Infantry Drills

4-92: Civil-Military Operations



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4-92. Tactical-level CMO include support of stakeholders at local levels, and promoting the legitimacy and effectiveness of U.S. presence and operations among locals, while minimizing friction between the military and the civilian organizations in the field. These may include local security operations, processing and movement of displaced civilians, project management and project nomination, civil reconnaissance, and basic HSS. (Refer to JP 3-57 for further information.)


4-93. Civil affairs operations are those military operations planned, supported, or
executed by civil affairs forces that—

  • Enhance the relationship between military forces and civil authorities in localities where military forces are present.
  • Require coordination with other interagency organizations, intergovernmental organizations, nongovernmental organizations, indigenous populations and institutions, and the private sector.
  • Involve application of functional specialty skills that normally are the responsibility of civil government to enhance the conduct of CMO. They involve application of civil affairs functional specialty skills, in areas usually the responsibility of civil government. These activities are fundamental to executing stability tasks.

4-94. Stability emphasizes nonlethal, constructive actions by Soldiers working among noncombatants. In stability, civil affairs forces work with and through host-nation agencies and other civilian organizations to enhance the host-nation government‘s legitimacy. Often, civil affairs teams work with or alongside the Infantry platoon and squad during stability. A framework for evaluating civil considerations is ASCOPE. (Refer to ADRP 6-0 for further information.) Each consideration is described as follows:

  • Structures. Describe the man-made structures in which the people live and work; determine those having cultural, religious, and economic significance.
  • Capabilities. Determine the ability of various groups to influence the area of operations and the rest of the population relative to their possible intent to do sodetermine economic and military potential given the areas and infrastructure.
  • Organizations. Determine what informal and formal social, religious, familial or political organizations exist and their intentions, purposes, and resources.
  • People. Determine how the population aligns with organizations and one another; determine if they are likely to be supportive, detrimental, or neutral to the unit‘s mission.
  • Events. Create significant population event template and determine if future activity can be predicted based on pattern analysis.

Next: 4-95: Other

Go Back To: U.S. Army FM 3-21.8: The Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad