Civil Affairs Officer

Civil Affairs Officer

Civil Affairs Officers are experts in acting as a liaison between the Army and civilian authorities and populations. In many respects, Civil Affairs Officers have to share the same skills as a public relations executive in the civilian world. Civil Affairs Officers many times must facilitate relationships between U.S. military forces and the people of the nation(s) in which those forces are operating.

The Civil Affairs officer combines regional expertise, language competency, political-military awareness, cross-cultural communication and professional military skills to conduct Civil Affairs operations and support Civil-Military operations in support of conventional and special operations forces. Civil Affairs involve humanitarian assistance, populace and resources control, support to civil administration, foreign nation support, emergency services and military-civic action. CA officers' unique knowledge and expertise enable them to command and coordinate CA operations that are planned, executed and transitioned to mitigate or defeat on-going or future regional and/or global civil threats. CA forms the nucleus of the Army's CMO expertise for Army Special Operations (ARSOF) and conventional forces.

The responsibilities of a Civil Affairs Team Leader may include:

• Commanding and controlling Civil Affairs operations and combined armed forces during combat and peacetime.


• Coordinate employment of Civil Affairs Soldiers at all levels of command, from platoon to battalion and higher, in U.S. and multi-national operations.

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