Since the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism, the US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) has captured the experiences of Soldiers as they conducted difficult operations across the world in a variety of important ways. Historical accounts of the US Army's campaigns play a critical role in this process by offering insights from the past to assist Soldiers with their current-and future-operational challenges. This volume, A Different Kind of War, is the first comprehensive study of the US Army's experience in Afghanistan during the first 4 years of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF). The work focuses on Army operations in the larger Joint and Coalition campaign that evolved between October 2001 and September 2005. Beginning with a description of the successful offensive against the Taliban regime, launched in late 2001 in response to the attacks of 9/11, the book then shifts to the less well-understood campaign that began in 2002 to establish a peaceful and politically stable Afghanistan. A Different Kind of War is balanced and honest. Its publication is particularly timely as both the Army and the Department of Defense are beginning to reassess and restructure the campaign in Afghanistan. This study will shed a great deal of light on the overall course of OEF. As the title suggests, the campaign in Afghanistan was unique. While its initial phases featured the use of small teams of Special Operations Forces and air power, the campaign after 2002 evolved into a broader effort in which conventional forces were responsible for the creation of security, reconstruction, and programs to train the Afghan Army. Overall, the story in these pages is one of a relatively small number of Soldiers conducting multifaceted operations on difficult terrain and within a complex cultural environment. A Different Kind of War was written in recognition of all the men and women who served in Afghanistan to bring stability and prosperity to that country while protecting the security of the United States. Their experiences chronicled in this book will help inform and educate all those who serve the Nation today and in the future.

This work chronicles the challenging task of bringing stability and representative government to the Iraqi city of Kirkuk after the fall of the Baathist regime. Although the plan for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF) required US forces to prepare to conduct stability operations at the end of combat operations, many commanders and their staffs rightfully focused on the offensive operations that were part of the initial invasion of Iraq. As a result many tactical units were not adequately manned or trained in civil-military lines of operation, such as governance, essential services, and the rule of law. Despite the lack of preparation, US Army units in the initial years of the campaign in Iraq were able to develop and implement ad hoc plans to install representative forms of government in the cities and provinces of Iraq with varying degrees of success.

The Combat Studies Institute presents The US Army in Kirkuk: Governance Operations on the Fault Lines of Iraqi Society, 2003-2009 by Dr. Pete Connors. This work chronicles the challenging task of bringing stability and representative government to the Iraqi city of Kirkuk after the fall of the Baathist regime. Although the plan for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF) required US forces to prepare to conduct stability operations at the end of combat operations, many commanders and their staffs rightfully focused on the offensive operations that were part of the initial invasion of Iraq. As a result many tactical units were not adequately manned or trained in civil-military lines of operation, such as governance, essential services, and the rule of law. Many commanders believed civilian teams from other US government agencies would assume responsibility for the new political order in postwar Iraq after the defeat of the Baathist regime. This assumption proved wrong and the responsibilities for creating new democratic governing bodies were in many cases given to tactical-level maneuver units. Despite the lack of preparation for what became known as Governance Operations, US Army units in the initial years of the campaign in Iraq were able to develop and implement ad hoc plans to install representative forms of government in the cities and provinces of Iraq with varying degrees of success. In the case of the city of Kirkuk, there was the added challenge of creating democratic governing bodies in the midst of serious ethnic turmoil. The smoldering hostilities were a constant source of friction that chronically threatened to bring down the representative forms of government created in the city. Dr. Connors' study is a systematic recounting of how the US Army approached the challenge of creating democratic local forms of government. This work, however, is more than just a chronicle of the many units that deployed and operated in Kirkuk. Dr. Connors offers an analysis of how US Army brigades and battalions assisted a foreign population to adopt democratic institutions and resolve conflicts without resorting to violence. These insights may be of value to future Soldiers who find themselves in similar situations.