The Rise of the Decentralized Commando
Decentralization has been the future of nearly every industry for quite some time, are commandos next?
Commando: a combatant/operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force using dedicated operation techniques.
When the term first appeared in the Boer wars, the word ‘commando’ referred to a unit of such men. Due to common usage among civilians after popularization of such units’ exploits of the Second World War, the term came to refer to an individual in such a unit. As time began to shift forward, the commandos themselves became more individualized and smaller in numbers. The commando almost completely juxtaposes the ideas and images society has of a soldier, conducting brief and violent raids with mission specific gear to accomplish a simple objective within their small scope of operating capabilities.
Commandos in the public eye operate primarily in teams of anywhere from 4 to 40 at a time. The romantic visions of the one man asset saving the day are most often portrayed by Tom Clancy, and have been seen as entertaining, yet unrealistic works of pure fiction. In Kenya, however, the once fictional lone commando appeared to save the day from the 2013 Westgate shopping mall shooting attack in Nairobi, Kenya perpetrated by the Al-Shabaab terrorist group.
He, appeared in the form of 22nd SAS veteran, Chris Craighead, who was on contract to train the Kenyan special forces in the nearby area. Quickly donning gear and tooling up with a Colt Canada C8, the hero of the day rushed in, saving countless civilians and neutralizing the terrorists over the course of the 19 hour attack. While not the only commando present that day, his actions alone overshadowed those of the Kenyan forces, as well as the US Navy SEALs who later arrived. His actions gave us a highly public reminder, that one person with the right skills in the right place can make all the difference in the world.
Beginning largely with Bitcoin and the block chain at large, decentralization has been the argument among industry leaders across every field since the coin’s popularization. LBRY has put this into practice with a YouTube style, HAM radio already facilitates it by nature, and it’s been the longstanding practice by any clandestine organization.
What happens when the commando we saw in Kenya is no longer a rarely seen spectacle?
From a historical military perspective, decentralization whenever introduced, has been an overall net benefit for the side employing it. The United States has, in it’s short history, employed this command structure since it’s inception. In fact, most of it’s military losses can be attributed to the downsides of centralized command it’s adopted since WW2.
Decentralization won so many wars, the Marine Corps implements it as doctrine, at least now in theory. In an effort to not strain the already small branch’s numbers, each unit is expected to (once again, in theory these days) provide for it’s own security to the same defensive standard as an infantry unit. There are many examples in recent history of this happening from artillery units in Vietnam, to Marine Air Stations in Afghanistan. Having a force that can both perform specific skill sets and maintain security/fight offensively as a crew is one of the biggest force multipliers overlooked in today’s world of abundance. As every government institution has, the Marine Corps only pays lip service to this model as of late.
The armed populace however, is a different story.
It’s been well discussed how much better trained the average citizen is in simple marksmanship than the average Marine, let alone any local cop. Here’s how that gap can be even further widened, even surpassing the likes of the secretive “Delta Force” and other Tier 1 units in overall skills. One glimpse at the broad list of training Delta Force goes through, for the sake of this example, is all information available not just online, but in the form of classes closer to the average person than previously thought.
Marksmanship, demolitions/breaching, trade craft, and executive protection as listed, are all skills easy to source materials for, and practice on your own. Thanks to the internet, 3D printers, CNCs, and the wealth of knowledge on every subject you’d ever need widely available, quite literally anyone willing and capable of learning can indeed become their own commando. The balance of power isn’t just shifting due to decentralized arms or information, but decentralized end goals. One self made, self equipped commando, with knowledge of the above in addition to (but far from limited to) medical, intelligence analysis/gathering, communications, field craft, participation in BJJ, UFC, MMA or another fighting sport, can mark the same importance as 1000 basically trained grunts in the same position with none of the noise and all of the OPSEC.
All of these factors combined, whether we knew it or not, gave birth to the decentralized commando. An individual motivated by any number of factors, from money and adventure, to revenge or preparedness, he or she has devoted time and resources to become not just their own protection, but intelligence and direct action agency. Whether they contract for the state, or simply lay dormant at about their daily life, they’re out there, and to the misfortune of tyrannical states worldwide, they’re here to stay.
While the recent Haitian plot on the late tyrant, President Jovenel Moïse, was most likely a state sponsored operation of some sort these are all things to ponder, we are left to wonder if the next happenings can be so easily dismissed as ‘lone wolves’. With the theater of war worldwide now set in clandestine activity, any interested party down to the individual can affect more change at this juncture in history than two battalions in 1945 ever could. If this is the first true mention of the Decentralized Commando, get comfortable, because we’re not even in those woods yet.
Awesome shit
It's as I told two older gentlemen last week, "if the civilian population doesn't militarize, we're going to be in trouble". I'll be passing this along. Good stuff.