text: Chapter 2
  Phase III—War of Movement
  2-83. The third phase of an insurgency normally begins when insurgents believe they have superior
  strength and their military forces attempt conventional operations to destroy the government’s military
  capability. Insurgent efforts may include—
  • Combining guerrilla forces and training them to fight as conventional forces. Over time, these
  conventional forces form multiple echelons. These forces confront the counterinsurgents
  in conventional battle.
  • Acquiring more powerful and sophisticated weapons through foreign assistance or capture.
  • Obtaining support from external combat forces, such as special or conventional forces.
  • Expanding areas of insurgent control and increasing political activity.
  2-84. Not all insurgencies progress through all three phases, and linear progression through all three
  phases is certainly not a requirement for success. Insurgent success can occur in any phase. Also,
  insurgencies can revert to an earlier phase and resume development when favorable conditions return.
  Insurgent success can occur in any phase.
  2-85. Movement from one phase to another phase does not end the operational and tactical activities
  of earlier phases; it incorporates them. Therefore, it is difficult to determine when an insurgency moves
  from one phase to another. In addition, a single insurgency may be in different phases in different parts of
  the country. Advanced insurgencies can rapidly shift, split, combine, or reorganize—they are dynamic
  and adaptive.
  ORGANIZATIONAL AND OPERATIONAL PATTERNS
  2-86. Insurgencies develop organizational and operational patterns from the interaction of many factors.
  Although each insurgency organization is unique, there are often similarities among them and knowing the
  commonly accepted general patterns or strategies of insurgency helps in predicting the tactics
  and techniques they may employ against the government. Other considerations include the operational
  environment, level of success of the insurgency, and the length of time an insurgency has been operating.
  A counterinsurgent must learn about the insurgency and adapt to it based off its operational
  organizational patterns.
  2-87. Insurgent organizational and operational patterns vary widely between one province or urban area
  and another. Different insurgent groups using different methods may form loose coalitions when it serves
  their interests. These groups may also fight among themselves. The result is more than just a “three-block
  war”—it is a shifting, “mosaic war” that is difficult for counterinsurgents to envision as a whole. In such
  situations, an effective COIN strategy must be multifaceted and flexible. Insurgents gain ground by sowing
  chaos and disorder anywhere. Counterinsurgents lose ground by failing to maintain stability order
  everywhere. Insurgents normally begin substantially weaker than the established government. This sets the
  tone for how they operate and how they fight
  Section IV—STRATEGIES
  Even if modern insurgencies use more than one doctrinal model or theory for their strategy, aspects of these
  strategies and recognizable characteristics do exist. The six common insurgent strategies are urban,
  military-focused, protracted popular war, identity-focused, conspiratorial, and composite and coalition. At the
  tactical level, a counterinsurgent will deal usually only with the urban, military-focused, and protracted popular
  war strategies. These insurgent strategies provide a common frame of reference for the counterinsurgent. The
  savvy counterinsurgent can identify if an insurgency is using one or a combination of the strategies. Knowing
  what strategy the insurgents are using facilitates the anticipation of insurgent courses of action (COAs).