Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and its Applications in Counterinsurgency Warfare

Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Its Applications in Counterinsurgency Warfare by Captain Nicholas C. Williams This article discusses the relevancy of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a theory describing individual’s attitudes and motivations, and its applications in counterinsurgency warfare. It discusses the theory’s application to my past experiences and failures as an infantry platoon leader during Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) 05-07, as well as its application in the successful Sons of Iraq (SOI) program and its practical applications and integration in current counterinsurgency doctrine. It is neither a sweeping paradigm shift nor a groundbreaking observation to say that counterinsurgency warfare is difficult. The hardships and confusions associated with the counterinsurgency fight became a reality when I assumed duties as an infantry platoon leader during OIF 05-07. One of my largest frustrations in dealing with the Iraqi people was what I perceived as a lack of nationalistic pride. I could not understand why the Iraqi people would not stand and fight for their rights. Conversely, I saw Iraqis who refused to vote in local elections and an overall lack of motivation to become a better people and country. I returned home from my first deployment disheartened by the plight of the Iraqi people; a nation is nothing without its people, and if the people are unwilling to stand, the nation will surely collapse. During my second deployment, I witnessed the birth of the SOI, which changed my opinion. While lying awake on a sleepless night, I distinctly remember wondering why we had seen such a great decrease in violence in our area of operation since the inception of the SOI. The answer was suddenly obvious — we were employing former insurgents. While this answer is ARMOR is proud to announce Captain Nicholas Williams as the recipient of the Maneuver Captain Career Course Class 08-06 writing award. Captain Williams’ article highlights Maslow’s theory and relates that theory to the contemporary operating environment. Williams specifically bases his article on the idea that, for the most part, physiological and safety needs are reasonably well satisfied in the “first world.” The obvious exceptions, of course, are people outside the mainstream — the poor and the disadvantaged. If frustration has not led to apathy and weakness, such people still struggle to satisfy the basic physiological and safety needs. They are primarily concerned with survival: obtaining adequate food, clothing, shelter, and seeking justice from the dominant societal groups. ARMOR invites all students of the Maneuver Captain Career Course to submit writing assignments for possible publication in ARMOR. Students who wish to submit articles should notify the ARMOR magazine staff at knox.armormag@conus.army.mil. Questions concerning submissions can be directed to Christy Bourgeois (502) 624-4582 or e-mail at charlotte.bourgeois@us.army.mil. Submissions do not have to be award winners to qualify for publication. 12 — May-June 2009 convenient and correct, it did not harness the deeper truth behind what we were seeing.1It was during this sleepless night that the answer finally dawned on me — Abraham Maslow was right. Description of Events Abraham Maslow, a psychologist I studied as a psychology major in college, was made world famous for his research in human personality and motivation. His groundbreaking 1943 paper titled, “A Theory of Human Motivation,” details his greatest theory, which has come to be known as “Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.” This theory details the milestones individuals need to achieve to feel comfortable with themselves and their place in society. As the theory’s title suggests, these milestones are hierarchical in nature and, as such, a higher-tier milestone cannot be achieved without having satisfied the lower-tier milestones. Maslow identifies these tiers as physiological needs, safety needs, love/belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs, and defines them below:  Physiological needs are the lowest-tier needs and are simply what humans need to survive at the most basic level. They include breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, homeostasis, and excretion.  Safety needs are the second tier and are security of the body, employment, resources, morality, family, health, and property.  Love and belonging needs, the third tier, are individual interactions with friends, family, and intimacy.  The fourth tier, esteem needs, are characterized by self-esteem, self-confidence, personal achievement, the respect of others for the individual, and the respect of others by the individual.  The fifth, and often most confusing tier, self-actualization needs, is defined by morality, creativity, spontaneity, problemsolving, lack of prejudice, and factual acceptance. These five tiers, as shown in Figure 1, are often depicted in a pyramid structure. Outcomes As a military, we have generated countless acronyms, mnemonics, and other tools to assist in painting a picture of a population. Acronyms, such as sewage, water, electricity, academic, trash-medical and security (SWEAT-MS) and area, structures, capabilities, organizations, people, and events (ASCOPE), attempt to describe the relevant information associated with a society. However, in all of our attention to detail we have forgotten to define the characteristics that describe the most basic building blocks of society — the people themselves. For lack of a better adage, “we cannot see the forest for the trees;” Maslow’s theory gives us vision to not only see the trees, but their branches, leaves, and roots. So how does this apply to the conflict in Iraq and my initial observations? As a young platoon leader, I engaged individual Iraqis by appealing to their morality, factual acceptance, self-confidence, and sense of achievement; in doing so, I marked my own defeat. My platoon operated on a different level of need relative to that of the Iraqi’s with whom we worked. As a platoon, my soldiers and I met the requirements of the first four tiers (sex excluded for obvious reasons). We had as much food as we could eat; our “During my second deployment, I witnessed the birth of the Sons of Iraq (SOI), which changed my opinion. While lying awake on a sleepless night, I distinctly remember wondering why we had seen