Items related to Somalia Operations: Lessons Learned
Synopsis
The American mission in Somalia presented U. S. forces with a variety of difficult operational challenges as they tried to bring peace to a county ravaged by natural and man-made disasters. After initial success in the summer of 1992 in restoring order and saving thousands of lives, American soldiers clashed with Somali forces and were withdrawn in the spring of 1994. In the months that followed, we have studied what the Somalia experience can teach us about peace missions and learned how we might improve our capabilities across the spectrum of joint operations.
This book represents the first time a new tool - the Joint Universal Lessons Learned System - is being used to evaluate an operation in its totality. With it, Colonel Kenneth Allard assesses the operation from its early stages of humanitarian relief through the de facto combat of peace enforcement. He has organized the lessons learned for ease of reading and enlivened them with numerous concrete and anecdotal examples. Although focused on the operational level, the insights of this study should be of interest to strategists and policymakers as well.
Lessons are only truly learned when we incorporate them into our planning, doctrine, tactics, and training - a process which can take some time. The author has taken the essential first step by identifying and articulating the hard lessons of Somalia with candor and objectivity. But even as we resolve not to repeat mistakes, we should not allow the tragic events in the latter stages of our Somalia operations to obscure the many things we did right. These too are lessons, ones to build upon as we prepare to meet further challenges in the complex world of peace operations.
Ervin J. Rokke
Lieutenant General, United States Air Force
President, National Defense University
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About the Author
KENNETH ALLARD, a former army colonel, is a well-known commentator on international security issues, strategy, and military matters, regularly appearing on NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC, and the Imus in the Morning radio show. As one of the star attractions of Leading Authorities, a major speakers bureau, he appears before a wide range of business audiences around the country. Colonel Allard served overseas as an operational intelligence officer and as a peacekeeper in Bosnia, and also played key roles in two of the most significant reform efforts in Pentagon history: helping to draft the landmark 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act that changed the way the military operates, and directing the study that produced the sweeping "reinventing government" reforms of the 1994 Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act. He is an adjunct professor in the National Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. Dr. Allard holds a PhD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and an MPA from Harvard University. He was dean of students of the National War College from 1993--1994.
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