Matt M. Matthews, a military historian at the Combat Studies Institute of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College praised Hezbollah paramilitaries and reflected on what he described as \"the lackluster performance of the IDF.\" He attributed this to several factors including (Lieutenant-General and Chief of the IDF General Staff) Halutz’s steadfast confidence in air power coupled with continuing COIN operations against the Palestinians at the expense of training for major combat operations.[314]