412th Civil Affairs Battalion (FID/UW)

The 412th Civil Affairs (CA) BN is one of the newest units in the Army Reserve. The 412th drills monthly near Columbus, Ohio. Soldiers assigned to CA units perform a variety of challenging missions such as humanitarian Assistance, dislocated civilian operations, host nation support and foreign internal assistance. CA soldiers routinely act as a liaison with US embassies, non-governmental organizations, and other international organizations.

Becoming a member of the 412th CA BN can provide many opportunities for active duty training, military schools, promotions, and branch transfer to the Civil Affairs Branch. The 412th has a number of vacancies and seeks both commissioned officers (O-2 and O-3) and noncommissioned officers (E-6 and E-7) with diverse individual backgrounds, varied military occupations and wide ranging civilian acquired skills. It is this variety of knowledge, skills and abilities that make Civil Affairs soldiers unique and valuable to the U.S. Army.

Being part of the Special Operations Forces, the 412th Civil Affairs Battalion (FID/UW) has many opportunities to offer its personnel, such as: Airborne slots. SERE slots (Survival Evasion Resistance Escape) Combat Lifesavers slots. Air Assault slots. 170 Linguist slots (Arabic, Persian, & French). PLDC slots, and A-NOC and B-NOC slots.

The coat of arms was approved on 9 October 2001. The distinctive unit insignia was authorized on 9 October 2001. Purple and white are the colors traditionally used by the Civil Affairs units. Gold is emblematic of honor and achievement. The chevron configuration denotes strength and support. The torch is adapted from the Civil Affairs insignia of branch and symbolizes leadership and enlightenment. The anvil and flame represent forging, which is to form by heating in a forge and shaping on the anvil. Components that are forged have assured toughness and reliability. The olive branch, signifying peace, and anvil reflect the organization's motto and mission.

The 412th Civil Affairs Battalion arrived in Djibouti to support CJTF-HOA in January 2004. One month into the deployment, many of its teams were forward deployed or were preparing to be forward deployed throughout the Horn of Africa.

The 412th's mission is to stop or curtail the expansion of transnational terrorism and all that it implies throughout this region of the world.