013 | Page 26

of regular and irregular forces with the inclusion of criminal elements. The lines between all three elements will blur and they will become indistinguishable. The same unit will be capable of rapidly transitioning between operations and tactics that span the full range of military operations. A hybrid force will utilize conventional warfare capabilities to win symmetric battles at decisive points in a conflict and then quickly dissolve into the population to continue a protracted campaign of asymmetric tactics for steady state operations. In addition to symmetric and asymmetric operations, concurrent criminal activities will pose additional threats. A well-developed and detailed future hybrid threat model is difficult to create because each hybrid war will be unique. The evolution of the threat and its truly “hybrid” nature will always create new enemies for the U.S. Army to fight based on the actors involved.

Future Challenges

Future U.S. Army formations will face significant challenges combating and defeating a hybrid threat. Hybrid warfare will stretch existing capabilities of the U.S. Army in a struggle to continually learn and adapt. Furthermore, these challenges will indirectly stress the current and future Army Profession. The triple nature of hybrid warfare creates the need for complementary, but often exclusive, strategies to defeat a variety of foes. The essence of this dilemma rests in a strategy of mass versus dispersion. In order to effectively defeat a conventional force, an army must engage in a strategy of mass and concentration. In conventional warfare, victory is achieved by concentrating all the available effects of overwhelming combat power in offensive operations or massing all the available effects of overwhelming combat power for defensive operations.24 However, in order to defeat an irregular force, an army must disperse to control and secure the operational environment. One objective for both forces in counterinsurgency warfare is control of the population.25 A major focus in this form of warfare is separating the insurgent from the rest of the population.26 These two strategies create a quandary where an army is vulnerable to conventional attack when it disperses to deal with enemy’s irregular forces, but cedes control of the operational environment and population to the enemy when an army keeps its forces concentrated.27 A similar
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condition emerged in the Vietnam War. American commanders found it difficult to fight regular North Vietnamese Army divisions while simultaneously trying to dislodge irregular Viet Cong formations from the South Vietnamese population.28 Attempting to do both creates a case of trying to be strong everywhere that can easily result in being strong nowhere. This will create an ineffective strategy in future hybrid conflicts. Furthermore, neutralizing the criminal element of the hybrid threat will require the formulation of an entirely new strategy that includes close coordination with host nation civilian security forces and police to bring these groups to justice. Complications with executing operational art and design to develop a coherent strategy for hybrid warfare, and actually implementing that strategy, will test the military expertise of the Army Profession. Army personnel are experts in “the employment of [???\?[?H\?[??H[Y\?X?[?Z[]\?H??^??'L?H\?^\????\??[?[???Y?H????[?K??]Y?K[?X?X???ZYHH\?H?[???\??X?Y]?HX?\?]?HX?[??\????Y?H?[???\?[??HY?[]?[??\][??H[??\?[?\?Z[]\?H?\?][???[???\Y?][?][?[?]?YX[?Z[?[???H]?[?Y[??H?[[??YX\??[?\?\??[???]Y?K??\Y?]]?\?[???^\???]]?[^?H?[Z[?[[[Y[???[?HH][?[??\?????]\?H\?^H[??\???]??Y\?[?[X^?[????[?]H??[???][??HK??\?^H?[?X?H?[[??\?[??[]?][??[?]?]\?H^\??[?^X?][??????]Y?Y\?[?H?\??\??H????Z[?Y?]\?H?\??[[??\??Y[?H\?^H?[?X?H?Y??Y?]\?H??X?\?H[??][???[????Z[???][\HZ\??[??]??[?HH\??Y?]\?H?[?H\?^HX^H?[?]?[???Z[?Y??[?[???]]?H?^\???Z[???[?K?]\???\??\??\?[?]??[?X?HY?\??]H?Z[?[?????????[?[?[?\??\?H[?\??Y?[\??\??\?H??H???Y\?Y^\??[???\??\[?\?H???Y?H????[?K??]Y?K[?X?X????????\???\??\?H?[?[^\??]H[?]?YX[[?[?]?Z[?[???\]Z\?Y????\?]???Y?H[??^\?\?HX^H???HQ??X?YH?[Z[\??]X][?[?H?
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