1968 Special Warfare School Pineland Area Study Guide, VW 11

1960s Special Warfare School Course Books, VW 10, Vietnam War Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.

The collection is composed of one original U.S. Army Special Warfare School course textbook entitled Area Study Guide, April 1968, which provides the social, economic, military, political, religious, and educational background of the fictitious country of "Pineland." Pineland covers about 8,000 square miles of what now constitutes 15 central North Carolina. The Pineland scenario makes use of the services of thousands of North Carolina civilians and ex-military members, who volunteer to assist in the exercise as role players representing guerrilla leaders and members of the Pineland population. The exercise also uses military role players who act as guerrillas. The Pineland scenario is held over two weeks as a culmination exercise for the end of the Special Warfare soldier's intensive training at Fort Bragg, N.C.

The textbook gives details about Pineland that closely resemble actual information and facts about the area which is part of central North Carolina, though the information has been altered. However, the perspectives about race, education, population composition, voting habits, politics, religion, economy, and other common societal elements are based or directly taken from the real information about central North Carolina in 1968 during the Vietnam War. Because it is a military training textbook, the Area Study Guide is specific and analytical about elements of central North Carolina like it would be about any region for the U.S. Army to conduct missions. The textbook is an interesting look at late-1960s military perspectives on race and society in the state.

The U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (or SWCS) traces its origins to 1950, when the U.S. Army developed the Psychological Warfare (PSYWAR) Division of the Army General School at Fort Riley, Kansas. The U.S. Army Psychological Warfare Center and School, a unique organization with operational tactical units and a school under the same umbrella, moved to Fort Bragg from Fort Riley in April 1952. In 1956, the PSYWAR Center and School was renamed the U.S. Army Center for Special Warfare/U.S. Army Special Warfare School. The school was given the responsibility to develop the doctrine, techniques, training and education of Special Forces and Psychological Operations personnel.

In 1960, the school's responsibilities expanded to include counterinsurgency operations. In 1962, the Special Warfare Center established a Special Forces Training Group, to train enlisted volunteers for operational assignments within the Special Forces groups. The Advanced Training Committee was formed to explore and develop sophisticated methods of infiltration and exfiltration. On May 16, 1969, the school was renamed the U.S. Army Institute for Military Assistance. The curriculum was expanded to provide training in high-altitude, low-opening (HALO) parachuting and SCUBA operations. The institute comprised the Special Forces School, Psychological Operations, Military Assistance Training Advisors School, Counter-Insurgency School, Unconventional Warfare School and Department of Non-Resident Training. Since 1985, the school has been operating at Fort Bragg as the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.

The Special Warfare School's Special Forces Qualification Course (or SFQC) holds a two-week culmination exercise (or CULEX) called Robin Sage. Robin Sage has been conducted with help from local citizens since 1974. Before that time, the exercise was smaller, and bore several different names. The training area for the CULEX is the fictional country of Pineland, stretches across 8,000 square miles of what now constitutes 15 central North Carolina counties in 2016. The Pineland scenario makes use of the services of thousands of North Carolina civilians, who volunteer to assist in the exercise as role players representing guerrilla leaders and members of the Pineland populace. The exercise also uses military role players who act as guerrillas.

During the scenario, SFQC students work to assist the government of Pineland, which is facing an insurgency. Following a coup that deposes the legitimate government, the SF students work with role players to raise and train a guerrilla force that will fight the usurpers and attempt to restore the Pineland government. The unique training area and unconventional-warfare (or UW) training environment allow instructors to stress the Special Forces candidates, assessing their ability to think on their feet and accomplish their team's missions.

[Historical information was taken from the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School's "About" webpage at www.soc.mil/SWCS/about.html; information on Pineland training taken from an article "The big picture: SWTG introduces the comprehensive training environment," by Maj. Gregory A. Parkins and Maj. Ed Williams, U.S. Army Special Operations Center of Excellence webpage, viewed at http://www.soc.mil/swcs/SWmag/archive/SW2402/ SW2402TheBigPicture.html].

The textbook was received by the Military Collection of the State Archives of North Carolina from a private donor in September 2017, with the donation completed in October 2017.