National Assistance and Civil-Military Operations: The Gap in Professional Military Education.
Abstract
The Department of Defense (DoD) is not properly preparing the U.S. Armed Forces to execute Civil-Military Operations (CMO) as a supporting, mission activity of Nation Assistance. Furthermore, the DoD appears to be unaware of this shortcoming and thus incapable of solving the problem due to a general lack of education and awareness regarding Nation Assistance and its component activities. This argumentative paper evaluates the national security policy area of Nation Assistance and one of the stated component activities, CMO. It traces the genesis of CMO from the President's National Security Strategy through the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) National Military Strategy to a break in the linkage at Service level. Civil-Military Operations are defined as the complex of activities in support of military operations embracing the interaction between the military force and civilian authorities fostering the development of favorable emotions, attitudes, and behavior in neutral, friendly, or hostile groups. The methodology used in this evaluation is the U.S. Army War College (USAWC) Ends, Ways, and Means model for developing National Strategy; i.e., Ends being the objectives, Ways the concepts, and Means the resources available. The term CMO comprises five mission activities: populace and resources control, foreign nation support, humanitarian assistance, military civic action, and civil defense.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA309111
Entities
People
- James F. Powers Jr.
Organizations
- United States Army War College