Overview

Composite Warfare presents African soldiers and scholars with a true African 'Art of War' As a continent, Africa presents her armies with a vast, dynamic and multi-dimensional operating environment. It has numerous complex and diverse ethnic, religious, cultural and tribal interests and loyalties, along with many multifaceted threat-drivers coupled to varied and infrastructure-poor terrain plus vast climatic variations. The continent is, furthermore, characterized by numerous half-won conflicts and wars fought by incorrectly structured, inadequately trained and ill-equipped armies. For many reasons, these forces have difficulty adapting to the complex, demanding and rapidly changing environments they do battle in. Similarly, the armies have difficulty in decisively defeating the various threats they face. Many of these problems stem from the fact that numerous modern-day African armies are merely clones of the armies established by their once-colonial masters, their Cold War allies or their new international allies. Many of the principles and tactics, techniques and procedures they were - and still are - being taught relate to fighting in Europe and not in Africa. Some of these concepts are not even relevant to Africa. This book is intended as a guide and textbook for African soldiers and scholars who wish to understand the development of hostilities, strategy, operational design, doctrine and tactics. It also illustrates the importance of non-partisanship and the mission and role of the armed forces. Officers, NCOs and their subordinates need to, furthermore, understand their role in defending and protecting the government and the people they serve. They additionally need to know how to successfully accomplish their numerous missions with aggression, audacity, boldness, speed and surprise. The book provides the reader with valuable information relating to conventional and unconventional manoeuvre. It also discusses how African armies can, with structured and balanced forces, achieve strategic, operational and tactical success. It covers the role of government along with operations related to war, operations other than war and intelligence operations and how these operations, operating in a coordinated and unified manner, can secure and strengthen a government. Composite Warfare draws on the author's experiences and lessons in Central, Southern, East, West and North Africa where he has served numerous African governments as a politico-military strategist, division commander, division adviser, battalion commander and special operations commander.

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9781928211761

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Reviews

Composite Warfare is a wonderful read with superb photographs and diagrams to elucidate key points. It should be required reading in every African military academy and policy makers in the security realm would also benefit from its sage advice. * Insight on Africa * African armies are unlike western and eastern armies because of the need to integrate within their ranks members of different tribes, ethnic groups and religions. This textbook is an excellent guide to those differences and how, by successfully integrating the various factions within their armies, they can work as a unit and be prepared for the conflicts that they will ultimately face. * Books Monthly *

African armies are unlike western and eastern armies because of the need to integrate within their ranks members of different tribes, ethnic groups and religions. This textbook is an excellent guide to those differences and how, by successfully integrating the various factions within their armies, they can work as a unit and be prepared for the conflicts that they will ultimately face. -- Paul Norman Books Monthly

Composite Warfare is a wonderful read with superb photographs and diagrams to elucidate key points. It should be required reading in every African military academy and policy makers in the security realm would also benefit from its sage advice. -- Hussein Solomon Insight on Africa African armies are unlike western and eastern armies because of the need to integrate within their ranks members of different tribes, ethnic groups and religions. This textbook is an excellent guide to those differences and how, by successfully integrating the various factions within their armies, they can work as a unit and be prepared for the conflicts that they will ultimately face. -- Paul Norman Books Monthly

Author Information

Eeben Barlow served as a lieutenant-colonel in the pre-1994 South African Defence Force (SADF) in conventional, clandestine and covert units. He was the founder and chairman of Executive Outcomes (EO) where he trained SADF Special Forces in covert operations. He has worked in South America, the Far East and Africa training and mentoring armies and assisting law enforcement agencies and intelligence services with the development of strategies. He is the chairman of STTEP International Ltd, a company that supports predominately African governments whom he assists with the development of military strategies and operational designs. He has held the rank of general in three African armies and one Far Eastern army. He regularly lectures at defence universities and staff colleges in Africa. He has also been a panellist at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), De Balie in the Netherlands, Centre for Chinese Studies (Stellenbosch University, SA) and several other European cities where he has delivered papers and/or lectured on military and security matters in Africa. He is the author of the best-selling book Executive Outcomes: Against all Odds and is a contributing editor to the Counter Terrorist magazine.

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