Pentagon formalizes conventional forces’ role in irregular warfare, but will it stick?

A recent Pentagon directive officially broadens the responsibility of irregular warfare (IW) well beyond the remit of special operations forces, in a move that former practicioners and experts said could be a significant development for America’s posture in the gray zone — but only if there’s real-world follow through.

At the end of September, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby signed off on an updated Department of Defense Instruction for Irregular Warfare, stating that irregular warfare “is a joint force activity conducted by conventional forces and special operations forces.”

The dry language, experts told Breaking Defense, amounts to the formalization of a push the military has been attempting, with limited success, for years.

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