FM 3-24 serves as the foundation for U.S execution of counterinsurgency operations. It states in Chapter 7, Paragraph 6, "Senior commanders should, at a minimum, ensure that their small-unit leaders are inculcated with tactical cunning and mature judgment. Tactical cunning is the art of employing fundamental skills of the profession in shrewd and crafty ways to out-think and out-adapt enemies." Yet there are gaps in the training in critical thinking and decision making necessary to support the inculcation of those skills.

The need for versatile Joint Forces is understood, and emphasized in the 2010 Strategic Plan for the Next Generation of Training for the Department of Defense, noting the critical need to "Train in the art of deception in both planning and mission operations." The complexity of current conflict and the expectation of future conflicts demands a joint force that understands, educates, trains and assesses the "fundamental skills" mentioned above. This must be executed at all echelons of the joint force while maintaining our forces? legal, moral and ethical stance, within the boundaries of the rule of law, against an enemy who has no boundaries. This will require the development and support of innovative and adaptive leaders who are prepared to make complex decisions, fully understanding the objective and the consequences of those actions.

This paper will provide an analysis of fundamental skills to support tactical cunning, the state of educating and training to those skills, and how they can be developed in today's warfighters. It will conclude with a plan for integration of potential research outcomes in support of the Next Generation of Training for the Department of Defense.