Difference between revisions of "David Kilcullen"
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Kilcullen grew up on Sydney's north shore, the son of academics. He studied counterinsurgency as a cadet at Duntroon, served for more than 20 years in the Australian Army. He has been a military adviser to the Indonesian Special Forces in counterinsurgency, taught counterinsurgency tactics at the British School of Infantry, and served in peacekeeping operations in Cyprus and Bougainville. Kilcullen also commanded an Australian infantry company in counterinsurgency operations in East Timor and trained and led East Timorese forces after the independence vote in 1999. <ref>Rebecca Weisser, '[http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22263435-31477,00.html Strategist behind war gains]', ''The Australian'', 18 August 2007</ref> | Kilcullen grew up on Sydney's north shore, the son of academics. He studied counterinsurgency as a cadet at Duntroon, served for more than 20 years in the Australian Army. He has been a military adviser to the Indonesian Special Forces in counterinsurgency, taught counterinsurgency tactics at the British School of Infantry, and served in peacekeeping operations in Cyprus and Bougainville. Kilcullen also commanded an Australian infantry company in counterinsurgency operations in East Timor and trained and led East Timorese forces after the independence vote in 1999. <ref>Rebecca Weisser, '[http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22263435-31477,00.html Strategist behind war gains]', ''The Australian'', 18 August 2007</ref> | ||
| − | Kilcullen first took leave from Australia's Defence Department in 2004 to help the Pentagon with the drafting of the 2005 Quadrennial Defence Review, which determines the US's global defence strategy. Working inside the Pentagon in 2004, Kilcullen founded and led the US Government's inter-agency Irregular Warfare Working Group. <ref>Patrick Walters, '[http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20924816-2702,00.html Exceptional strategist is our man in Washington]', ''The Australian'', 14 December 2006</ref> | + | In 2004, according to ''The New Yorker'', Kilcullen’s writings and lectures brought him to the attention of an official working for Paul Wolfowitz, then the Deputy Secretary of Defense. <ref>George Packer, '[http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/12/18/061218fa_fact2 Knowing the Enemy]', ''The New Yorker'', 18 December 2006</ref> Kilcullen first took leave from Australia's Defence Department in 2004 to help the Pentagon with the drafting of the 2005 Quadrennial Defence Review, which determines the US's global defence strategy. Working inside the Pentagon in 2004, Kilcullen founded and led the US Government's inter-agency Irregular Warfare Working Group. <ref>Patrick Walters, '[http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20924816-2702,00.html Exceptional strategist is our man in Washington]', ''The Australian'', 14 December 2006</ref> |
After leaving the Australian Army as a lieutenant-colonel, Kilcullen returned to Washington to work as the chief strategist for [[Hank Crumpton]], then head of the Office of Counter-Terrorism. <ref>Patrick Walters, '[http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20924816-2702,00.html Exceptional strategist is our man in Washington]', ''The Australian'', 14 December 2006</ref> | After leaving the Australian Army as a lieutenant-colonel, Kilcullen returned to Washington to work as the chief strategist for [[Hank Crumpton]], then head of the Office of Counter-Terrorism. <ref>Patrick Walters, '[http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20924816-2702,00.html Exceptional strategist is our man in Washington]', ''The Australian'', 14 December 2006</ref> | ||
Revision as of 06:48, 26 May 2009
David J. Kilcullen is an adviser to the US government and a counterinsurgency writer.
Background
Kilcullen grew up on Sydney's north shore, the son of academics. He studied counterinsurgency as a cadet at Duntroon, served for more than 20 years in the Australian Army. He has been a military adviser to the Indonesian Special Forces in counterinsurgency, taught counterinsurgency tactics at the British School of Infantry, and served in peacekeeping operations in Cyprus and Bougainville. Kilcullen also commanded an Australian infantry company in counterinsurgency operations in East Timor and trained and led East Timorese forces after the independence vote in 1999. [1]
In 2004, according to The New Yorker, Kilcullen’s writings and lectures brought him to the attention of an official working for Paul Wolfowitz, then the Deputy Secretary of Defense. [2] Kilcullen first took leave from Australia's Defence Department in 2004 to help the Pentagon with the drafting of the 2005 Quadrennial Defence Review, which determines the US's global defence strategy. Working inside the Pentagon in 2004, Kilcullen founded and led the US Government's inter-agency Irregular Warfare Working Group. [3]
After leaving the Australian Army as a lieutenant-colonel, Kilcullen returned to Washington to work as the chief strategist for Hank Crumpton, then head of the Office of Counter-Terrorism. [4]
Counterinsurgency Theory
Kilcullen's PhD thesis was presented in 2000 and titled Political Consequences of Military Operations in Indonesia 1945 – 99. [5] The thesis explored the history of counterinsurgency in Indonesia and drew on Kilcullen's personal experences. [6]
Influence
According to briefings given in the US by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has 'been impressed by the work of' Kilcullen. [7]
He has worked with the US commander in Iraq, David Petraeus, on a handbook for the military on the ground to use as their guide. It has become "the equivalent of the Lonely Planet guide for an infantry fighting asymmetrical battles: a pragmatic, blunt and at times blackly humorous tract that has revolutionised the way the so-called war on terror is being fought." [8] His recipe for success in the Iraq morass seems to owe a debt to Lawrence of Arabia: "building local allies and forging partnerships and trusted networks with at-risk communities seems to be one of the keys to success – perhaps this is what T.E. Lawrence had in mind when he wrote that the art of guerrilla warfare with Arab tribes rests on 'building a ladder of tribes to the objective'." [9]
References
Resources
- Wikipedia David Kilcullen
- George Packer, 'Knowing the Enemy:Can social scientists redefine the “war on terror”?' The New Yorker, 18 December 2006
Notes
- ↑ Rebecca Weisser, 'Strategist behind war gains', The Australian, 18 August 2007
- ↑ George Packer, 'Knowing the Enemy', The New Yorker, 18 December 2006
- ↑ Patrick Walters, 'Exceptional strategist is our man in Washington', The Australian, 14 December 2006
- ↑ Patrick Walters, 'Exceptional strategist is our man in Washington', The Australian, 14 December 2006
- ↑ KILCULLEN David J. Political Consequences of Military Operations in Indonesia 1945 – 99. A fieldwork analysis of the political power-diffusion effects of guerilla conflict. PhD dissertation. School of Politics, University Collage, The University of New South Wales 2000.
- ↑ Karina Marczuk, 'A Visionary and a Practitioner: the Bernard Kouchner vs. David Kilcullen', Defence and Strategy, Volume 2/2007
- ↑ Matthew d'Ancona, 'Brown is leading the way in counter-terrorist thinking', Guardian, 2 August 2007
- ↑ Rebecca Weisser, 'Strategist behind war gains', The Australian, 18 August 2007
- ↑ D. Kilcullen, Small Wars Journal blog, 29 August 2007
