Complex Operations Lexicon

Complex Operations Lexicon Senior Editor R. Scott Moore, PhD Principal Researcher Christopher Ehrhart Contributors Geary Cox Aileen McLaren Scott Miller Jenny Mitchell Nicole Neitzey Table of Contents Acknowledgements iii Introduction iv Lexicon of Terms 1 List of Acronyms and Abbreviations 172 Sources 192 Center for Complex Operations 198 ii Acknowledgements The research and writing of this lexicon would not have been possible without the efforts and dedication of a wide range of organizations and people. Thanks must first be given to those individuals from the US Departments of Defense and State, the US Agency for International Development, the United Nations, NATO, the NGO community, and a host of other official and semi-official organizations whose largely anonymous but important work compiled the many word lists, glossaries, and publications that form the basis of this lexicon. The list of sources offers but a sampling of their efforts. Within the Center for Complex Operations (CCO), a host of research associates and student interns conducted literature reviews and research, sought out new sources, contacted government agencies, proofread drafts, and cross-checked definitions and references over the course of many months. Notable among these individuals was Scott Miller, whose research acumen resulted in an initial draft that formed the core of the lexicon. Jenny Mitchell and Aileen McLaren spent long hours doing the necessary final editing as well as ensuring each term was appropriately and accurately cited. For those whose names may not be listed, rest assured your contributions did not go unnoticed and are much appreciated. James Madison University’s Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR) fleshed an original draft into a robust reference of value across the community of conflict practitioners, military and civilian, by drawing in the language of a diverse set of communities who operate in conflict zones. This CISR team, under the capable supervision of Nicole Neitzey, moved the lexicon from a loose list to an all-inclusive and documented sourcebook. Particular praise goes to the principle researcher, Eastern Mennonite University graduate Christopher Ehrhart, who added the language of conflict resolution. Without the professionalism and expertise resident in CISR, this project would have floundered. Special thanks are extended to former CISR Director Dennis Barlow and current Director Ken Rutherford for making their superb organization available. Any omissions or oversights in the lexicon cannot be blamed on those listed above; errors real or perceived rest solely with the senior editor, whose primary task, in addition to directing the project, centered on determining which terms, and which sources for those terms, would be included. A more detailed explanation of the criteria for such decisions is contained in the introduction. The lexicon is intended as a dynamic document, with the full realization that complex operations and their associated vocabulary are inherently dynamic. Those who find fault are invited to contribute to the lexicon’s refinement and growth. R. Scott Moore, PhD Deputy Director Center for Complex Operations National Defense University Washington, DC February 2011 iii Introduction This lexicon is intended as a tool to help strip away one source of the endemic miscommunication and friction that now plagues both soldiers and civilians, government and non-government, who plan, coordinate, and execute the complex set of overlapping civil-military activities and tasks that have come to characterize armed conflicts and their aftermath. Collectively known as complex operations1, they demand, but too often lack, a sense of common purpose and mutual understanding between a wide array of planners and practitioners, all of whom bring with them different organizational cultures, world visions, and operational approaches. These disconnects can, and too often do, create confusion, at times with tragic results, both on the ground and among policy-makers. Part of that confusion stems from the widely varied vocabulary used by these many actors. Each organization possesses their own unique terminology, perfectly clear to them, but foggy to others. Even when words look and sound familiar they often have quite different and sometimes alien meanings. Anyone who has attended an acronym and jargon-laced coordination meeting of military, civilian government, and NGO representatives knows the frustration of trying to interpret what is meant by words that have many different connotations. It is in hopes of lessening this confusion that this lexicon has been compiled. By providing a list of terms and their definitions, as well as many of the acronyms, used by both military and civilian actors in complex operations, the following pages offer a means to translate what others are saying. The lexicon does not strive to establish a single agreed meaning for each term. Indeed, such a list may well be unrealistic if not impossible, and certainly beyond the scope of this publication. Rather, each word or phrase includes one or more definitions reflecting various organizational vocabularies. In that way the meaning of a term employed by one may become understandable to another. This lexicon thus takes no stance; it records the definitions of the many terms used in complex operations, in all their variations. In short, it seeks to provide a reference tool with which practitioners may look up a word or phrase and ensure that its meaning as intended by the user is clear. If the lexicon makes no attempt to proffer consensus definitions, it nonetheless does try to provide a comprehensive list of those terms that are officially recognized, commonly used, or generally accepted. It thus draws first from officially recognized glossaries of government or international agencies. For government organizations, definitions reflect official approval as found in published glossaries and dictionaries, manuals and handbooks, policy documents, and training materials. Glossaries for non-governmental organizations and the wider conflict 1 Although increasingly in use, the term complex operations is not universally recognized, even with the relatively narrow confines of the United States national security community. Formally coined by the US Congress in legislation that established the Center for Complex Operations, the definition includes stability operations, security operations, transition and reconstruction operations, counterinsurgency operations, and operations included within the Department of Defense’s concept of irregular warfare. In truth, the term complex operations is a compromise that allows civilian agencies, to include many humanitarian non‐governmental organizations whose mandates and cultures eschew warfare and armed conflict, to examine and perhaps participate in operations that may include military operations; it is used to define the problem as inoffensively as possible. In that sense, the term is symbolic of the institutional and organizational differences this lexicon in small part tries to address. iv resolution and humanitarian aid communities lack such clarity, but attempts to collect common usages and definitions by such organizations as the United States Institute for Peace and academic institutions have resulted in a set of terms and definitions that, if not prescriptive, boast a certain status of acceptability. Unfortunately, the vocabulary of complex operations is not nearly so succinct or well-defined. In many organizations, to include government agencies, even certified terms lack broad agreement or applicability; one need look no further than the differences of terminology between the US military services to see such divergence. The many non-governmental organizations and individuals who operate in conflict zones largely lack such formal documentation. Additionally, practitioners tend to use words and phrases that work for them and their immediate contemporaries, thus field expediency can alter definitions to meet immediate demands. Finally, a growing literature within academe, especially in the security studies and conflict resolution communities, has created an unofficial but relatively widely accepted language that needed to be acknowledged and included. The lexicon is arranged in three parts. In the first, terms and their definitions are listed alphabetically, with one or more definitions, with each definition immediately followed by its source in italics (the full citation for which can be found at the end of the lexicon). Notably, many terms are followed by more than one definition, reflecting the various usages of a term by military and civilian, government and non-government organizations. This is the heart of the lexicon, and its purpose—to list, in the same place, the variations that surround complex operations vocabulary and offer a source of common understanding. Two key considerations determine whether or not a term is included in this lexicon. First, and most obvious, the term must relate, at least in some small way, to complex operations, as defined in the footnote above and in the lexicon. Second, the term must be in use by military forces, civilian agencies, non- governmental organizations, or international and regional organizations (such as the United Nations, NATO, or OSCE), preferably in the field, but at least in their doctrine or policy literature. In the end, the inclusion of a term sometimes fell to subjective judgment based on experience. For that, the senior editor takes

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