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 from various Army branches, such as Military Police (MP), Engineer (EN), Field Artillery (FA), Infantry (IN), Air Defense Artillery (ADA), and Special Forces (SF). There was one major from the Egyptian Army participating in the International Military Student program. The U.S. officers would be awarded Functional Area 39 after completing a one- to two-year training program, depending on whether they needed language training and/or were chosen for the International Relations master’s degree program offered by Troy State University. Most of the captains and some of the majors were headed for follow-up assignments at the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne) (96th CA Bn (Abn)). Some majors were assigned to U.S. Army divisions as part of the Division G5, the former designation for the civil affairs staff section before it was changed to G9 in the early 2000s. The lieutenant colonel, an SF officer, was scheduled to take command of the 96th CA Bn (Abn) later that year.
The classroom environment.
We spent the first two weeks of the Civil Affairs Course in Classroom 5, Kennedy Hall, on the north side of the atrium opposite the John F. Kennedy Auditorium. [Today, after Kennedy Hall’s renovation about 20 years ago, the offices of the senior cadre of the MSG David K. Thuma Non-Commissioned Officer Academy occupy that space, and the old classroom entrance in the atrium hallway has been removed.] Classroom 5, built during Kennedy Hall’s construction in the 1960s, featured a raised, stage-like platform on the north end where course instructors and guest speakers gave lectures using transparent acetate slides projected onto a screen from old-style overhead projectors. Students sat in chairs arranged with tables at floor level.
On Monday, 27 July 1992, Class 92-2 became the first occupants of the new CA classroom in Room 311 at the far end of a building known at the time as the New Academic Facility, or NAF. The NAF was a “state-of-the-art” concrete building that featured long, external pedestrian ramps leading from the parking lot to the third level. On the ground floor, at the opposite end of the building and across from Room 275 – the “tiered classroom” – was the new location of the Marquat Library. Named for CA Major General William F. Marquat, it had recently moved from Kennedy Hall, to which it was initially transferred from Fort Gordon, GA, in 1973. The long central hallway on the third floor was decorated with framed colors of CA units and enlarged photographs of CA Soldiers in action during Operation Desert Shield, including one of Captain Doug Nash of the 96th CA Bn (Abn), overseeing a massive spigot seemingly pouring water onto the desert floor. [Later in the 1990s, the NAF became known as the Special Operations Academic Facility (SOAF) until it was dedicated as Colonel Aaron Bank Hall on November 21, 2005.] In Room 311, there was no stage – the instructor and overhead projector were now on the same level as the students at their tables and chairs.
It was in these facilities that the students of CA Course 92-02 first learned about civil affairs operations (CAO) from the Approved Final Draft of FM 41-10, dated 14 May 1992. This was considered “the bible” for CA Soldiers.
What we learned.
As we made our way through FM 41-10, we learned many interesting facts about civil affairs that most of us had never heard before. After an overview of CAO in chapter 1, there was a chapter on strategic threats that result from economic, political, cultural, and ethnic instability. There was another chapter that outlined the CA missions that supported conventional operations (civil administration and civil-military operations), the CA missions that supported special operations (foreign internal defense and unconventional warfare), and a group of collateral activities that included humanitarian assistance, counterdrug activities, security assistance, security activities, nation assistance, and peacekeeping operations. This was followed by chapters on the organization and functions of CA units and staff sections, including the government and civil sector tasks executed by CA functional specialty teams, and the command and control of CA units and operations in peace and war by the U.S. Special Operations Command, the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, and Theater Armies. Additional chapters covered the relationship between intelligence and CA, the combat service support requirements of CAO, mission planning and employment of CA forces, and additional details on CA support to conventional operations, special operations, and operations involving U.S. government agencies and non-government organizations.
In addition to FM 41-10, we had a series of special texts that described each of the functional specialties in greater detail. We also had a reading list that included books like The Ugly American and A Bell for Adano. I only had time to read A Bell for Adano, a historical fiction novel based on real people and events, which was a pretty cool story about an Italian-American U.S. Army major from the Bronx (my hometown!) who was in charge of an Italian port city during the Allied occupation of that country in the middle of World War II. [Side note: Colonel Frank E. Toscani, on whom A Bell for Adano was based, was inducted as a Distinguished Member of the Regiment for the Civil Affairs Corps at the John F. Kennedy Auditorium on 26 April 2024.
Throughout the course, we had guest speakers from USAID, the State Department, and other organizations that CA Soldiers work with downrange. We also participated in a 4-day exercise in week 5, which took us to Hoke County to conduct an area assessment. This was my favorite part of the course.
