Given the Dynamics of the Potential Use of Unconventional Warfare by Enemy Forces, is there still a need for Sustained Airborne Operations and Training
Unconventional warfare is the military operations conducted by the organization, training equipping and advising of enemy forces. These military groups consist of many actions that can also involve paramilitary activities for long periods of time where the military forces work hand in hand with the enemy forces of another country and act as an external source regarding equipment and training. In the unconventional naval, warfare is considered a particular operation. Special operations can be either be independent or under the general in charge of the campaign. However, in most of the cases, they are conducted independently with the main aims of psychological and political.
In the military UW has not received clear comprehension and the military personnel has not taken the time to secure it properly. Due to this factor, its central origin is outside the military. Despite the military showing less interest in UW, the government like the British and the American governments have placed quite a considerable significance on the issue of unconventional warfare. During World War 2, the politics of Britain and America set up Special Forces units to help in the coordination of the military activities in European and Asian countries. The Special Forces units inserted themselves in the states with the aim of training, supporting and equipping the resistance movements.
The Special Forces teams often comprised of three member teams, an American and a French officer and a communication liaison and they would then be sent to areas of resistance. The team will also be well equipped regarding training and supplies and expert advice. They would be supplied with enough artillery for an army of about 100 men. The team will coordinate the deployment and the organization of the enemy forces. They will also have the obligation of training and supporting their military activities and they will also supply the arms to the troops.
It is important to note that support for insurgents can take some forms. One of the ways is indirect support, and this is where the governments that are supporting the insurgents from a third country collision partner and in the event of incidental support, there are far fewer war situations that are expected. Here, only the help regarding logistics and training are used by the insurgents (Adams, 1998). The United States government just restricts the indirect support to training programs and logistics and tries to maintain a low profile of the support.
The other kind of support that the United States Army will provide id the direct one, where there is the presence of the war scenarios, though less in number. On the other hand, the support ranges from training to support to advising, and they will help the insurgent, and at the time because of controversies, they will seek the opportunity where the support will not be deemed as controversial. Besides, the other support is support in combat, and this is the activities in direct and indirect support plus those that aid in battle.
Air operations
In unconventional warfare’s one of the modes of combat is the use of aircraft to help the insurgents in their aim of resistance. Noteworthy, airplanes can be used in the deployments of bombs in the time of combat support. For instance, for the capture of Saddam Hussein in Afghanistan, the United States used the Special Forces to coordinate the events in and out of Afghanistan. The air operations had to be very active with the help of the US-trained personnel. On the other hand, the logistics used to help the insurgent for the capture of Hussein were catered for by the military of the United States. Military operations are quite expensive and require a lot of time for planning.
There is no need for the training of airborne personnel in the event of a conventional war. One of the reasons why aircrafts should not be used in the warfare is the high number of lives that they put at risk. For the insurgents, all that matters is so that their desires are met and in the event of a combat war and one party has the opportunity to use the aircrafts there will be a substantial loss of lives. Most of the people who lose their lives in these events of warfare are mostly not the intended parties, but they are the victims.
Airborne operations will lead to the destruction of properties to the areas where the insurgents are preparing to attack. Since airborne operations are already combat attacks, the violence will most definitely lead to the destruction of properties. In unconventional warfare the support, the insurgents get through the aircrafts will end and at the end of the war, the country will have lost so much after the destruction. In the event of bombings, the intended target might be affected, and those neighboring the target, innocent bystanders will be changed as well. The destruction of property will take the economy backward.
It is important to note that airborne training is very costly and very time-consuming. In unconventional warfare, the Special Forces will have to make to train the insurgents in the operations of the airplane or the fighting plane. The budget the Special Forces will have to incur will be very high for the training and the support of the insurgents. This will require skills from highly skilled operators who will train the insurgents (Ott, 2002). The military budget will be very high, and the insurgents will have to spend so much time in the training of the new airborne skills for them to be competent in their activities, now the airborne war.
Noteworthy, the load that can be carried into the plane is insufficient to soldiers. In the unconventional war, the soldiers will be required to have their fair share of ammunition and equipment is ready for a fight, but the use of fighter planes will reduce the chances of them carrying the load. The required capacity for every person is 70 kilograms for dismounting troops and 30 kilograms for the soldiers who are getting ready for battle. For the efficiency of the forces, they will be required to carry fewer loads to the battleground and not compromise dismounting, this will, in turn, lead to the soldiers being ineffective in their battle.
Approaching the battlefield in an aircraft will make the insurgents a viable target for the forces they are opposing. En route to the battle station with an airplane will not be a wise decision for the troops they might be attacked even before they find a landing place. In the battlefield the approach with an airplane might just take the war that had not hit the high pitch into a full-blown war. The chances of a conflict escalating in the face of a fighter plane are very high, and this fight might turn into a guerrilla war.
Conclusion
In unconventional warfare, the use of airborne operation and training are highly unnecessary. The high budgetary constraints and the time that will be used will be too much. Despite the unconventional war being the support of paramilitary and military activities, the military would not take part in it thus the Special Forces unit was born. The training the Special Forces undergo is top notch and might not only be risky to the Special Forces but to the insurgents who receive the training.
- Adams, T. K. (1998). US special operations forces in action: the challenge of unconventional warfare. Psychology Press.
- Ott, P. A. (2002). Unconventional warfare in the contemporary operational environment: Transforming Special Forces. Army Command and General Staff Coll Fort Leavenworth Ks School of Advanced Military Studies.
