Civil Affairs in the United States Army Reserve: An Analysis of the Policy, Organization, and Training of Modern Army Civil Affairs

Civil Affairs CA, organized under a US Army Reserve USAR headquarters, previously provided adequate, skilled, specially trained capabilities supporting the conventional Army and Army Special Operations Forces ARSOF as a part of the US Army Special Operations Command USASOC organic force structure. The multi-component organization of USASOC until 2006 allowed tailored force packages to fill critical, rotational, enduring global GPF and SOF requirements. This task-organization allowed US Special Operations Command USSOCOMUSASOC to maintain proponency of CA as a special operation while leveraging the vast resources and functional specialties found in the USAR CA community. The organization of the total CA force was simple, functional, and effective. In the current organizational structure, CA capabilities provided by the Army differ depending on the component from which they originate. Significant training deficiencies and discrepancies exist that separate the Active force from the Reserve force. The Reserve lacks the robust foundational training provided to the Active force. The USAR remains well-postured to return to a multi-component USASOC structure and immediately assume operational missions and oversight of the entirety of CA forces.