INTRODUCTION
GAIN ATTENTION
During the recent past, terrorists have committed acts of extreme violence in an attempt to further a variety of goals. As representatives of the United States, we are all potential targets of a terrorist attack.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this period of instruction is to examine the principles and philosophies of terrorism and to aid the student in understanding the motivations and method of operations of terrorists.
INDIVIDUAL TRAINING STANDARDS
MISSION PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
TERMINAL LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Without aid of reference and in accordance with MCRP 3-02D, understand and discuss the principles and philosophies of terrorism.
ENABLING LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Know the definition of terrorism.
2. Know the various ideologies which bind terrorists together as a group.
3. Know the goals of terrorism.
4. Know how most terrorist groups are organized.
5. Know the characteristics of terrorist groups.
6. Know the phases of a terrorist incident.
7. Know the common types of terrorist acts.
8. Know the weapons used by terrorists.
METHOD AND MEDIA
This period of instruction will be taught by lecture, aided by a video and Powerpoint presentation.
TESTING
This period of instruction will be evaluated through practical application during situational training exercises.
TRANSITION
Now that we have looked at our learning objectives let’s examine the definition of terrorism and our overview of the terrorist threat.
BODY
1. Terrorism: The unlawful use, or threat of use, of force or violence against individuals or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political and/or ideological objectives.
2. Terrorist Group: Any organization that uses terrorism in a systematic way to achieve its goals.
3. Ideologies: Ideology is defined as a collection of beliefs or values of an individual, group or culture. It is the ideology that binds the terrorist group together and provides the group justification of the use of violence to achieve its objectives. Examples of ideologies include political, religious and special interest.
4. Long Range Goals of Terrorism:
a. Revolutionary: To force the complete overthrow of an existing government.
b. Sub-revolutionary: To influence the government against its will to change certain political, social or economic aspects of the country.
c. Establishment: Terrorism used by a government against its own people to protect its control of the country.
5. Intermediate Goals of Terrorism
a. To obtain worldwide or local recognition of its cause.
b. To force an overreaction by the government which in turn, can cause the people to resent government imposed restrictions on freedom.
c. To harass, weaken or embarrass government security forces.
d. To obtain money or equipment.
e. To destroy facilities or disrupt lines of communication and transportation.
f. To influence government decisions.
g. To free prisoners.
h. To revenge.
i. To turn the tide in an ongoing guerrilla war.
6. Internal Organization of Terrorist Groups
The driving consideration in how a terrorist group is organized is security. The basic operational unit is the cell. While the size of a cell can vary, a working figure of 3-5 members is normally used. The operational cell is the action arm of the group. The intelligence cell is very well trained and performs reconnaissance and surveillance. The auxiliary cell provides logistics and is normally larger and less compartmentalized than the other cells. Due to the clandestine nature of the cells, members of adjacent cells usually do not know one another or the identity of those who are in leadership positions. This compartmentalization is used to ensure operational security.
7. Characteristics of Terrorist Groups
a. Covert operations.
b. Avoid decisive engagements.
c. Highly mobile.
d. Usually urban based.
e. Seek to intimidate population through fear.
f. Military weaker than forces they oppose.
g. Simple operations, usually “hit and run”.
h. Multiple targets considered, act as diversion for primary target.
i. Targets picked that are weak or ill prepared.
8. Phases of a Terrorist Incident.
a. Pre-incident Phase: Terrorist leaders make decision on type of operation and what they want to gain from it. Plan is based on extensive surveillance and intelligence. The Plan is usually backed up with contingency plans to ensure success. Extensive and thorough planning to include rehearsals.
b. Initiation Phase: Initiation marks the physical move to begin the operation. Similar to Marines “crossing the line of departure” during offensive operations.
d. Negotiation Phase: In an operation where they have taken a tangible item, such as a hostage, this is when the negotiations take place.
e. Post-incident Phase: This last phase is extremely important to the terrorists. They will regroup and discuss the operation to determine whet went well and what went wrong. These lessons learned will impact future operations. This is also the phase where the group may attempt to exploit the media coverage of the incident.
9. Common Terrorist Acts
a. Bombings (courier, proxy, decoy, vehicle, suicide, letter, etc.)
10. Common Terrorist Weapons
Generally terrorists choose weapons according to availability, conceal ability, firepower and simplicity. Some common types are:
a. TT-33mm single action automatic pistols
QUESTIONS
Name the most common types of terrorist incidents.
SUMMARY
The most evident characteristics of terrorist operations are that they are well planned and violently executed. Terrorists go to great lengths to ensure success in an operation. Knowledge of the mechanics involved in the planning and execution of these incidents can form the basis that leads to a better situational awareness when we are deployed to areas where the terrorist threat is high.
The MOUT Homepage Hot Links:
Force Protection and Antiterrorism Student Handout (Marine Corps Infantry Officer Course)
Force Protection (CALL)
The MOUT Homepage Terrorism Site
TSP 191-C-0005 Implement Basic Measures to Reduce your Vulnerability to Terrorist Acts/Attacks (TRADOC)
Marine Corps Security Guard (MSG) Heroism in Kenya and Tanzania
Defending the Troops (GovExec.Com)
The MOUT Homepage Comments Site
b. Kidnappings
c. Skyjacking
d. Hijacking
e. Assassination
f. Armed assaults
g. Arson
h. Maiming
b. VZ-63 Scorpion 7.65 machine pistol
c. AK series of assault rifles
d. MAC-10
e. MP-5 series of machine guns
f. Standoff weapons such as suitcase-sized wire guided missiles, shoulder fired rockets and truck mounted mortars
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