8-minute read
On 11 April 2025, MAJ Jake Nyquist, with the 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion in Green Bay, WI, sent a note to the Civil Affairs Team Room asking the following question: What advice would you have on ideas for CA training pertinent to supporting U.S. European Command (EUCOM) for a reserve unit during weekend battle assembly (BA)? A query to some Teammates sparked a lively discussion and provided valuable advice that we thought we’d share with the broader community.
COL(R) Tony Vacha, a former deputy commanding officer of the 353rd Civil Affairs Command (CACOM), was the first to reach out to Jake for clarification on his request. Before he could get back to us, Rob Nicholson, who is currently assigned to the EUCOM headquarters and spent some time as a civil affairs operations chief for a theater sustainment command G9, came up on the net, saying, “We developed the training requirements for European deploying CA forces out of the 353rd CACOM. With that in mind, the CACOMs and brigades should have those training requirements for the battalions to meet their pre-deployment timelines.”
MG(R) Jeff Coggin, a former commanding general of USACAPOC(A), agreed. “Just wanted to share some thoughts and observations on this one before we jump in hard. First, good catch by Rob Nicholson. The 353rd CACOM, CA brigades, and CA battalions can provide the answer to this question and should be the go-to and first source to support this unit…I see Tony Vacha in the email string. He has good hands-on knowledge of these efforts and what was being provided to prepare these units to deploy to this theater.
COL(R) Tony Vacha then got back to us: In my initial discussion with Jake, he is seeking innovative ideas for training. He is looking for ideas beyond the 353rd’s Yearly Training Guidance and the Theater Specific Individual Readiness Training (TSIRT) Requirements from First Army, U.S. Army Europe-Africa, etc. My mantra when in uniform for every BA weekend was to challenge the Soldiers both physically and intellectually to make their invested time valuable. I began my CA journey in the 415th CA Battalion in Jake’s brigade. It can be challenging to find creative training opportunities, but it starts with civil reconnaissance of your own community and region. Here are some additional thoughts:
– Are there universities in the area that focus on international studies and issues? When I was at the 415th, the 353rd was still dual-aligned with EUCOM and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo hosted an Economics Symposium that focused on the Horn of Africa. We sent some Soldiers to that in a duty status to build and provide a briefing to the rest of the unit.
[A side note from Cahill: The 412th CA Battalion in Whitehall, OH, recently tapped into resources at Ohio State University to provide a seminar on contemporary issues in Africa – a continent to which unit members may deploy.]
– Are there local cultural centers or organizations focused on diaspora populations? My time at the 353rd CACOM headquarters was a treasure trove of resources in New York City. Between Manhattan and Brooklyn, nearly every country on the Eastern Flank of NATO has a cultural center or museum. Jake may need to look beyond Green Bay, such as in Milwaukee, but Wisconsin was largely settled by northern and eastern European immigrants. I’m sure that after some discussion, he’ll come up with some options.
– Online Resources. There are programs like Coursera that offer free courses on Russian history, ethnographic studies, and more, in collaboration with universities. Additionally, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) Civil-Military Cooperation Centre of Excellence (CCOE) provides online videos of its conferences and symposia.
– Functional Specialists – NATO has seven baseline requirements (BLRs) for building resilience within its member populations against various threats. Jake can take the seven BLRs and request assistance from CA functional specialists in his brigade and CACOM to learn about targeted topics via MS Teams or conference call. I know the range of expertise in his CACOM, and it’s quite impressive.
Of course, this all begins with a concept of operations and a dialogue between commanders about what is feasible given the available resources (time, money, etc.).
SGM(R) Chet Sechrest, who served in the 96th CA Bn from 2000-2005 as a Special Forces NCO, reclassified from 18Z to 38B to return to the 95th Civil Affairs Brigade (Special Operations)(Airborne) from 2008-2011, and once served as a Joint Commission Observer for the Security Force in Bosnia, then came up on the net: The question was for training ideas at the unit level. The question one should ask first is, What skills, tools, or techniques is the unit missing or needs improvement in so that “ideas” for Jake’s consideration can be presented?
