Who: Alec Worsnop (Assistant Professor, School of Public Policy, UMD)
Title: Rebels Fire and Maneuver Too: How Combat Training Sustains Insurgent Warfare
Abstract: Guerrilla warfare has been consistently identified as the means by which less powerful actors can defeat, or at least stymie, much stronger fighting forces. However, while many have pointed out why guerrilla strategies are effective, there is much less understanding of how organizations gain the capacity to implement these strategies. This reality has been recently illustrated by the quick victory of the Taliban and the firm resistance of the Ukrainian armed forces. Existing research into insurgent fighting capabilities looks to factors such as whether groups are socially cohesive or have access to material resources, external support, or large numbers of recruits. These factors may serve as foundations for leaders to calibrate the types of violence group members employ, but they are insufficient alone to allow groups to fight as effective guerrilla forces. This article argues that to build on these foundations, insurgents must implement explicit military training. Such training positions organizations to carry out complex, coordinated guerrilla campaigns as well as more complicated conventional-type activities. I demonstrate the importance of military training by drawing on archival documents and a rich historiography to comparatively trace the development of three separate elements of the Communist fighting forces in Vietnam during the Second Indochina War (1961-1975): the forces of the North Vietnamese Regime, or the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), as well as two groups within the southern resistance of the People's Liberation Armed Front (PLAF, also known as the Việt Cộng or VC): Main Force units and Guerrilla Force units. While the Main Force and PAVN shared similar access to resources and weaponry and all three forces had shared ideological outlooks, parallel command structures, and like backgrounds, only PAVN which had routinized military training programs, was able to consistently employ force in a complex manner on the battlefield throughout the conflict.
Zoom link: https://umd.zoom.us/j/94173591669?pwd=Sld4Y2U1ZDgyUncydWNXQ21lYnU1dz09
Meeting ID: 941 7359 1669
Passcode: 289608