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According to the U.S. Army , "Civil Affairs units help military commanders by working with civil authorities and civilian populations in the commander’s area of operations to lessen the impact of military operations on them during peace, contingency operations and declared war." With their expertise in civil matters, they are the principle unit in assisting a commander in the conduct of civil-military operations. CA units act as a liaison between the civilian inhabitants of a warzone or disaster area and the military presence, both informing the local commander of the status of the civilian populace as well as effecting assistance to locals by either coordinating military operations with Non-governmental Organization s (NGOs) or distributing directly aid and supplies. Comprised primarily of civilian experts such as doctors, lawyers, engineers, police, firemen, bankers, engineers, computer programmers, farmers, and others, CA special operators provide critical expertise to host-nation governments and are also able to assess need for critical infrastructure projects such as roads, clinics, schools, power plants, water treatment facilities, etc. Once a project has been decided on, a contract is put out at a Civil Military Operations Center for local contractors to come and bid. CA teams will periodically check up on the status of the project to make sure the money is being well spent. CA provides the commander with cultural expertise, assesses the needs of the civilian populace, handles civilians on the battlefield, refugee operations, keeps the commander informed of protected targets such as schools, churches, hospitals, etc., and interfaces with local and international NGOs and private volunteer organizations, which provides the commander with a unique battlefield overlay of all civilian activity, ongoing infrastructure projects, and the prescense and mission of NGOs in the area. UNITED KINGDOM The British Army has a Civil Affairs Group, formed in 1997 and consisting primarily of Territorial Army personnel. Most personnel are members of the Royal Engineers and the group is administered by the Central Volunteer Headquarters Royal Engineers (CVHQ RE), based at Gibraltar Barracks, Blackwater, Camberley , Surrey . Members of the group have been deployed operationally in Bosnia , Kosovo , Albania , Macedonia , East Timor , Sierra Leone , Afghanistan and Iraq . The British Army first formed CA units in 1943 , and by August 1944 there were 3,600 CA personnel in France with the 21st Army Group . UNITED STATES United States Army Within the United States Army, CA units are administered through United States Army Civil Affairs And Psychological Operations Command , a subordinate of U.S. Army Special Operations Command . USACAPOC contains Psychological Operations and CA units, consisting of both active duty and reserve elements. CA is task organized between four reserve Civil Affairs Commands (CACOMS) which integrate at the strategic task force (JTF/CJTF) level. CA brigades comprise these CACOMS and integrate at the operational level with a corps, or echelons above corps (EAC). At the tactical level, active duty maneuver divisions are augmented by the CA battalions that make up a CA brigade. The four CACOMs are the 350th CACOM , the 351st CACOM , the 352nd CACOM , and the 353rd CACOM . There is also a single active duty Army component CA unit, the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion, stationed at Fort Bragg, NC. The 96th CA BN is organized under USASOC and is a rapidly deployable CA unit that supports Special Operations Command detachments including the United States Army Special Operations Groups and 75th Ranger Regiment. Typically (in the new Unit of Action model), a CA battalion will contain a headquarters company, and one CA company for each maneuver brigade. Each CA company contains CA teams (known as CAT-As) which integrate at the maneuver battalion level. There will usually be one CA team per maneuver battalion. In this manner, the division will have OPCON (operational control) over a CA battalion, a brigade will have OPCON over a CA company and an infantry battalion will have TACON (tactical control) over a CA team. The CA battalion retains ADCON (administrative control) for its elements deployed in theater. The CA battalion and its subordinate companies and teams become organic parts of their maneuver unit, augmenting the unit's S-5 or G-5 Civil Military Operations Cell, providing cultural expertise, functional specialty expertise, direct support tactical civil affairs, and establishing CMOCs for the geographic area the maneuver unit is responsible for. United States Marine Corps There are currently two permanent CA units in the (CAG) and 4th CAG . Both units are in the reserve of the Marine Corps. Other CAG unit designations, including 5th and 6th, have been created provisionally for Operation Iraqi Freedom deployments. EXTERNAL LINKS
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