Once upon a time the professional soldiery side of the West, there was the prevailing thought was that they only ever face the "Three Block War" problem and it was a matter of training (see link below, courtesy of the US Marine Corp):
Then came along the prospect of a peer adversary conflict in a First World setting, and a resurgent Southern Hemisphere "New World Order" to contend with! The times are certainly "a changing"!
Following on from 3 Para's deployment in the 16th Air Assault Brigade in Afghanistan, 3 Brigade Royal Marine Commandos took their tour of duty in Afghanistan (2006-2007). They had the benefit of digesting hard "lessons learned" from the previous six months tour by the Paras and a lull ("phoney peace") of a Taliban cease-fire as they came "in country". To the commanding officers and staff can be credited as adopting a new strategy, as they had seen the punishment that static defences brought on garrison troops (Forward Operating Bases and District Centres) and planned for a more "manoeuvre orientated" approach, "going too the Taliban", in their backyard and "kicking the hornet's nest". The political pressures from teh Afghanistan government seem to be more controlled and knee-jerk reaction (that plagued the Para deployment), for teh most part seemed to be avoided. The advantage of the offensive mind-set being you do not sandwich yourself between the civilian population and the Taliban, Identification of teh enemy is easier because you are attacking identified strongholds - giving them no rest and unhinging their confidence. The initiative rests with teh attacker. MOGs (Mobile Operation Groups) were the order of the day to support bastion garrison points and the concept of "advance to ambush". This approach did pay dividends. as it was backed with overwhelming air power in an uncontested air space, tremendous firepower could be deployed "away" from danger close (although when "needs must" it can come in, without civilians to think about) to friendly and civilian population centres (see below, the Royal Marines were continually mixing it but importantly" on their terms"):
Read:
It all started for the UK with this deployment, other UK troops had been "in theatre" but now it was ISAF, War on Terror and "nation" rebuilding (with the intention of creating a Western mindset nation, in Afghanistan - that swallowed Alexander the Great, the Colonial British Empire [how many Afghan Wars?] and the post war Soviets .. their Vietnam). Good luck. The British intension was to follow the Malayan "ink blot" counterinsurgency plan, so Afghanistan could "nation build" (using their own troops) but "one political favour" right at the start of the deployment scuppered all this. "Hold this place first with your troops then we will take over with ANA (Army) and ANP (Police)". From that moment on 3 Para were forced into a static "blockhouse holding" strategy which at best was a long drawn out "draw". To quote Frazer from Dad's Army "We're doomed!" The ANA and ANP were woefully under resourced, infiltrated by the Taliban and suffered from corrupt levels of officials - taking the official money for themselves. Then to make matters worse, take a world class elite force (full of offensive spirit) and make them sit tight with bullseye targets on their chests! Everybody knew it was wrong but nobody could see a sensible alternative path forward .. Greek tragedy lived out in the twenty first century (see below, it is a very good read and outlines the actions in subtle matter of fact light and tells a fascinating story of professional soldiering):
This certainly was a read from the "sharp end" of Afghanistan combat with a spoiler alert, after surviving and thinking that is it for Captain Beattie he goes back for more (see below, the cover seems to sum up teh combat very well):