First, Civil Affairs is a national strategic capability
that must be preserved.
As mentioned, Civil Affairs (CA), along with other
related force capabilities, is the part of the Joint Force
able to facilitate Civil-military operations (CMO) and
dedicated primarily to Peace & Stability Operations –
“a core U.S. military mission that the Department of
Defense shall be prepared to conduct with proficiency,” according to DoD Directive 3000.05 – as well as
Engagement under the new Army Functional Concept.
Outside the small elements of the State Department
and the U.S. Agency for International Development,
(USAID) “CA is the major capability the nation has to
transition to peace and bring together whole-of-nation
elements to help mitigate conflict, to end and prevent
wars. It is the most expedient and cost-effective means
to execute U.S. political-military strategy and secure
peace and stability on the ground. The low-tech solution to the low-tech problem, it engages and collaborates with partners from all walks of life to prevent or
mitigate large-scale deployments of general purpose
forces for low or high intensity combat operations.
This unique strategic economy-of-force capability
helps preserve combat forces for their core missions.
In that regard, Civil Affairs is an essential instrument
of America’s “strategic landpower.”
As the third panel pointed out, despite the end of
the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a general drawdown of forces, “strategic and operational demand
remains high for military personnel who understand
the civil dimension in humanitarian assistance and
disaster relief and Peace & Stability operations under
the U.S. Army Functional Concept for Engagement,
particularly when the environments are dangerous
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