10 Commands of the Counterinsurgent

The following can be regarded as the most relevant rules, suggestions or advice to the counterinsurgent based on criticism of current conflicts and historical lessons learned:

The Creation of Special Air Service by Col David Stirling: just luck, misconduct or mastery of operational art?

Introduction

There are numerous great military leaders in history that have significant influences to the development of operational art. Most often we tend to talk about generals and marshals as great leaders, leading campaigns and battles, and the reason is self-explanatory – their footprint in history is easy to observe. They have caused significant changes in political systems and have empowered states, meanwhile causing adversaries to fall or at least have them learn painful lessons.