COUNTER INSURGENCY OPERATION (COIN OP)
Counter Insurgency Operation may be defined as ‘comprehensive civilian and military efforts taken to simultaneously defeat and contain insurgency and address its root causes’. Insurgency is the organized use of subversion and violence to seize, nullify or challenge political control of a region. As such, it is primarily a political struggle, in which both sides use armed force to create space for their political, economic and influence activities to be effective.Tactical Operations must be planned on the basis of systematically regaining control of the country by the establishment and constant expansion of controlled areas. Irrespective of the precise circumstances of the insurgency, it is assumed that the government is still in control of at least a part, if not a major portion of the country. If this is not the case, the conflict would largely have the characteristics of a limited war until such time a measure of control could be achieved.
The conduct of tactical operation is generally carried out by the Army Forces. The purpose of tactical operations is essentially to destroy or eliminate the insurgent threat that exists in our area or in a country. The tactical concept is intended to achieve the re establishment of control throughout the country so that the legal government can exercise its proper function.
The four major areas in which psyop play a major role and must be considered in countering insurgency, these are:
Decision Making - A consideration on impact of all actions to the civilian population as viewed by them (as they perceive the action), all decisions must weight the effects of the prospective action on the attitudes of the people to be affected because it contributes to the accomplishment of the mission.
Military Civic Action - Among these means are military civic actions, which are conducted for the psychological effect. They are undertaken by the military to provide visible evidence of the government’s interest in the welfare of the people, thus favourably affecting their attitudes of the government.
Morale Building - Closely related to military civic action is morale building. This is the development of a feeling of national unity, of identification between the people and the government, which would eventually foster confidence in the national leadership.
Counter Guerrilla Operations - Psyop plays a role in counter guerrilla operations. Operations must always consider all available means of maintaining pressure on the guerrilla. Methods must be sought to make the insurgents feel isolated, distrustful of the civilian population, doubtful of their success and to question the justice of their cause.