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Welcome to the HTS Home Page
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The Human Terrain System (HTS) Project is an Army-led, OSD supported
initiative to provide sociocultural teams to commanders and staffs at the Army
Brigade Combat Team (BCT) / USMC Regimental Combat Team (RCT), Army Division /
Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), & Corps / Theater levels, in order to improve
the understanding of the local population and apply this understanding to the
Military Decision-Making Process (MDMP).
Mission Statement:
Task:Recruit, train, deploy, and support an embedded, operationally
focused sociocultural capability; conduct operationally relevant,
sociocultural research and analysis; develop and maintain a sociocultural
knowledge base
Purpose: Support operational decision-making, enhance operational
effectiveness, and preserve and share sociocultural institutional knowledge.
The HTS concept is to attach Human Terrain Teams (HTTs) to deployed
BCTs / RCTs, Divisions, & Corps/theater, and support them with a CONUS-based
Reach-back Research Center (RRC). The Human Terrain System uses empirical
sociocultural research and analysis to fill a large operational decision-making
support gap. This research provides current, accurate, and reliable data
generated by on-the-ground research on the specific social groups in the
supported unit’s operating environment. This human terrain knowledge provides a
sociocultural foundation for the staff’s support to the Commander’s Military
Decision Making Process (MDMP), both in planning and execution. It also enables
a more effective rotation of forces through the creation and maintenance of an
enduring, sociocultural knowledge base.
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Supported Commander & Staff Testimonials :
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“...their ability to assess the population through
engagement meetings with local officials, provincial government officials, and
tribal leaders has increased ISAF’s ability to better understand the average
persons’ perspective. This “grass-roots” perspective provided by HTTs offers a
more robust and clear picture of the needs of the entire population, which is
then incorporated into ISAF’s decision-making processes to increase positive
outcomes.”
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--BG David C. Gillian (AUS), Deputy DCOS Intel, HQ ISAF
(AUG10)
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"The number one performance measure is whether I can
pry them (HTTs) out of the commander’s hands when I need to reallocate them on
the battlefield. I can tell you I have not been successful, not once…there is a
desire to have this capability in the battlespace”.
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--MG Flynn, ISAF C/J2, AUG 2010 (Source: Socio-cultural data
to accomplish Department of Defense missions, Workshop Summary)
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“The key for human terrain teams is to help us
understand so we can decide which action to take or whether any action is even
appropriate. The other enabling capabilities serve to take action based on this
understanding. This knowledge provides the baseline. It is all about
understanding.”
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--BG Vance (CAN), Commander TF Kandahar (23JUL10)
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“I asked my Brigade Commanders what was the number one
thing they would have liked to have had more of, and they all said cultural
knowledge.”
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--LTG Peter Chiarelli, Commanding General, Multi-National
Corps-Iraq
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“Detailed knowledge of host populations is critical in
areas where U.S. forces are being increased to conduct counterinsurgency and
stability operations in Iraq. U.S. forces continue to operate in Iraq without
real-time, detailed knowledge of the drivers of behavior within the host
populations. This greatly limits Commanders’ situational awareness and creates
greater risks for forces. This human terrain knowledge deficiency exists at all
command echelons.”
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--LTG Ray Odierno, Commanding General, Multi-National
Corps-Iraq
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“Protect and serve the population.
The Iraqi people are the decisive ‘terrain’. Enable our Iraqi partners to
provide security and help the people of Iraq to invest and take pride in their
communities. Foster local governance, provision of basic services, maintenance
of infrastructure, and economic revitalization.
Understand the complexity of the conflict. The environment in which we
operate is complex and demands that we employ every weapon in our arsenal, both
kinetic and non-kinetic. To fully utilize all approaches, we must understand the
local culture and history. Learn about the tribes, formal and informal leaders,
governmental and religious structures, and local security forces. We must
understand how the society functions so we can enable Iraqis to build a stable,
self-reliant nation.”
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--GEN Odierno’s COIN Guidance Source: Army G2 Info
Paper to OSD, 8 Oct 08
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