U.S. Army

Civil Affairs

Armies break things. Civil Affairs puts them back together. From the occupation of Germany and Japan to nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan to humanitarian response worldwide, CA soldiers operate in the space between military force and civilian populations. They rebuild governments, manage refugees, coordinate aid, and do the work that determines whether a military victory becomes a lasting peace. The war after the war.

"Secure the Victory" Est. 1942

Army Civil Affairs

The War After the War

CA Specialist MOS

CIVIL-MILITARY OPS

Civil Affairs is the branch that operates in the space between military force and civilian populations — before, during, and after combat. CA soldiers assess civilian infrastructure, coordinate with local governments, manage refugees and displaced persons, and rebuild the governance structures that war destroys. Armies break things. Civil Affairs puts them back together. Every occupation, every stability operation, every humanitarian mission since WWII has run through Civil Affairs. Read more

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World War II — Military Government 1942 – 1945

OPERATION TORCH · 1942

North Africa & Sicily

First Civil Affairs Operations

First CA Deployment

Allied Military Govt

First Occupied Territory

When American forces landed in North Africa and Sicily, they faced a problem nobody had trained for — millions of civilians in the middle of a war zone who needed food, water, medical care, and functioning government. The Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories (AMGOT) was improvised in real time. Civil Affairs officers — many of them lawyers, businessmen, and administrators in civilian life — became instant mayors, judges, and public works directors for cities they'd never seen before. Read more

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JUNE – DECEMBER 1944

Liberation of France

Civil Affairs in the Breakout

Liberated Territory

Millions Displaced

Roads · Utilities

TRANSITION TO FRENCH

As the Army broke out of Normandy and raced across France, Civil Affairs teams followed the combat units into every liberated town. They restored water, electricity, cleared rubble, reopened roads, identified collaborators, managed refugee flows, and transitioned governance back to French authorities. Unlike North Africa, France had a government-in-exile ready to resume control. CA's job was to keep civilians alive and out of the way of combat operations long enough for that transition to happen. Read more

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OCCUPIED GERMANY

Occupation of Germany

Military Government — Denazification

Office of Mil. Govt

Entire Government

PLAN COORDINATION

The occupation of Germany was the largest civil affairs operation in history. The Office of Military Government, United States (OMGUS) ran every aspect of governance in the American zone — courts, police, schools, banks, media, and the denazification of an entire society. CA officers screened 8.5 million displaced persons. They rebuilt municipal governments from scratch, vetting every German official for Nazi affiliations. The Marshall Plan was coordinated through military government structures that CA had built. Germany's postwar democracy was a Civil Affairs project. Read more

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Occupation of Japan

SCAP — Supreme Commander Allied Powers

MacArthur's Authority

New Japanese Govt

REFORM · DEMOCRACY

MacArthur's occupation of Japan rewrote an entire nation. Civil Affairs personnel helped draft the new Japanese constitution, implement land reform, break up the zaibatsu industrial monopolies, establish women's suffrage, and rebuild a shattered economy. The seven-year occupation transformed an imperial militarist state into a constitutional democracy — the most successful nation-building operation in history. Civil Affairs provided the specialists who made it function at the ground level. Read more

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Refugees & Reconstruction

Refugees Managed

UN Civil Assistance

GOVT RESTORATION

Korea created a refugee crisis of staggering scale — millions of civilians fled south as armies surged back and forth across the peninsula. Civil Affairs teams managed refugee columns that clogged roads the Army needed for military traffic. Seoul was captured and recaptured twice, each time requiring CA to restore basic governance and services. The UN Civil Assistance Command, Korea (UNCACK) coordinated the largest wartime humanitarian operation since WWII. Read more

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Cold War & Vietnam 1955 – 1991

Vietnam — Hearts & Minds

CORDS & Pacification

Civil Ops & Rev. Dev.