There are many ways to conduct training to develop or improve skills. Things to consider include that each situation, setting, or environment presents different training needs and challenges. It’s important to consider both what is known and what is unknown about the situation, setting, or environment in which your teams will operate, as well as the mission’s intended end state or goal. Is the mission to gain access to restricted areas or gather information? Build relationships through community projects? Provide training to boost host nation capacity? These types of questions need to be asked and answered to create a mission-specific training program. The goal is not to be a Facebook warrior posting pictures, but to achieve real, measurable outcomes that have local to national-level impacts.
When was the last time the unit conducted an assessment to determine training requirements and identify the assets and resources available to execute the training? Does the unit maintain profiles of the actual skill sets its team members bring from their civilian jobs, matching skills to mission sets? People skills are what make civil affairs successful. Finally, does social maturity matter when selecting soldiers for missions and desired outcomes? I can be available to discuss these things further, if needed.
Finally, LTC(R) Glenn Battschinger, who once commanded a company in the 404th CA Battalion at Fort Dix, NJ, and recently held information integrator positions at USAREUR-AF and USAFRICOM, closed out the conversation with these thoughts: With respect to what to look at for a meaningful CA rotation in the European/Africa Theaters, a few things come to mind:
1. Civil Knowledge Integration (CKI). No one outside of civil affairs does CKI; it’s a core task executed by a civil-military operations center (CMOC). Everyone involved in CKI should ask, “How do we do this? How is a measure of effectiveness (MOE) achieved? What does right look like?” There is only one answer, and that is to understand data mining, data collection, and data input. Not into an Excel spreadsheet, but into an information system that is fully integrated into the service component or combatant command (CCMD). When I left Europe, the two CCMDs in Europe – in fact, in the same city – were USEUCOM and USAFRICOM.
Each CCMD is working to achieve a ‘single pane of glass’ that the commander can view for answers to all of his information requirements. They were using different information platforms, but both depended on a program called Command and Control of the Information Environment (C2IE). C2IE is easy to understand and offers a great training opportunity for Battle Assemblies, as it is accessible to EVERYONE, ANYWHERE. Units just need to work through their operational chains of command to gain access for pre-deployment familiarization.
2. Targeting. Both USEUCOM and USAFRICOM have robust targeting cells in their J35s. Targeting is a complex discipline to understand for even the most seasoned planners; however, CA teams at all echelons would be well-served to understand how targeting works at the command they are going to support BEFORE THEY GET THERE. Another great opportunity for Battle Assembly training is for a CA organization to collaborate with the CCMD J39 to learn about and practice supporting the CCMD’s targeting process.
3. Plan to fall in on a going concern. This is whatever the previous team was doing. Of course, a successor team will have its own ideas about what it wants to do and how it wants to do things. The fact is that the outgoing team has built relationships and has contributed to the commander’s program, with many people relying on continuity. The tragedy occurs when a successor team arrives and spends months figuring out how to do things, how the command staff operates, and which relationships are essential. Then they might spend another three months assessing what will work and what will not. By the time they have ‘got it,’ it is time to go home, and nothing has been accomplished. Plan to take over whatever program the previous CA organization is running, immediately upon arrival. A measure of performance for a CA deployment should be how well it understands its predecessor’s situation. If you wait until Left Seat/Right Seat, it will be too late.
4. DO NOT attempt to replicate a special operations CA team. Reserve CA forces have much more to offer a commander than trying to think and act like Green Berets or SEALs. Leave that to the active-duty CA folks. USAR CA brings real-life experience that active-duty CA often lacks. This should not be overlooked, as it frequently is. Don’t disregard this, and more importantly, do not let anyone else diminish your value.
Question for our teammates: What innovative training has your unit performed to prepare for deployment during competition, crisis, or combat operations? Keeping in mind our rules for unclassified discussion and OPSEC, we’d like to hear and share your ideas.
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