The Civil Affairs Team Room is intended to be a place to promote learning among CA professionals and spark interest in civil affairs as a capability and a career through conversations in a virtual CA team room setting. It’s where we allow CA old timers to pass on wisdom gained by experience to the newer members of the CA Corps and enable the younger members to take the Corps to the next level.
Toward that end, and starting with some basic foundational questions to get us acquainted with one another, seasoned CA Soldiers and Marines answer a variety of questions and offer explanations and advice from the perspective of members and leaders of CA teams, companies, battalions, brigades, and commands; staff officers and staff non-commissioned officers (NCOs) of Special Forces (SF) groups, Ranger battalions, Ranger Regimental headquarters, 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-star special operations headquarters; staff officers and staff NCOs of conventional force brigade combat teams (BCTs), division, corps, and theater army headquarters (and U.S. Marine Corps equivalents), geographic combatant commands (GCCs), and Service, Joint, and Defense Department staffs at the Pentagon (and Interagency equivalents); and participants in training exercises, mobilization processes, deployments, and redeployments.
In other words, seasoned CA Soldiers and Marines with years of having been there and done that share stories with people who are in their early years of going there to do those things and more.
In the Civil Affairs Team Room, we pose a question of significance to members of the CA force and the CA community of interest. A senior CA teammate will generally answer first, either from personal experience, personal research, or anecdotes of colleagues who related their experiences over the years on what it means to be a CA officer or NCO in both the active and reserve components of the Army and Marine Corps. Then, other members of the CA community and non-CA partners of any era – both in and out of uniform – who have worked alongside or were supported by CA Soldiers or Marines, will be given an opportunity to respond and tell their stories as well, for there are rich and unique experiences and perspectives among the many members of the CA Corps and its mission partners from which we all could learn and appreciate.
If you wish to ask a question or share your experiences, send a note to the Civil Affairs Team Room.