The Mission-Demand-Support framework: Mission - to define the
mission and the goals to be achieved; Demand - to demand from the
soldiers/units the required standards in order to achieve the
stated mission; Support - to provide soldiers/units with the
necessary and appropriate support in terms of knowledge, expertise
and resources.
A classic failure in Mission-Demand-Support senario;
10 Sep 2009 - WASHINGTON - FOUR US Marines died in an Afghan
battle after their commanders rejected requests for
artillery fire under new rules designed to protect
civilians, US media reported on Wednesday.
A team of Marines made repeated appeals for air and artillery
support after coming under fire in the village of Ganjgal in
eastern Kunar province on Tuesday, McClatchy newspapers
reported.
US commanders declined the request for artillery fire, citing
new rules that seek to minimize civilian casualties, a McClatchy
journalist accompanying the American unit reported.
Air power, in the form of helicopters, only arrived after more
than an hour 'despite earlier assurances that air cover would be
five minutes away,' McClatchy's Jonathan Landay wrote.
The top commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, General
Stanley McChrystal, has issued new rules for combat and the use of
air raids in a bid to prevent civilian deaths.
Gen McChrystal has warned that civilian casualties caused by the
Nato-led force risk alienating the Afghan population and
jeopardising the war effort.
But the general and other top military officials have said air
support and fire power would not be restricted when US troops were
under direct threat.
Tuesday's firefight in eastern Afghanistan involved a 13-member
team of US Marine and Army trainers assigned to the Afghan national
army, the report said.
Eight Afghan soldiers and police and an Afghan interpreter also
died in the battle, which lasted for hours with insurgents
unleashing a barrage of gunfire and rockets from mountain
positions, the report said.
When an Afghan soldier demanded helicopter gunships, US Major
Kevin Williams replied through an interpreter: 'We are pinned down.
We are running low on ammo. We have no air. We've lost today.' The
Americans were assisting Afghan forces in an operation that called
for Afghans searching the hamlet for weapons and then meeting
village elders to plan police patrols.
But US officers suspected insurgents were tipped off about the
operation ahead of time, as the coalition and Afghan forces were
ambushed as they approached the outskirts of the hamlet at dawn,
the report said. -- AFP
Man on the ground suffers...