Irregular warfare is not what you think it is. In fact, to understand it, think bigger. That’s the message in a new video on the topic from the U.S. Army’s special warfare school. It’s a slick, ominous clip, but one that was quietly released onto social media on Thursday, Sept. 26 by the United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.
The video, simply titled “irregular warfare clip,” starts simple, with a musician playing on a violin and pastoral shots of a family playing near fields. As a clock ticks in the background, those cut to militant scenes. Aerial reconnaissance of cityscapes, combat footage in urban areas, including night vision shots, plus tanks firing. As the music builds, those idyllic scenes appear only briefly.
Watch for yourself:
Irregular warfare, according to the Army’s special warfare school, is several things. Chaotic. Multidimensional. A contest of power and influence. One description that lingers is “strategic competition,” set over images of the Earth from space. The term, the United States’ go-to phrase for its contest for influence with China, comes seconds after a notable shot of the Hong Kong skyline.
The video also features several bits of footage showing what the Army considers ideological battlefields and places where the U.S. is fighting for influence. There are shots of protests, from people marching in the streets — seemingly from 2020 — to protestors standing on barriers with fire in the background. Instead of soldiers in combat gear, the last half of the video includes suited figures in political offices. There are also several scientific aspects, from rocket engine ignition sequences to items being crafted on 3D printers. As the text next describes irregular warfare as “unity of effort,” footage of a conductor leading a symphony ties together some of the ideas. Irregular warfare is a big picture matter, not limited just to actual combat battlefields.
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It’s not clear what the purpose of the video is, if it’s an internal training tool for soldiers at SWCS or meant for wider release. At just over a minute and half long, it’s a bit lengthy for any television commercial. Notably, it has not been shared by the school on any social media platforms beyond being uploaded to YouTube. It currently has less than 4,000 views. Task & Purpose contacted SWCS about “Irregular Warfare Clip,” but as of press time has not received a response.
There is some overlap with another video uploaded to the school’s YouTube page. That one, “Special Warfare Center Command Video,” released on Sept. 24, is more of a general overview of what the school does. It features rougher footage and is not as heavily produced. But it outlines what kind of training and skills servicemembers learn at the school.
“We have a functional responsibility to integrate the role of irregular warfare in support of the joint force,” the narrator says in that clip.
The video, with its sharp editing and high production value, is similar to the Army’s 4th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne)’s “Ghosts in the Machine” video, released earlier this year as part of a psychological operations recruitment effort. That video relied heavily on montages and striking imagery to showcase the importance of psyops in conflict.
It remains unclear what “Irregular Warfare Clip” is meant for, but it is clear that someone in the Army is paying attention to editing lessons.
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