Hi, Just to follow up what you wrote, I am a Civil Affairs Soldier and would like to add that a key thing to remember about CA is that Army supplies are never to be used in support of a mission that involves giving something (anything really) to a civilian. Your CA folks should be the resident expert and ideally would have already met with and have rapport with peers (USAID, S/CRS, Peace Corps, Host Nation Agencies) that might assist them with any civil response that will support the commander's intent. Recall that while providing humanitarian aid is a just and honorable venture the Civil Affairs team should be focused on accomplishing the commander's intent. Now, truth be told, a good CA guy/girl can make most anything meet the commander's intent. In a combat zone that is, of course, the maneuver commander but otherwise it would be the chief of mission (Dept. of State).
Hope this helps.
Major Shannon Way, Student, Command and General Staff College
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
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