A guerrilla is an irregular, predominantly indigenous member of a guerrilla force, organized similarly to military concepts and structure to conduct military and paramilitary operations in enemy held, hostile, or denied territory. Guerrillas are neither militias nor mercenary soldiers whose allegiance is secured solely by payment, nor are they criminal gangs conducting illegal activities for profit.
The public component refers to an overt political manifestation of a resistance. Public components are primarily responsible for negotiations with the nation-state government or occupying power representatives on behalf of resistance movement objectives. Every case of resistance is unique, and the degree to which public representatives exist will vary. If the nation-state decides to suppress these public components completely, the public components may have to dissolve and go underground. The public component is not synonymous with shadow government or government-in-exile.
A shadow government consists of governmental elements and activities performed by an irregular organization that replaces the governance functions of the existing regime (examples include security, health services, and taxation). Members of the shadow government can originate from any element of the irregular organization (e.g., underground, auxiliary, or guerrilla force). The shadow government operates in the denied area of an occupied territory.
A government-in-exile is a government displaced from its country of origin, yet remains recognized as a legitimate sovereign authority of a nation. A government-in-exile will normally take up sanctuary in a nearby allied or friendly nation-state.
Figure 2 below depicts the typical activities conducted by an insurgency or resistance movement. Most or all of the represented activities will be conducted by a successful resistance or insurgency regardless of whether the USG makes the policy decision to support it. USG support to resistance – UW – is initiated by either a presidential finding or an EXORD. UW then proceeds generally following a 7-phase conceptual model called the Seven Phases of Unconventional Warfare.
