Military Review English Edition March-April 2016 | Page 69

CIVIL-MILITARY ENGAGEMENT

Like other CMSEs, the element in
Sri Lanka was able to provide access for
SOF into undergoverned territories and
produced a tremendous amount of civil
information that drove the information
cycle. However, the primary reason for
SOF success in Sri Lanka was the CMEs
ability to synchronize SOF and DOS objectives.38 As regionally aligned commanders begin conducting their missions, they
would be served well by having a presence
in country, focused on synchronizing their
missions with the DOS plans.

Conclusion

Bay of
Bengal

Jaffina

Trincomalee
Mannar

Gulf of
Mannar

Anuradahapura

Polonnaruwa

It is well documented that ineffective
Batticaloa
governance creates the conditions for terrorist and extremist organizations to find
Matale
safe haven and grow in power that jeoparNegombo
dizes global stability and U.S. security. In
Kandy
Kalmunai
response, USSOCOM developed a camColombo
paign to counter those threats, placing emBadulla
phasis on legitimizing local governance and
mitigating sources of instability that fuel
insurgent growth and provide insurgents
Ratnapura
with safe haven. Critical to this campaign
Beruwata
is the CME program, which provides the
commanders access and information in
Galle
targeted regions, but perhaps more importantly, can serve as a vanguard for DOS efforts in assisting host-nation governance in
Indian Ocean
order to marginalize terrorist organizations.
(Map by Michael Hogg, Military Review, Visual Information Specialist)
While the CME program has provided tremendous value to USSOCOM, the potential
Sri Lanka
advantages it provides should not end there. Given
the Army’s concept of unified land operations,
it through an MFP-2 source. This program should
FORSCOM may also benefit from utilizing the
support stability tasks and enhance local governance;
CME program in support of GCC objectives. The
at a minimum, this program is capable of increasing
CME program has a strong potential to benefit the
communication between DOD commanders and
regionally aligned forces if the GCC’s choose to fund
DOS in their targeted regions.

Maj. Christian A. Carr, U.S. Army, is a civil affairs officer stationed at Special Operations Command
Central. He holds a BS from the United States Military Academy, an MMAS with Art of War designation, and an MS in administration from Central Michigan University. He has deployed in support of
Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom-Philippines, and Inherent Resolve.
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