Gates defends COIN/conventional balance - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Gates defends COIN/conventional balance

The U.S. Army is not overly focused on counterinsurgency operations at the cost of conventional warfare, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today at the AUSA 2009 Convention.

In his keynote address at the Washington, D.C., Convention Center, Gates said the idea that the Army might lose its conventional warfare skills was “a legitimate concern” but “it does not reflect the realities of the current campaigns,” where air power, artillery and ISR capabilities often combine in battle.

“The black-and-white view of counterinsurgency vs. conventional is an outdated model,” Gates said. “In reality, the future will be more complex, with conventional forces using irregular warfare or asymmetric tactics and irregular forces using conventional weapons.”

Gates said that no one should neglect the psychological, cultural and human dimensions of war, and that was especially true of U.S. ground forces, which will lead the irregular and hybrid campaigns of the future.