Col. (Ret.) Jim Howcroft, prior to retiring from the U.S. Marine Corps after 30 years service as an Intelligence Officer, served in a wide range of Marine Corps tactical and operational Intelligence billets, from Infantry Battalion up to the Marine Expeditionary Force level as well as founded the Marshall Center's "Security, Stability, Transition and Reconstruction (SSTaR) Course".  His recent article for the Small Wars Journal can be found at this link.