Posted on Oct 30, 2018
Defying Stereotypes: The Untapped Potential of Integrating Female Reconnaissance Operators Into...
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"Most of the existing literature is centred on the use of SOF from the perspective of a militarily strong nation-state, i.e. the US or the UK. There is a gap in the academic literature concerning the use and development of SOF capabilities from a small state perspective. This gap includes research on the utility of SOF for a small state, both at the tactical and the operational level, and perhaps more importantly as a strategic instrument to stay competitive in a modern and complex security environment (Eriksson & Pettersson, 2017).
The modest academic debate on SR is dominated by technological advances and equipment, such as remotely piloted Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms. The technological aspects of SR have stolen the attention from the more traditional SR conducted by humans, using more rudimentary technological means (Westberg, 2016, pp.1-25). The future of SR will undoubtedly rely heavily on technology, and the academic debate should reflect this. However, there will always be a need for humans and inter-human interaction in intelligence gathering and reconnaissance. Technological advances do not replace the need for humans; rather, the two complement each other. No matter how effective a technological asset is, some intelligence question cannot be answered through technical means (Cline, 2005, p.588). On that account, the academic and operational attention to human SR should not be neglected. "
The modest academic debate on SR is dominated by technological advances and equipment, such as remotely piloted Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms. The technological aspects of SR have stolen the attention from the more traditional SR conducted by humans, using more rudimentary technological means (Westberg, 2016, pp.1-25). The future of SR will undoubtedly rely heavily on technology, and the academic debate should reflect this. However, there will always be a need for humans and inter-human interaction in intelligence gathering and reconnaissance. Technological advances do not replace the need for humans; rather, the two complement each other. No matter how effective a technological asset is, some intelligence question cannot be answered through technical means (Cline, 2005, p.588). On that account, the academic and operational attention to human SR should not be neglected. "
Defying Stereotypes: The Untapped Potential of Integrating Female Reconnaissance Operators Into...
Posted from smallwarsjournal.com
Special Operations
Tactics
Foreign Forces
Warfare
Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 3
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Time for large army formations then the development of new land warfare equipment and techniques.
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Fundamental values in SOF’s nature are innovation and ambition, i.e. having the ability to adapt to and overcome any task at hand (JP 3-05, 2014). Female operators will provide operational flexibility and diversity to NORSOF, thereby increasing the SR capacity in future conflicts. This is true for other small state NATO SOF as well, thus a natural next step is to integrate women in professional operational functions, first and foremost in SR.
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LTC Eric Udouj
Maybe the best point of this article was taking on the view from the small nation perspective - and not the standard US/UK perspective, Doing that makes the point even more effective in the need for intergration.
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