As our special guest on the One CA podcast, Retired General Anthony Zinni, USMC, shares his vision for a unified, interagency command. General Zinni also shares his view of the value Civil Affairs forces bring to the fight and explains his nickname the "Godfather."
General Zinni spoke at the Civil Affairs Roundtable in April of 2019. A recipient of the 2018 John H. Hilldring Award, General Zinni noted, “In every operation since I met those CA guys in eastern Turkey, we’ve needed civil affairs as critical to every mission, especially in answering the nagging question whenever we seized control of the ground – ‘and then what?’ We’re talking a lot about stabilization and consolidation these days, but CA has always been about those things.”
The former CENTCOM commander wants Civil Affairs to be more aggressive in telling its story and selling its capabilities to regional and joint commands. "Incremental changes will not be enough – it’s time to move boldly ahead," he added. "CA needs to be thought of differently, more a national and global force of its own than just a force multiplier."
Listen to One CA episodes on iTunes and Stitcher.
Photo of General Zinni courtesy of David McNew/Getty Images