17 March 2003
Fact Sheet: U.S. Military's Civil Affairs Units Aid Civilians
(U.S. Army describes civil affairs functions) (540)
The U.S. military's civil affairs units work with U.S. military
commanders and local civil authorities to lessen the impact of
military operations on civilians during peace and war, according to a
U.S. Army fact sheet.
Following is the text of the fact sheet:
(begin fact sheet)
Civil Affairs Fact Sheet
Civil affairs [CA] units help military commanders by working with
civil authorities and civilian populations in the commander's area of
operations to lessen the impact of military operations on them during
peace, contingency operations and declared war. Civil Affairs forces
support activities of both conventional and special operations forces,
and are capable of assisting and supporting the civil administration
in the area of operations.
Civil affairs specialists can quickly and systematically identify
critical requirements needed by local citizens in war or disaster
situations. They can also locate civil resources to support military
operations, help minimize civilian interference with operations,
support national assistance activities, plan and execute non-combatant
evacuation, support counter-drug operations, and establish and
maintain liaison or dialogue with civilian aid agencies and civilian
commercial and private organizations.
In support of special operations, these culturally-oriented,
linguistically-capable soldiers may also be tasked to provide
functional expertise for foreign internal defense operations,
unconventional warfare operations and direct action missions.
The functional structure of civil affairs forces and their expertise,
training, and orientation provide a capability for emergency
coordination and administration where political-economic structures
have been incapacitated. They can help plan U.S. government
interagency procedures for national or regional emergencies. They can
assist civil-military planning and military support operations for
theater commanders in chief. Additionally, they can coordinate
military resources to support government operations, emergency actions
and humanitarian assistance from natural, man-made, or war-related
causes. The 96th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne), with four percent
of the civil affairs forces, is the only active Army civil affairs
unit. The unit is readily available to deploy and provides primarily
tactical support.
The remaining 96 percent of the Army's civil affairs forces are found
in four Civil Affairs Commands, subordinate brigades and battalions in
the Army Reserve. They provide a prime source of nation-building
skills. These reserve-component civil affairs units include soldiers
with training and experience in public administration, public safety,
public health, legal systems, labor management, public welfare, public
finance, public education, civil defense, public works and utilities,
public communications, public transportation, logistics, food and
agricultural services, economics, property control, cultural affairs,
civil information, and managing dislocated persons.
CA deployments have provided tactical support to military commanders
during Operation Just Cause in Panama, Operation Desert Shield and
Operation Desert Storm in Southwest Asia, support to the restoration
of the Panamanian government infrastructure during Operation Promote
Liberty, management of Haitian refugee camps at Guantanamo Bay,
natural disaster assistance in the aftermath of Hurricanes Andrew and
Iniki, and assistance for humanitarian efforts in Somalia.
Civil affairs experts were also called on to help rebuild the Haitian
civilian infrastructure during Operation Uphold Democracy. Active and
Reserve CA Units have also participated in the ongoing NATO
peacekeeping operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, as well as
other operations and exercises around the world.
(end fact sheet)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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