Abstract
Why, and when, do insurgent groups prioritize the recruitment of experienced, veteran fighters? While many studies focus on the obvious benefits of veteran fighters to armed organizations, we show that they also bear serious costs and only fulfill some of an insurgent’s wide-ranging needs. We argue that insurgent recruitment practices are dynamic and closely linked to evolving organizational needs. We contend that veterans are most needed during what we call operational junctures. These occur when insurgents are building or re-building their organization, transitioning to new modes of warfare, and competing with rivals for dominance. Outside of these junctures, and once insurgents accomplish their goals, they tend to recruit less experienced combatants who can be molded to fulfill less urgent organizational needs. We illustrate our argument by means of a case study of al Qaeda in Iraq and its successor, the Islamic State.