For our field exercise, which we conducted in civilian clothes – something new for me and most of the other students – I teamed up with two classmates to assess the county’s ability to execute its emergency management plan. One location we visited was the Hoke Correctional Institution, including the McCain Correctional Hospital, in Raeford, NC. When we asked the facility director about his ability to provide beds and cafeteria support for local residents as part of the county’s emergency shelter plan, he said he was not authorized to open his facility for that purpose. He was also unaware that his facility was included in the Hoke County emergency management plan. We invited him to our Friday morning out brief for Hoke County officials and had the chance to introduce him to the authors of the plan. We left feeling satisfied that we had identified a flaw in the plan and offered the county government the opportunity to fix the issue before facing a real emergency.
Two things we learned in the course directly affected us all. One was that the 96th CA Bn (Abn) was the only active component CA unit in the Army, making up just 4% of the total civil affairs force. The rest of the CA units were part of the U.S. Army Reserve. The other was that while G5s existed in U.S. Army divisions, there were no full-time S5s in the maneuver brigades. The S5 positions were considered “required/not authorized” and would be filled as needed during wartime.
Parting advice.
On the last day of the course, we had a chance to review what we had learned and ask final questions of the senior instructor. Someone noted that most of the information presented was strategic or operational in nature. Despite reading FM 41-10 cover to cover, reading A Bell for Adano, and completing a successful exercise, many of us still felt unsure about what would be expected of us at the tactical level when we arrived as team leaders in the 96th CA Bn (Abn) or as G5s in Infantry or Armor Divisions.
The senior instructor, an SF major, told us not to worry. Now that we understood what FM 41-10 said, much of what we’d do would be based on common sense. He finished his advice with, “When you get down range, take a look around, see what has to be done, and do it. That’s good CA.”
This was not a good answer for most of us, but, as I would soon find out, it wasn’t far off the mark.
Questions for our teammates: When and where did you attend the CA course? What part of the instruction stands out to you, and do you believe the course prepared you for your new role?
Responses from Teammates:
26 Dec 2025, SFC(Ret) Karl Kumm: I went to the CA course in the fall of 1993 as a mid-level E7 18C from 7th SFG. My SF experience up to that time, when meeting with senior host-nation officials, was as a presence, not a speaker. Our Team Sergeant (E8) and Team Leader (PAT or WO) did most of the communicating. As a CA team member, when we deployed to Honduras as part of the J5 staff, we had a lot of meetings with senior host-nation officials of senior field-grade or general officer rank. Also, we deployed to other states of the country, often meeting with the governor and senior military commanders…Having the ability in the course to do team meetings and or coordination meetings with similar types of officials could help with the ‘jitters’ or being ‘star struck.’ Just a thought.
27 Dec 2025, COL (Ret) Dennis J. Cahill, in response to above: Hi Karl. In all the years I’ve known you, I don’t think I knew you had been a CA guy. I was in the doctrine division at USAJFKSWCS when you were in the 96th. Sounds like you were in Alpha Co. How long were you there for? Did you go back to 7th SFG(A) after that, and didn’t you retire as a MSG?
It sounds like you went through the SQI D course when LTC Jim Powers was the battalion commander, and the battalion MTOE was being adjusted to replace the CA team sergeants, medics, and engineers to 18-series. How long was that course?
FYSA, I understand the CAQC for 38R NCOs now has a portion where students do interact with role players who pose as senior government officials as a graded event. Most times, the role players are retired U.S. Ambassadors or other senior members of the diplomatic corps. I wish they had something like that when I went through, too.
26 Dec 2025, SFC(Ret) Karl Kumm, in response to above: Dennis, I was in A Co, 96th from about 6 Oct 93 to about 27 Aug 97. Yes, I went back to 7th SFG for my last 2 years, retiring 30 Nov 99. The CA course I went to was 6 weeks long. When I got there, all new enlisted team members were 18C, 18D, and 18Z and had to wear a maroon beret. On 1 Nov 93, that got changed, and 18-series got their green berets, but they also downgraded the enlisted positions: Medics and Engineers to E6 and Team Sgt to 18F/E7. The only problem was that they kept a lot of the E7s. Hard to get promoted working in slots below your pay grade; some, myself included, never recovered and retired as E7.
As much as I didn’t like being there, I deployed more in CA than I did in 7th, just got real tired of JTF-B and Soto Cano, Honduras. Never got a command visit from company or battalion; they just went to the other companies that went to cool places and had good per diem rates. The last part may just be opinion, not based on fact, just observation.
Almost forgot – yes, LTC Powers was the CO followed by his XO when he got promoted. I don’t recall his name. I don’t remember getting the SQI D. I never got orders for that, and it never showed on my records.
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One response to “CATR Post #20 – What was your Civil Affairs Course like?”
[…] airplane just before signing out of the 1st Ranger Battalion 3 ½ years earlier. On 12 July 1992, I reported to the Civil Affairs Course, as […]