The Resister

The Political Warfare Journal of the Special Forces Underground

Volume III       Winter 1997       Number 3

RESISTANCE

Underground Organization Within Insurgency

(Part 2)

by Andrew R. Molnar, et alii

"This is a continuation on the principles of cell organization, begun in our last issue, and reprinted from one of the classics of unconventional warfare: Department of the Army Pamphlet No. 550-104, Human Factors Considerations of Undergrounds and Insurgencies, dated September 1966. Once again, we remind our gentle readers that many of the techniques described below derive from those of communist organizations, and merely describe what worked as documented by Mr. Andrew Molnar on behalf of the Special Operations Research Office, The American University, Washington D.C."

Parallel Cells

Parallel Cells are frequently set up to support a primary cell. (see figure 4.)  This is done for several reasons.  First, it takes a great deal of time to reestablish cells and if there is a continuous flow of information the underground must have a back up cell in case the primary cell is compromised.  Secondly, in intelligence, duplicate cells are needed to verify pieces of information and to check the reliability of sources.  Parallel cells were set up as a protective measure ....... In various front groups parallel cells are used for clandestine support of underground members in front organizations who are seeking positions of authority or responsibility.

Cells in Series

In order to carry out such functions as the manufacture of weapons, supply, escape and evasion, propaganda, and printing of newspapers, a division of labor is required.  In the Haganah, clandestine workshops were established to produce small arms.  Materials were purchased from regular commercial sources ....

A similar procedure is used in escape and evasion. The escape network is organized into a chain-like operation where the head of a safe home in the network knows only the next link in the chain and nothing more; and entire escape-and-evasion net is not known to any one individual.

In the Belgian underground six cells or sections were connected in a series to produce large-scale newspapers. One cell, composed of ......

Often cells are expanded or assembled for a short period to carry out specific, special-mission tasks.  In Denmark, small, six-man cells were increased to ten-man sabotage teams in order to carry out large-scale missions.  The network eventually included ten teams of ten men each.  This was the maximum strength allowed for security considerations.  In Greece, terror cells were organized for a particular mission and then dissolved in order to protect the security of the terrorist.

COMMAND AND CONTROL

Within any organization there is a need for coordination not simply at single points in time but over a duration of time.  The complexities of coordination require some central control. The many activities must be centralized in order to provide subordinate units with services that they cannot provide for themselves.  Such functions as strategy, collection of funds, procurement of supplies, and intelligence and security services are usually performed at some central agency.

In conventional organizations, centralization requires a high degree of coordination and coordination in turn requires a great deal of communication.  Communication is a serious vulnerability of most underground movements.  Frequent meetings, written messages, and records can be used by security forces to identify and destroy the underground organization.  There is a great deal of local autonomy with respect to specific actions which require adjustment to local conditions.  Tactical decisions are usually made independently by lower-echelon leaders in decentralized commands.  Generally, when higher commands issue orders, they communicate them to lower echelons in the form of mission-type orders --- orders which say "do whatever is necessary to maximize a certain objective function."

There are two factors that dictate this practice.  The first is that the local units probably know the situation better than the central command, and the second is the lower echelons are probably better prepared to make decisions with respect to implementation and time.  If a mission or action must be closely directed or there is a change in strategies .....

The high degree of decentralization, compartmentalization, mission-type orders and local autonomy of action is primarily a security measure to protect the organization from compromise and is most prominent in the early stages of the movement.  However, as the movement expands and the emphasis changes to overt action, main-force units are organized along the lines of conventional command and the underground units become less compartmentalized.  A centralized control structure with its direct orders tends to increase the effectiveness and speed of underground and guerrilla action.

There is generally a duplication of command structure with forward and rear elements playing roughly similar roles.  In Algeria ....

This dual principle of leadership for security reasons may even extend down to the operational level.

Insurgents organize their areas of responsibility and administrative boundaries so that they do not coincide with those of the security forces.  In this manner the insurgents take advantage of the interface problems which exists among government security forces.  In most organizations it is easier to send messages ......

One of the most important functions of the underground is the creation of shadow governments.

 

Link to more text from this article

CHRISTIANITY and the KKK

Definitive historical treatise on the militia in colonial America.

http://www.constitution.org/jw/jbwhisker.htm