The occasional paper Echoes of Little Bighorn: Insights for SOF Succes, analyzes the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn as a study in the timeless principles of irregular warfare. By examining the conflict through physical, informational, and human dimensions, the authors illustrate how a decentralized coalition leveraged terrain mastery and cultural cohesion to defeat a conventional adversary—offering striking parallels to modern challenges like the 2017 ambush in Tongo Tongo, Niger.

The paper provides critical recommendations for SOF, emphasizing that technological superiority cannot substitute for cultural immersion, sound leadership, and rigorous intelligence preparation of the operational environment. Ultimately, it serves as a reminder that success in irregular warfare requires deep adaptability and an intimate understanding of the human terrain to offset the advantages of determined, asymmetric adversaries.

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Echoes of Little Bighorn: Insights for SOF Success

By Christiane Thompson MA, MMAS, ALM; Janetta Harris, MA; Bernard Harris. Jr., PhD; Raymond Powell, PhD; and Michael Hay, PhD

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