Western Rifle ShootersRather than focus on tactics, which vary somewhat depending on terrain and situation (British…thoughts aside.) let us consider the Principles of War as a series promoting nationwide coordination and synchronization.
PRINCIPLES OF WAR, DEFINITIONS, AND RESISTANCE EXPANSIONS
UNITY OF COMMAND – For every objective, ensures unity of effort.
Command is the authority that a commander in the armed forces lawfully exercises over subordinates by virtue of rank or assignment. It is also one of the elements of a lawful combatant. Command includes the authority and responsibility for effectively using available resources and for planning the employment of, organizing, directing, coordinating, and controlling military forces for the accomplishment of assigned missions. It also includes responsibility for health, welfare, morale, and discipline of assigned personnel. The elements of command are authority, decision-making, and leadership.
Success in command is impossible without control. Within command and control, control is the regulation of forces and battlefield operating systems to accomplish the mission in accordance with the commander’s intent. It includes collecting, processing, displaying, storing, and disseminating relevant information for creating the common operational picture, and using information, primarily by the staff, during the operations process. Control allows commanders to disseminate their commander’s intent, execute decisions, and adjust their operations to reflect changing reality and enemy actions. It allows commanders to modify their commander’s visualization to account for changing circumstances. Control also allows commanders to identify times and points requiring new decisions during preparation and execution.
A decent overview. Some self-study required.
Since guerrillas do not [initially] seek to fight a single decisive battle but rather a series of independent fights, command and control is necessarily decentralized to support small unit (platoon and squad) sized actions. This is NOT to say there is no coordination to achieve an end goal.
Unity of effort exists primarily at the strategic/political level only. Because the aim of guerrilla warfare is to harass, weaken, and demoralize the enemy (as well as gather supplies, confidence, andinformation) rather than to seek decisive battle, numerous independently led actions at the operational and tactical levels are necessarily connected to the strategic goals. As mentioned earlier, failure to coordinate efforts will result in the piecemeal destruction of FREEFOR, tactically, legally, and in the eyes of their support base.
An example:
OP MURRIETA (California, that is.)
Situation: OPFOR is massing stinking badges to force acceptance of illegal immigrants.
Local: Designated external* militia responders infiltrate and assemble at designated area(s). Militia commander assumes command of militias and provides guidance IAW local requirements and coordination, subject to non-militia political leadership.
Nationwide: FREEFOR, everydamnwhere, begins a synchronized campaign designed to keep OPFOR from massing, as well as complicating their targeting.
FREEFOR follows OPFOR members to home/work, photographing them, night letters, reporting on blogs, etc., to create…concern that FREEFOR may act to prevent their deployment or in their absence.
This is UNITY OF EFFORT.
*This complicates OPFOR targeting of locals for retribution. Let the locals serve as auxiliary/underground, particularly when the overt visitors disperse. You didn’t think they’d just let you ride off into the sunset, again, did you?
Centralized planning, decentralized execution.
http://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2014/07/19/community-organizer-sends-6/
“FREEFOR follows OPFOR members to home/work, photographing them, night letters, reporting on blogs, etc., to create…concern that FREEFOR may act to prevent their deployment or in their absence”
This has to be done. Hopefully some are, already.