The Government Assistance Center: A Vehicle for Transitioning to the Host Government

This monograph The Government Assistance Center: A Vehicle for Transitioning to the Host Government proposes the establishment of a new unifying assistance and development organization to help fragile states and is divided into five sections. The first section briefly examines the challenges associated with Whole of Government and Comprehensive approaches as well as with provincial reconstruction teams.

“Bury the Dead, Feed the Living:” The History of Civil Affairs/Military Government in the Mediterranean and European Theaters of Operation during World War II

“Bury the Dead, Feed the Living:” The History of Civil Affairs/Military Government in the Mediterranean and European Theaters of Operation during World War II is more than a history on Civil Affairs; rather, it is a detailed account of how the United States conducted Stability Operations from the shores of Morocco to the mountains of Germany. Dr. Raymond Millen’s book serves as a primer on preparing, organizing and implementing Stability in the course of a conflict.

Stability in Multi-Domain Battle

Multi-Domain Battle (MDB) is an operational concept developed by the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) that describes ground combat operations against sophisticated peer and near-peer threats. In February 2017, TRADOC published a white paper titled “Multi-Domain Battle: Combined Arms for the 21st Century” to initiate the discussion of MDB across the Army and the Joint Force. TRADOC subsequently published a more detailed description of MDB in “Multi-Domain Battle: Evolution of Combined Arms for the 21st Century 2025-2040” along with the new Army Operations doctrinal series (ADP 3-0, ADRP 3-0, and FM 3-0) in October 2017.1 These documents are designed “promote thought and discussion concerning the methods and capabilities required to confront sophisticated adversaries” as well as “to inform further concept development, wargaming, experimentation, and capability development.

Stabilization: A New Approach to Whole of Government Operational Planning and Execution

The United States has a compelling national security interest to promote stability in select fragile and conflict-affected states.  Such an operational environment is complex and requires a whole-of-U.S. Government response, coupled with non-governmental and international partners and supported by the affected nation to achieve their own national goals.  Since 1947, the national security system has struggled to handle effectively the range and complexity of the existing global threats and opportunities.

2017-2018 Civil Affairs Issue Papers: Civil Affairs: A Force for Consolidating Gains

The issue of the role of Civil Affairs in consolidation activities – across all phases and in particular the human domain – was the main focus of the opening workshop. MG Sonntag noted how timely this event was given how Secretary of Defense James Mattis and National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster (the 2015 Symposium keynote speaker) see the increased need to consolidate military and security gains into political and civil outcomes.

Program Management Approach to Stability Operations

This monograph Program Management Approach to Stability Operations explores how and why to pursue the integrated program management function as a means to improve the effectiveness of stability operations. Section 1 of the analysis defines a traditional military approach to stability operations and a traditional program management approach. Section 2 juxtaposes stability operations with program management to showcase already-existing similarities. Section 3 applies four program management domains to stability operations to demonstrate potential benefits. Section 4 highlights how the application of program management functions to stability operations is compatible with the interagency approach. Lastly, Section 5 discusses Army Acquisition Corps capabilities that the Army can modify to perform this role.

Stability Operations in Kosovo 1999-2000: A Case Study

This Stability Operations in Kosovo 1999-2000: A Case Study examines the intervention and stability operations in Kosovo from March 24, 1999 through approximately 2 years thereafter. Set during the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia and preceded by ethnic carnage in Bosnia, Croatia, and elsewhere, the intervention, named Operation ALLIED FORCE, was executed in order to protect Kosovars of Albanian descent from the ethnic cleansing of the Serbian leaders of the remaining federation of Yugoslavia.

Supporting, Non-Standard Mission Role: U.S. Operations in Liberia, 2014-2015, that Enabled The U.S. and UN Response to the EVD Outbreak

Operation UNITED ASSISTANCE (OUA), which deployed to Liberia between September 2014 and June 2015, provides an example of how a Joint Force can support a lead federal agency (LFA), in this case the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and other interagency and international partners to end a raging epidemic of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

Stability Operations in Haiti 2010: A Case Study

The stability operation in Haiti from January 14 to June 1, 2010 demonstrated how over a dozen U.S. Government departments and agencies worked together effectively in an unprecedented large-scale foreign humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (FHA/DR) effort. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, precipitated the operation. The Haiti action, known within the U.S. military as Operation UNIFIED RESPONSE, was not only a whole-of-government, but also a whole-of-nation and global undertaking. The United States played a significant role in the Haiti earthquake relief effort in collaboration with more than 140 countries and over 1,000 non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

2016-2017 Civil Affairs Issue Papers: Leveraging Civil Affairs

For three years now, the Civil Affairs Association and its partners have provided the Civil Affairs Regiment a way to provide experience-based feedback and advice to institutional and policy level leadership on the future of the Civil Affairs force through an annual fall symposium. These symposia result in Civil Affairs Issue Papers published and presented at the spring roundtable. With every successive year, the discussion has become increasingly impactful, improving the Regiment as a learning organization by advancing a unified, whole of CA force view of professional and force development discussion using this unofficial, collegial platform.