The method was originally termed Low Intensity Warfare by the British Army officer, Frank Kitson, who developed and refined the method for control of subject areas in Malaysia, in Kenya during the Mau Mau freedom struggles of the 1950s, and later for the British Army in Northern Ireland.
Ha sviluppato e affinato il suo metodo per riavere il sopravvento in aree assoggettate, come la Malesia e il Kenya, durante la rivolta dei Mau Mau e le lotte per l’indipendenza, e poi in Irlanda del Nord.