What Role for Civil Affairs? Responses to Vincent & Gallagher Article

There were two insightful responses to the Army Magazine article, "PSYOP, Civil Affairs Units, Need to Prove Themselves" by Lt Col Jason Vincent and Maj Stuart Gallagher, in the April issue of Army Magazine here.

Lt Col Don Slesnick (USAR Ret), a Vietnam Veteran who served in the 29th Civil Affairs Company in I Corps, urges we do not lose sight of civil affairs' "truly essential mission and value to the total Army warfighting capability, which not only includes, secondarily, neutralizing or destroying the enemy, but also caring for the impacted civilian population and ensuring sustainable community conditions can exist once the battle has ended."

Maj Gen Jeffrey Jacobs (USAR Ret) further argues in his response that the challenge with CA And PSYOP Units is ultimately a failure of TRADOC for not owning proponency for these capabilities.

These responses and discourse are timely given the outcome of the Force Modernization Assessment. Listen in on 7 April, where the Civil Affairs Proponent provides an update on this important assessment. This will be done virtually and you can register for this event for free here.