Call for Civil Affairs Issue Papers: “Teaming Civil Affairs: Lessons from the Field”

Last year’s discussion, as noted in the last Symposium and Roundtable Reports, revealed how Army multicomponent and joint Civil Affairs teaming points to a way forward for successful integration of CA forces in strategic competition—but also in stabilization and large-scale combat operations (LSCO). CA teaming as such has become a mainstay of CA support to security cooperation missions and joint exercises. It must go beyond this: Conference keynote speaker Brig. Gen. Kelly Dickerson identified a momentous opportunity for CA forces, as an information force, to help achieve layered effects in the information environment in the regions. Operating under a joint CA construct allows for the Department of Defense (DoD) to leverage the comparative advantages of diverse CA forces and enable supported commands to find the right mix of civil-military capacities and capabilities to meet current and future mission requirements. Beyond maximizing the DoD footprint—beyond other information force and Army National Guard State Partnership Program (SPP) activities—it exploits CA’s natural ability to reach back to and support steady state civilian-led stabilization operations and conflict prevention activities along joint, interorganizational, and multinational (JIM) lines. Army 38G Military Government and other functional specialists, highly valuable to strategic and operational analysis and warning, could also be teamed. The emerging institutional implications for CA force structure, management, and development along DOTMLPF-P[1] lines are enormous—including addressing considerable longstanding gaps that CA proponents, the Army, U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), Joint commands, and DoD need to address to realize CA’s full potential.

What can we learn from experience so far in multicomponent CA teaming? How can deliberate campaigning of multicomponent and JIM[i]-level teaming in CA operations improve CA institutional integration (e.g., in training, education, and leader development) and with other information forces such as PSYOP? How can CA teaming experience to date in strategic competition apply to LSCO, post-conflict consolidation, and irregular warfare as well as meet ongoing stabilization, governance, and civilian harm mitigation, reduction, and resilience challenges? How can multi-partner, JIM-level CA teaming help address interagency priorities such as: climate change; Women, Peace, and Security; the Global Fragility Act; and conflict prevention? What DOTMLPF-P changes should occur within and beyond current capacities? How should they be prioritized and implemented?

To address such questions, the Civil Affairs Association and its partners invite the civil-military community of practice to send original issue papers prepared in accordance with the Civil Affairs Issue Paper Guidelines. Beyond their experiences, policy, doctrine, and the Association’s Issue Papers, OneCA, Eunomia Journal, or Research Library, authors should also consider sourcing the Association of the United States Army, NATO CIMIC Center of Excellence, Modern War Institute, Irregular Warfare Initiative, U.S. Army Peacekeeping & Stability Operations Institute, Joint Special Operations University, Joint Civil-Military Interaction Network, etc.

The top five papers will appear in the 2024-25 Civil Affairs Issue Papers. Selection is based on: quality of response to the call for papers and Issue Paper Guidelines (i.e., “answering the mail”); relevance and originality; discussion clarity and sourcing; and feasibility and systemic impact of DOTMLPF-P recommendations. Case studies of multicomponent CA team deployments operations and exercises involving JIM partners are especially welcome. Selected paper authors will present at the 15-17 November 2024 CA Symposium in Philadelphia, PA. The top three presented papers will receive cash awards of: 1st prize, $1,000; 2nd prize, $500; and 3rd prize, $250.

Send questions and papers to papers@civilaffairsassoc.org no later than Friday, 13 September 2024.

[1] Doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, facilities, and policy.

[i] Joint, interorganizational, and multinational.