A new Pentagon directive will require the Department of Defense to put "irregular warfare" on the same level as traditional combat, reports The Washington Post [1].  The directive was signed earlier this week by Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England.

The policy "requires the Pentagon step up its capabilities across the board to fight unconventionally, such as by working with foreign security forces, surrogates and indigenous resistance movements to shore up fragile states, extend the reach of U.S. forces into denied areas or battle hostile regimes."  It is part of an overhaul of the role of the U.S. military, according to the Post. The directive also refers to irregular warfare as "strategically important as traditional warfare."

Per the article:

"Designed to institutionalize lessons the U.S. military has learned -- often painfully -- in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001, the policy aims to prepare the military for the most likely future conflicts and to prevent the type of mistakes made in the post-Vietnam War era, when hard-won skills in counterinsurgency atrophied."

The article states that more resources will be allocated to areas like language skills and advising foreign militaries, as well as reconaissance and surveillance assets.