13 Facts About David Galula

David Galula was a French military officer and scholar who was influential in developing the theory and practice of counterinsurgency warfare.

David Galula is survived by his only son, Daniel Frederic Galula, born in Paris in 1959, and his grandchildren, David Salvador Galula and Danielle Sophia Galula.

David Galula departed for China in 1945 to work as an assistant military attache at the French embassy in Beijing.

David Galula visited the Philippines, and studied the Indochina War without taking part in it.

David Galula distinguished himself by applying personal tactics in counterinsurgency to his sector of Kabylie, at Djebel Mimoun, near Tigzirt, effectively eliminating the nationalist insurgency in his sector and earning accelerated promotion from this point.

In 1958, David Galula was transferred to the Headquarters of National Defence in Paris.

David Galula gave a series of conferences abroad and attended the Armed Forces Staff College.

David Galula resigned his commission in 1962 to study in the United States, where he obtained a position of research associate at the Center for International Affairs of Harvard University.

David Galula is survived by his only son Daniel Frederic Galula, his wife Claudia Elena, and his grandchildren David Salvador and Danielle Sophia Galula.

David Galula described his experiences in two books, Pacification in Algeria, published by the RAND Corporation in 1963, and Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice in 1964.

David Galula cites Mao Zedong's observation that "[R]evolutionary war is 80 percent political action and only 20 percent military", and proposes four "laws" for counterinsurgency:.

David Galula has been considered an important theorist by contemporary defence experts.

David Galula was influenced by Jacques Guillermaz, with whom he disagreed on the handling of counter-revolutionary warfare, but who gave Galula intellectual mentorship during the years following 1945 when they served in China.