Civil Affairs Issue Papers Volume 1, 2014-2015 Civil Affairs Issue Papers | Page 31

ness of interorganizational actors. Nonmilitary actors contribute to economic, governance, and societal domains to make transitions to host-nation authority possible. Because their contributions to conditions that facilitate transition to civil authority are essential, Ruf called for periodic training with such partners to build, maintain, and strengthen working relationships with military actors. Many of these organizations are not staffed sufficiently to allow them to participate in military exercises. When they do, they must achieve value for their participation. Building opportunities for mutually beneficial training requires commands to move from acknowledging the value of civil-sector actors to designing scenarios that facilitate interaction that also helps these civilian entities accomplish their missions. Ruf’s organization, United States Institution of Peace (USIP), has proven itself as a solid venue for civil-military collaboration that facilitates civilian priorities as well as military ones. A large military footprint easily skews consideration of the factors that influence decision-makers’ determination of when to transition to civilian authority. Ruf noted the value of meaningful, integrated training and education and observes that much of the terminology that the