*NEW* Semi-Annual Lesson Report: Defense Support to Stabilization – October 2024

DoD’s core responsibility during stabilization is to support and reinforce the civilian efforts of the USG lead agencies consistent with available statutory authorities, primarily by providing security, maintaining basic public order, and providing for the immediate needs of the population. DoD’s role in stabilization fits within the larger whole of government context of laws, regulations and policies.

This lesson collection offers some insight into topics and concepts the DoD should recognize or consider as it plans and programs itself to partner with other federal agencies across the stabilization spectrum.

This publication presents DSS opportunities and challenges both externally and internally.

WPS in the Military News Round Up: July

WPS in the Military News Round-Up: July features articles on the US Army Marksmanship Unit’s connection to the Olympic Games Readiness Center-Honshu, an exhibit by Ukrainian NGO ‘Arm Women Now’ at NATO HQ, and the appointment of a new Army Reserve Ambassador to New York. For more on these stories and other WPS-related military news, click on the link.

Note: The articles in the WPS News Round Up are provided for your situational awareness, only. The contents do not reflect the official views of, nor are they endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, or PKSOI.

WPS in the Military News Round Up: May

This month’s issue of WPS in the Military News Round Up: May includes articles on U.S. Army advances in WPS through key events, how gender equality is a marker of peace and security, and how Naval Special Warfare Command’s security cooperation training center recognizes that addressing all aspects of a society is not simply a matter of equity, but rather a matter of strategic importance.

Click on the link below to read this month’s Round Up:

Note: The articles in the WPS News Round Up are provided for your situational awareness, only. The contents do not reflect the official views of, nor are they endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, or PKSOI.

WPS in the Military News Round Up: April

WPS in the Military News Round Up: April includes articles on USARIEM research on optimizing female warfighters, applying a gender perspective to Artificial Intelligence risks to national security, and a DOD committee recommendation for the Marine Corps to fully gender integrate recruit training.

Note: The articles in the WPS News Round Up are provided for your situational awareness, only. The contents do not reflect the official views of, nor are they endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, or PKSOI.

To read WPS News Round Up, click on the link below.

WPS in the Military News Round Up: February

This month’s WPS in the Military News Round Up: February includes articles on the WPS implications for conflicts to watch in 2024; the most recent U.S. Army Southern European Task Force-Africa (SETAF-AF) WPS efforts; and almost 30 years later, the names of the first female fighter pilots to fly combat missions are finally revealed. For these and more WPS news, click on the link below.

Note: The WPS in the Military News Round Up provides the U.S. Army WPS community of interest with a monthly round up of articles to raise awareness and knowledge of military-related WPS efforts and initiatives. The articles in the WPS News Round Up are provided for your situational awareness, only. The contents do not reflect the official views of, nor are they endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, or PKSOI.

WPS in the Military News Round Up: January

WPS in the Military News Round Up: January features articles on the Army’s first active-duty female sniper, integrating a gender perspective in cognitive warfare, and maternal and reproductive health in wartime. For these and other WPS-related news, see the link below.

Note: The WPS in the Military News Round Up from PKSOI provides the U.S. Army WPS community of interest with a monthly round up of articles to raise awareness and knowledge of WPS. The articles in the WPS News Round Up are provided for your situational awareness, only, and are not endorsed by DOD, the Army, CAC, or PKSOI.

View these and other articles at the link below.

DOD INSTRUCTION 3000.17 CIVILIAN HARM MITIGATION AND RESPONSE

On 21 December 2023, the Department of Defense released the DOD Instruction on Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response, which establishes the Department’s enduring policies, responsibilities, and procedures for mitigating and responding to civilian harm. This DOD Instruction is a milestone in the implementation of the 25 August 2022 Secretary of Defense Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan (CHMR-AP). The issuance of this policy continues the process of improving the Department’s approach to mitigating and responding to civilian harm, including by formalizing DOD policies, responsibilities, and procedures related to CHMR and by creating a reinforcing framework of processes and institutions which will improve strategic outcomes and optimize military operations. 