& Minds Campaign

Strategic · New Life

LESSONS LEARNED

Vietnam was the laboratory for Civil Affairs in a counterinsurgency. The Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support (CORDS) program embedded CA teams in Vietnamese provinces to build local governance, deliver services, and win the loyalty of the population. The Strategic Hamlet Program, the New Life Program, and pacification campaigns tried to separate the civilian population from the Viet Cong. The results were mixed at best. Vietnam taught Civil Affairs that you can't build a government the population doesn't believe in. Read more

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TOTAL FORCE POLICY

The Reserve Force Decision

Why CA Lives in the Army Reserve

CA in Army Reserve

Functional Specialists

Doctors · Engineers

SKILLS = CA SKILLS

The Army made a deliberate decision to put roughly 85% of its Civil Affairs capability in the Army Reserve — because the skills CA needs are civilian skills. Lawyers who can rebuild a court system. Engineers who can assess infrastructure. Public health professionals who can restore hospitals. City planners who can design governance structures. The 38G functional specialist — a reservist who is an expert in their civilian career and brings that expertise to a military mission. You can't train an 18-year-old to do this job. You need the 45-year-old city manager. Read more

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Global War on Terror — Nation Building 2001 – 2021

PRT · VSO · DST

Village Stability & Governance

Provincial Recon Teams

Village Stability Ops

Local Governance

In Afghanistan, Civil Affairs teams were embedded in every province — running Provincial Reconstruction Teams that combined military security with development projects, governance mentoring, and humanitarian assistance. CA soldiers sat in shuras with village elders, assessed local needs, funded schools and clinics through CERP, and tried to build governance in a country that had never had a strong central government. Twenty years of continuous CA operations. The results remain debated. The effort was undeniable. Read more

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CPA · RECONSTRUCTION

CPA · Reconstruction · Governance

Coalition Prov. Authority

Commander's Emergency $

Reconstruction Spent

BUILT FROM SCRATCH

Iraq was the largest civil affairs operation since the occupation of Germany. After the fall of Saddam, the Coalition Provisional Authority attempted to rebuild an entire government — new ministries, new courts, new police, new army, new everything. CA teams operated in every province, spending CERP funds on infrastructure, mediating tribal disputes, and trying to build local governance while an insurgency raged around them. Over $60 billion was spent on reconstruction. Civil Affairs soldiers were the interface between American money and Iraqi reality. Read more

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WORLDWIDE RESPONSE

Humanitarian Operations

Haiti · Tsunami · Ebola · Hurricane Response

2010 Earthquake

2004 Indian Ocean

2014 West Africa

HUMANITARIAN ASSIST

Civil Affairs is the Army's primary humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capability. After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, CA teams coordinated relief distribution, assessed infrastructure damage, and served as the interface between the military response and international aid organizations. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2014 Ebola response in West Africa, hurricane relief across the Caribbean — CA provides the civil-military expertise that makes military humanitarian response effective rather than chaotic. Read more

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Active Units & Formations Today's Civil Affairs

FORT LIBERTY, NC

95th Civil Affairs Brigade

Active Duty — Airborne

Fort Liberty, NC

ACTIVE DUTY CA BDE

The 95th Civil Affairs Brigade is the only active-duty Civil Affairs brigade in the Army — airborne-qualified and stationed at Fort Liberty alongside Special Operations Command. The 95th deploys worldwide on short notice, providing Civil Affairs capability to SOF and conventional commanders. Their soldiers are among the most deployed in the Army, operating in every combatant command's area of responsibility. Active-duty CA exists because some missions can't wait for a reserve mobilization. Read more

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FORT LIBERTY, NC

U.S. Army Civil Affairs & PSYOP Command

Army Reserve Command

CA Brigades (USAR)

FORCE STRUCTURE

USACAPOC — the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command — is the Army Reserve command that holds the bulk of the nation's Civil Affairs capability. Over 12,000 soldiers across seven CA brigades and multiple PSYOP battalions. These are the reservists — the 38G functional specialists, the lawyers, engineers, and administrators who bring their civilian expertise to military operations. USACAPOC provides the depth of CA capability that the active Army simply cannot generate on its own. Read more

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FORT LIBERTY, NC

CA Qualification Course

SWCS — Fort Liberty, NC

Qualification Course

JFK Special Warfare

Cultural Training

CA IS UNDER SOCOM

Active-duty Civil Affairs officers and NCOs attend the Civil Affairs Qualification Course at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Liberty — the same institution that trains Special Forces and PSYOP. CA soldiers learn civil reconnaissance, governance assessment, negotiation, cultural analysis, and how to operate in the human terrain. Civil Affairs is a Special Operations branch — the only SOF capability focused entirely on the civilian dimension of the battlefield. Read more

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82

Years of Service

85%

In Army Reserve

8

CA Brigades

38G

Functional Specialists