Year: 2025

7-minute read Class composition. I don’t remember much about signing in on Sunday, 12 July 1992, but I do recall that our class included captains, majors, and one lieutenant colonel…

15-minute read  The original question. In September 2025, in response to CATR #13, Major John McElligott sent the Civil Affairs Team the following questions: Do you think the [special operations…

5-minute read Assessment and selection for Regular Army civil affairs units. CAAS did not exist in 1992 when I was in the Regular Army and chose civil affairs as a…

3-minute read By Major (Retired) Tom Kinton Introductory Note from the CATR Team Leader: The following piece was written by Major (Retired) Tom Kinton, a civil affairs officer and Veteran…

By Colonel (Ret.) Patrick Pascall 7-minute read My background. I was commissioned into Armor in 1993, commanding Abrams M1A1 tanks and learning the fundamentals of maneuver warfare. Three years later,…

5-minute read The Berlin Wall came down. On November 9, 1989, the people of Berlin breached and ultimately tore down the wall that had divided their city since 1961. I…

7-minute read Civil affairs in early military training. When I was a cadet at the United States Military Academy, military history courses focused on encounters between armed adversaries on battlefields…

8-minute read A loaded question. This can be a sensitive subject for some. Being a member of special operations forces (SOF) is a source of immense pride. Yet, while my…

9-minute read The answer to this question is found in U.S. Army regulations (ARs) and Army General Orders (AGOs). However, since few have seen these sources, let’s take a few…

7-minute read I first heard of the idea to redesign the civil affairs branch insignia from the globe, torch, sword, and scroll described in CATR Post #10 to crossed pipehawks…