The DOD Instruction further ensures operational commanders are supported with institutional resources, tools, and capabilities to effectively implement law of war protections of civilians, and to enable further steps to protect civilians and to respond appropriately when civilian harm occurs. 

In addition to the issuance of the DOD Instruction, the Department has created the Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response website in accordance with the CHMR-AP, which will serve as a repository for DOD policies, reports and other information related to civilian harm mitigation. The website also provides a link to the previously published webpage with guidance for reporting civilian casualties. Click on link below to access the Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response website:

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3624661/dod-announces-release-of-department-of-defense-instruction-and-website-on-civil/

Click on the link below for DOD INSTRUCTION 3000.17 CIVILIAN HARM MITIGATION AND RESPONSE.

https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/300017p.PDF?ver=EaU00OCh3Y07Kiu5BYOTYw%3d%3d

WPS in the Military News Round Up: December

The December WPS in the Military news round up includes articles highlighting how to implement a gender perspective in Haiti efforts, identified gaps in the campaign to end conflict-related sexual violence, and South Dakota Army National Guard’s first female Native American sergeant major.

Note: The WPS in the Military News Round Up from PKSOI provides the U.S. Army WPS community of interest with a monthly round up of articles to raise awareness and knowledge of WPS. The articles in the WPS News Round Up are provided for your situational awareness, only, and are not endorsed by DOD, the Army, CAC, or PKSOI.

View these and other articles at the link below.

WPS in the Military News Round Up: November

Highlights for the WPS in the Military News Round Up: November include articles on how WPS is a matter of international security, not just a personnel issue, for the military; how Women, Peace, and Security can help counter PRC influence in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility; and a report on the strategic, operational, and tactical applications of WPS principles in DoD.

View these and other articles at the link below.

Note: The WPS in the Military News Round Up from PKSOI provides the U.S. Army WPS community of interest with a monthly round up of articles to raise awareness and knowledge of WPS. The articles in the WPS News Round Up are provided for your situational awareness, only, and are not endorsed by DOD, the Army, CAC, or PKSOI.

Semi-Annual Lesson Report: Information Advantage in Peace and Stability October 2023

Information is necessary to make decisions. It is a logical assumption that more information leads to more successful outcomes. Therefore, decision-makers of all levels and professional fields seek more data. Yet, it is increasingly obvious that more data does not always result in an information advantage over competitors. The policymakers and practitioners engaged in peace and security efforts face the same information advantage challenges and opportunities as any other global societal entity. Big Data overwhelms everyone; picking the right data to call information is often the proverbial needle-in-a-haystack.

To address the data haystack, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General promotes the UN’s Data Strategy with “focus not on process, but on learning…to deliver data use cases that add value for stakeholders based on our vision, outcomes and principles” and it recognizes potential “shifts in people and culture, partnerships, data governance and technology.” Yet, despite an international entity’s published strategy, a group-effort information advantage conundrum—no matter the level or depth of an organization—is that the word information and all its related terms have distinct meanings. At the same time, the differences in meaning are often too dense or nuanced for the average person to find useful… Beyond the plethora of information-related terms and definitions to confound users, some terms are burdened by prejudice. A classic example of a prejudicial term is the word intelligence, for which many societal entities disdain. Yet intelligence is commonly understood as analyzed information. Or, as one source describes, intelligence is information “that is capable of being understood,” “with added value,” and “evaluated in context to its source and reliability.” Therefore, the contempt for the term seems irrational unless one understands the underlying principles for it.

The US Army’s updated doctrine, ADP 3-13, Information, publication pending, acknowledges the conundrum of terms and definitions. Referring to the draft document, one advocate notes that “Information means different things depending on context,” but the projected doctrine intends to “provide a foundation for thinking about information and the information dimension, as well as a framework for how Army forces, as part of a joint force, gain and maintain an information ad­vantage.”

Please click on links below to open or download the Semi-Annual Lesson Report: