Marines Learn '4th Generation' Tactics For Iraq, Afghanistan

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NBCSanDiego.com
Marines Learn '4th Generation' Tactics For Iraq, Afghanistan
Conflicts Have Little In Common With World War II, Korea
Kristine Frazao, NBC 7/39 Reporter

POSTED: 9:05 am PDT July 31, 2008
UPDATED: 1:10 pm PDT July 31, 2008
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- During the last five years in Iraq and Afghanistan, Marine's say they've learned a few things.

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They say that lessons from World War II and the Korean War don't help them much in the conflicts they are facing today. Many call the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan "4th generation warfare."

"Fourth generation warfare is understanding that it's not going to be a uniformed (enemy) that we're going to be fighting," said Sgt Thomas Layou.

Enemy fighters look like the people who live and work in the villages in Iraq and Afghanistan, people who, for the most part, are peaceful, Layou said. But the enemy often gives certain signals.

"A person that's agitated, a person that's passive or aggressive, a person that's mission-focused -- they're going to give off a certain set of signals, and those signals are much better than language," chief tactical instructor Greg Williams said.

The training program started at Camp Pendleton and several hundred Marines have now been trained. Williams said they are taught to communicate by radio and wait up in hills away from villiages, observing what is happening below. They are taught to draw from experiences they've already had while deployed. And they are trained to use enhanced observation, combat profiling and combat tracking.


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http://video.nbcsandiego.com/player/?id=281371

Ellie