Civil Affairs -- An Essential Capability

Abstract

The Civil Affairs structure and mission have been a recent target of sincere, but misinformed, persons. Certain Congressmen, the Brookings Institution, and some military and civilian personnel have questioned the need for Civil Affairs as part of our new Army. There has been a lack of understanding concerning the role of Civil Affairs as being the interface that the military commander has with the civilian environment. This essay is a reasoned reply to the attack. It includes significant statements of senior military officers who were personally knowledgeable concerning how Civil Affairs assisted them in the field and who recognize that Civil Affairs must be available in strength to the United States Army. It stresses that the newly reorganized Civil Affairs units have a vital function to fulfill in furthering the Army's mission of both winning a war and winning the peace that follows.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 15, 1975
Accession Number
ADA021846

Entities

People

  • Ralph N. Cole

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Army Personnel
  • Civic Action
  • Civil Affairs
  • Civilian Personnel
  • Classification
  • Governments
  • History
  • Military Assistance
  • Military Commanders
  • Military Governments
  • Military Operations
  • Military Organizations
  • Second World War
  • Training
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Political Science/ International Relations/ European Studies