Bear Trap: Building a Pre-Conflict Underground Force to Resist the Future Enemy
Pub. online: 5 August 2022
Type: Research Article
Open Access
Received
15 April 2022
15 April 2022
Accepted
25 April 2022
25 April 2022
Published
5 August 2022
5 August 2022
Abstract
This paper will discuss the Resistance Operating Concept and how nations should prepare to resist a potential enemy before an invasion takes place. Oriented towards the self-defense of small countries by a resistance or partisan force, it describes past examples of resistance groups in Europe. Specifically, by discussing the long-term survival of resilient organizations, its focus will be on the basic factors crucial for an underground resistance, including security, organization, and training. It also considers the need for a practitioner-oriented manual that can be disseminated at the widest levels to guide and enable future resistance operations.
References
Spencer, John. (2022)
The Mini-Manual for the Urban Defender, US Army. [Online].
Available at:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/622cbafd4ab19b7c0966d469/t/624b0fcc746c1e4ec5984cd6/1649086413544/Mini_Manual_Spencerv4_English_03APR22v2.pdf (Accessed: 09 May 2022).
Footnotes
[1] Supplementary material Both the ROC and the CDH use the bureaucratic term ‘Asymmetric Defense Component’ as a name the resistance organization
[2] Supplementary material An analogous handbook: The Mini-Manual for the Urban Defender by Major John Spencer, US Army, has already been produced and distributed
to Ukrainian defenders.
It is available at https://static1.squarespace.com/static/622cbafd4ab19b7c0966d469/t/624b0fcc746c1e4ec5984cd6/1649086413544/Mini_Manual_Spencerv4_English_03APR22v2.pdf
[3] Supplementary material I have chosen to use the ‘old school’ definitions as they are the simplest and best descriptors of the components
of a resistance organization and are as outlined in: HQs,
Department of the Army. (2008) FM 3-05.130: Army Special Operations Forces Unconventional Warfare, Washington, DC, 30 Sept 2008, p. 4-6.
[4] Supplementary material This was because U.S. Military personnel were prohibited from ‘recruiting’ an intelligence
asset during peace-time unless the recruiter was a certified case officer. One benefit of not recruiting an individual,
even if suitable, is that it does not flag intent or expose operational information to the candidate until necessary.