Somalia Operations: Lessons Learned [Paperback]

Kenneth Allard (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"The American mission in Somalia presented U. S. forces with a variety of difficult operational challenges as they tried to bring peace to a county ravaged by natural and man-made disasters. After initial success in the summer of 1992 in restoring order and saving thousands of lives, American soldiers clashed with Somali forces and were withdrawn in the spring of 1994. In the months that followed, we have studied what the Somalia experience can teach us about peace missions and learned how we might improve our capabilities across the spectrum of joint operations.

"This book represents the first time a new tool - the Joint Universal Lessons Learned System - is being used to evaluate an operation in its totality. With it, Colonel Kenneth Allard assesses the operation from its early stages of humanitarian relief through the de facto combat of peace enforcement. He has organized the lessons learned for ease of reading and enlivened them with numerous concrete and anecdotal examples. Although focused on the operational level, the insights of this study should be of interest to strategists and policymakers as well.

"Lessons are only truly learned when we incorporate them into our planning, doctrine, tactics, and training - a process which can take some time. The author has taken the essential first step by identifying and articulating the hard lessons of Somalia with candor and objectivity. But even as we resolve not to repeat mistakes, we should not allow the tragic events in the latter stages of our Somalia operations to obscure the many things we did right. These too are lessons, ones to build upon as we prepare to meet further challenges in the complex world of peace operations."

Ervin J. Rokke Lieutenant General, United States Air Force President, National Defense University

Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Univ Pr of the Pacific (April 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898758858
• ISBN-13: 978-0898758856
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,214,026 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Read for Policy Makers, Peace Keepers & NGO's, January 19, 2002

By 

S. Miska (Germany) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Somalia Operations: Lessons Learned (Paperback)

Kenneth Allard presents a succinct analysis of some of the challenges of operating in peace keeping deployments. He traces lessons learned through the planning, deployment, operations and support phases of the three different Somalia missions from August 1992 to March 1994. Relying on joint military doctrine, he compares the actual reports generated during and after the missions to the theoretical and doctrinal concepts of how operations should occur. Although his emphasis focuses on the military aspects of the Somalia missions, it includes ideas on interactions with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's) like the Red Cross, coalition partners, and belligerents. The focus on civil military operations is especially relevant to civil affairs and psychological operations professionals.

Useful aspects of the book are the appendices which include a listing of humantiarian relief organizations that were in country, as well as the missions and structure of the Civil Military Operations Center (CMOC). The book also includes charts which outline the command relationships within the different Joint Task Forces (JTF's) established. Notably absent from Somalia Operations: Lessons Learned are footnotes and an index. Although Allard includes a selected bibliography in appendix A, it mainly serves to direct the military leader to sources of further reading. The lack of footnotes prevents scholars from reviewing the exact location of sources quoted within the book. Regardless, the book admirably draws heavily from quotes of senior leaders and after action reports.

This is a must read for any military professional who will deploy into a peace keeping environment like the Balkans. Also, leaders working within multinational humanitarian relief agencies and coalition forces will benefit from reviewing U.S. lessons learned in Somalia. These lessons are bound to be repeated if we don't learn from past mistakes.

Highly recommended.