Hard Broke

The American way of war is enabled by the concept of massing all available firepower—when done correctly it makes US forces hard to beat. However improvised explosive devices have increasingly enabled a new kind of asymmetric warfare, one that conventional forces continue to struggle to counter. This book offers a “counter-IED playbook,” one based upon the author’s experiences of over 90 months of combat operations, working the problem sets of Fires, Effects, IEDs, Close Target Reconnaissance, Tracking-Tagging-Locating (TTL), and Information Operations. This text offers insights into the ways through some of the most complicated problems that have tested the Department of Defense, and the Army—the problems of how a conventional force is organized, manned, equipped, and trained to deal with the problem of IEDs; and how the Army is doctrinally organized to deal with an emerging revolution of military affairs.

Colonel Matthew D. Matter (ret.) is a native of Koloa, Hawaii. His education includes a B.A. in Political Science from Colorado State University, a M.A. in International Relations from Webster University, a Masters in Military Arts and Sciences from the US Army War College, and a Masters in Science in Aeronautics from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. He enlisted in the Army in 1984 and was commissioned in 1986. He served for 31 years, of which 12 he spent spent in combat zones. He held multiple positions in numerous special operations formations, including the Rangers, Special Forces, and Special Mission Units. He was a by name request by the Commanding General Multi National Force Iraq during the Surge, and he was a by name request to support the Marines in Afghanistan during their Surge in 2009. From 2011 to 2013 he served as the Deputy to the Deputy Commanding General, J35/J5, in the Office of Defense Representative Pakistan running cross-border operations, as well as leading interagency US C-IED efforts. He has held critical positions in multiple organizations as a commander and fires and information operations coordinator. Since late 2015, he has served as a Civilian Chief of Staff for the United States Navy at Naval Aviation Warfighting at Naval Air Station, Fallon, Northern Nevada.