COIN - What exactly went wrong then?

[muse]

Now to pitch a Scout against the enemy in his own area is full of retribution. So there has been a mistake of using them as a frontline force and that is where we have gone wrong.

But now it's too late to go mend this, whatever damage had to be done has been done. We are using the FC in Dir, Swat, Darra Adamkhel, Mohmand, Bajaur and North and South Waziristan etc etc --- and they are all committed without any respite. Besides a few wings at Warsak and Fort Chimlara and the Chitral Scouts --- these men are going from one battleground to another

Brilliant post - the FC could not be the kind of force it needs to be without the scouts - and of course the Xe trainers (styrkers on the way) they will be formidable -

What do you think of the roving FC brigade? why is it not a good idea?

 

[Elmo]

Brilliant post - the FC could not be the kind of force it needs to be without the scouts - and of course the Xe trainers (styrkers on the way) they will be formidable -

What do you think of the roving FC brigade? why is it not a good idea?

No, no Muse... my point is that you don't have them in enough numbers. There has to be some back up or are we going into this till the last man standing option? If you engage everyone actively then who is left behind? And also if most have not been trained to "fight". The US realised this and has allocated funds only for the training of the FC soldiers.

Like I said in my post before, there is no way of going back and changing what was done. FC, if you agree or don't doesn't matter, did rely on the scout officer for its functioning the same way the federal government and political agents were linked to the maliks. They were intangible.

As for strykers and Xe trainers, seriously, size doesn't always matter!

 

[muse]

I'm suggesting that the FC will be rather different force than the one it is one - the Indian would not budge, that meant the army had to respect that decision, therefore New and improved FC.

So there are not enough FC? and a force size should ideally be around...??

Tell me about the roving brigade. Are they as successful as some reports suggest?

 

[Elmo]

I'm suggesting that the FC will be rather different force than the one it is one - the Indian would not budge, that meant the army had to respect that decision, therefore New and improved FC.

So there are not enough FC? and a force size should ideally be around...??

Tell me about the roving brigade. Are they as successful as some reports suggest?

Muse I got your tone wrong earlier

I'll reply in a while...