text: Chapter 11
  Working With Host-Nation Forces
  11-1. The use of security cooperation tools to build governmental capability, including building a host
  nation’s forces, may be essential. In the eyes of a local population, the credibility of the host-nation
  government is vital in counterinsurgency efforts to address the threat and conditions of instability. The host
  nation’s military, police, and paramilitary forces are often the most visible elements of a host-nation
  government’s power and authority. Therefore, building the capacity of a host nation’s security forces
  should work toward improving the security force’s competence, capability, commitment, and confidence.
  (See table 11-1.)
  Table 11-1. Developing a host-nation security force
  Developmental Area Developmental Indicators
  Competence Host-nation security forces must possess and demonstrate
  individual and collective skills in their respective warfighting or
  law enforcement tasks. They must also support institutional
  functions.
  Capability Host-nation security force organizations must be appropriately
  sized to accomplish their respective missions. A host-nation
  security force must be adequately manned and equipped at a
  level that is sustainable, given that host nation’s own resources.
  A host-nation security forces’ supporting institutions, such as
  their national level force generation and logistic agencies, must
  be organized and directed in a manner that adds value to the
  lower-level, host-nation security forces’ mission requirements.
  Commitment A host-nation security force must be committed to the peaceful
  transition of political power. It must also be committed to the
  security and survival of the state, the rule of law, the
  preservation of human rights, civil liberties for the population,
  and to fighting hard (when necessary) to defeat the active
  insurgency.
  Confidence A host-nation’s population must believe that its host-nation
  security forces’ actions are always in the best interests of the
  people. A host-nation government must believe that its
  host-nation security force supports that government’s legal
  authority. Also, the international community must see a host
  nation’s security force as a force for good that respects human
  rights and the international law of war.
  11-2. To enable a host-nation security force to conduct counterinsurgency operations, United States (U.S.)
  or multinational forces conduct various security cooperation activities. Commanders often view host-nation
  security force development as an essential task and one of their primary lines of effort. The resulting
  increase in a host nation’s ability to secure its own population yields significant benefits because
  host-nation troops are normally more effective in conducting operations among the local population than
  U.S. or multinational forces. Transitioning responsibility for operations to the host-nation security force
  reduces the visible presence of U.S. or multinational troops, further enhancing the legitimacy of the
  host-nation government.
  11-3. Security cooperation can be an effective means to shape and aid a host nation’s counterinsurgency
  efforts. In the case of El Salvador, the U.S. had limits on its level of direct involvement. The U.S. mainly