The British post-1945 COIN scorecard
I’ve been reading an examination by British Col. I.A. Rigden of the British record in counterinsurgency campaigns. Here’s the post-1945 scorecard, by his accounting: Wins: 7 Losses: 5 Ties: 1 Incompletes: 2 (Iraq and Afghanistan) Well, it’s a tough league. Rigden has an interesting bio — he commanded a Gurkha battalion in Afghanistan, and spent ...
I've been reading an examination by British Col. I.A. Rigden of the British record in counterinsurgency campaigns. Here's the post-1945 scorecard, by his accounting:
I’ve been reading an examination by British Col. I.A. Rigden of the British record in counterinsurgency campaigns. Here’s the post-1945 scorecard, by his accounting:
- Wins: 7
Losses: 5
Ties: 1
Incompletes: 2 (Iraq and Afghanistan)
Well, it’s a tough league.
Rigden has an interesting bio — he commanded a Gurkha battalion in Afghanistan, and spent seven years in company command. That’s more troop time than most U.S. Army officers probably get in 20-year careers. Anyone out there who knows how the British Army works that very different approach to officer management?
Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1
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