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Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School

The good, the bad, and the ugly: selecting and vetting indigenous leaders

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Determining who is the right indigenous leader for U.S. forces to work with in a complex environment during irregular and unconventional warfare is a complicated endeavor, affected by countless factors. Selecting, vetting, and influencing indigenous leaders in foreign countries has been a key task of U.S. Special Operations Forces since its inception, but to date Special Operations Forces often struggles with mastering this, as evidenced by recent experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. The primary aim of this thesis is to improve this capability. To assist with the future selection and vetting of indigenous leaders, this thesis introduces a leader selection heuristic. It is the authors contention is that to find the right individual requires correctly identifying particular attributes, features, and behaviors in both the individual and the environment.

Degree

thesis:*
Department dc:contributor.department
Defense Analysis (DA)
Grantor dc:publisher
Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School
Year dc:date.issued
2013

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Authors dc:creator
  • Reed, Donald K.
  • Upperman, Matthew P.
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Simons, Anna

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier.uri
https://hdl.handle.net/10945/38999
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:calhoun.nps.edu:10945/38999

Chain of custody

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Naval Postgraduate School
Base URL
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Last updated
2026-07-27
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citation

Reed, Donald K.; Upperman, Matthew P.. The good, the bad, and the ugly: selecting and vetting indigenous leaders. Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School, 2013. https://hdl.handle.net/10945/38999