such a great decrease in violence in our area of operation since the inception of the SOI. The answer was suddenly obvious — we were employing former insurgents.” May-June 2009 — 13 Figure 1 morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, acceptance of facts self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, respect by others friendship, family, intimacy security of body, employment, resources, morality, the family, health, property breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, homeostasis, excretion Self-actualization Esteem Love/Belonging Safety Physiological safety was relatively high; we had a sense of belonging with one another in the platoon and company; we took pride, gained esteem, and confidence in our professional accomplishments; and we had the opportunity to solve problems, to act with great moral authority, creativity, and spontaneity. We had met our physiological, safety, belonging, and esteem needs, and were operating at a level of self-actualization rarely accomplished. Conversely, the Iraqi people in our area of operation had no concept of self-actualization. Their access to clean water was severely limited, food was scarce since many families were too afraid to shop in local markets, and their sleep was disturbed by countless nights punctuated by IED detonations and mortar attacks. Their safety needs were constantly threatened by al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), tribal rivalries, and lack of resources. The Iraqi people had not met their most basic physiological and safety needs; as such, they had no way to relate to our rationalizations, all of which were made on a level of self-actualization. It was as if we were speaking an entirely different language. Once I acknowledged the vast discrepancy between the needs of U.S. forces and the Iraqi people, I realized why the SOI were so successful. It is true that we had co-opted the same people we were once fighting; however, the truthful answer is deeper. Establishing the SOI allowed the Iraqi people to meet the first two tiers of need, physiological and safety, and begin the third, belonging. The SOI program provided income to impoverished Iraqi people; a means to have the basic amenities; and a better means of security. Rather than rely on the intermittent and relatively infrequent patrol of coalition forces to pass through their neighborhoods, the Iraqi people were now authorized to secure their own lands and provide safety to their own people. Finally, in a culture bound by honor, the SOI provided a means of belonging to those who participated in the program. It gave them a flag to rally behind. Perhaps most importantly, it was a not a tribal flag, but a national symbol uniting the SOI across the country. The SOI program succeeded because it not only turned our enemies, but fulfilled the basic needs necessary to set the foundation for future improvement in the country. There are criticisms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, as there are with most psychological theories; however, for the most part, these criticisms regard the individual components of the hierarchical tiers. Critics argue that needs depend on the societies in which people live, and as societies change, so will the needs defined by that society. Interestingly, critics have not challenged the individual tiers or their precedence indicating a relevant validity in Maslow’s claims. Lessons Perhaps the most important lesson learned from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and its relevancy to counterinsurgency is that it provides a quantifiable matrix with which to analyze a group’s placement on Maslow’s hierarchy. In analyzing a group’s placement, one can identify where that group is deficient and where a unit should focus its efforts to meet that group’s personal needs. For instance, if a group of people has security concerns, as well as a deficiency in clean water, according to Maslow’s hierarchy, a unit should first focus its efforts on providing a clean water source before attempting to solve security issues. Addressing the water shortage first is important because it addresses physiological needs before security needs. If possible, a unit could attempt to provide both at the same time; for instance, a unit might repair a water treatment facility and employ the local populace to secure it. The U.S. military has done a satisfactory job of patterning societies in the counterinsurgency fight. However, in our pat-terning, we have forgotten to focus on society’s foundation — the people. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs provides a tool with which one can critically analyze an individual’s level of need, thereby his motivations and intentions, potentially predicting his actions. Furthermore, Maslow’s hierarchy can be used to specifically target demographic needs, prioritize unit missions to meet those needs, and in doing so, motivate an individual and society to comply with coalition force missions. Note 1In my humble opinion, it was akin to saying that “stars are small things that twinkle in the night’s sky,” rather than referring to them as “hundreds of billions of tons of helium and hydrogen, whose gravity causes millions of nuclear fusions per second, thusly emitting photons, which travel for thousands of years before reaching our eyes.” At the writing of this article, Captain Nicholas

C. Williams was attending the Maneuver Captain Career Course. He received a B.A. from the University of Arizona. His military education includes Maneuver Captain Career Course, Infantry Officer Basic Course, Ranger School, Airborne School, Combatives Level I and II, and Air Assault School. His has served in various command and staff positions, including S4, 2d Battalion, 502d Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, KY; rifle platoon leader, A Company, 2d Battalion, 502d Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell; and distribution platoon leader, F Company, 2d Battalion, 502d Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell. “…the Iraqi people in our area of operation had no concept of self-actualization. Their access to clean water was severely limited, food was scarce since many families were too afraid to shop in local markets, and their sleep was disturbed by countless nights punctuated by IED detonations and mortar attacks. Their safety needs were constantly threatened by al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), tribal rivalries, and lack of resources.” 14 — May-June 2009