Unconventional Warfare Pocket Guide/Terms Used in UW

by the United States Army Special Operations Command

Terms Used in UW

Joint doctrine defines UW as activities conducted to enable a resistance movement or insurgency to coerce, disrupt, or overthrow a government or occupying power by operating through or with an underground, auxiliary, and guerrilla force in a denied area. (JP 3-05)

More recently, published Public Law defines UW as "activities conducted to enable a resistance movement or insurgency to coerce, disrupt, or overthrow a government or occupying power by operating through or with an underground, auxiliary, or guerrilla force in a denied area." [Public Law 114-92 Sec. 1097, S.1356 — 114th Congress (2015-2016), National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2016]

Resistance Movement: An organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to resist the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. (JP 3-05)

Insurgency: The organized use of subversion and violence to seize, nullify, or challenge political control of a region. Insurgency can also refer to the group itself. (JP 3-24)

Counter Insurgency: Comprehensive civilian and military efforts taken to defeat an insurgency and to address any core grievances. (JP 3-24)

Foreign Internal Defense: Participation by civilian and military agencies of a government in any of the action programs taken by another government or other designated organization to free and protect its society from subversion, lawlessness, insurgency, terrorism, and other threats to its security. (JP 3-22)

Coerce: Coercion is forcing someone of some entity to do something it would rather not do. UW can apply the method of coercion through supporting a resistance or insurgency. (JP 3-05.1)

Disrupt: Disruption prevents or impedes someone or some entity from doing something it would prefer to do. Although disruption can be a relatively small-scale, it can also be large-scale such as coordinated regional resistance. (JP 3-05.1)

Overthrow: The USG may sponsor UW to overthrow a state or occupying power when it is intended that the supported successful resistance will support appropriate leaders for political control and governance. (JP 3-05.1)

Underground: Cellular organization within the resistance that has the ability to conduct operations in areas that are inaccessible to guerrillas, such as urban areas under the control of the local security forces. (JP 3-05.1)

Auxiliary: Refers to that portion of the population that provides active clandestine support to the guerrilla force or the underground. (JP 3-05.1)

Guerrilla Force: A group of irregular, predominantly indigenous personnel organized along military lines to conduct military and paramilitary operations in enemy-held, hostile, or denied territory. (JP 3-05)

Denied Area: An area under enemy or unfriendly control in which friendly forces cannot expect to operate successfully within existing operational constraints and force capabilities. (JP 3-05)