Well, it seems logical that we are going this way, but I had not heard this until today:
The Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) officially established its newest command, Military Civil Affairs Group (MCAG) during a ceremony at Naval Amphibious Base (NAB) Little Creek, March 30.
MCAG’s mission is to assess, plan and execute civil affairs (CA) activities in the maritime operational environment.
Of the 6174 Navy Reservists mobilized, there are a number who are backfilling Army Civil Affairs requirements. In fact, one guy from my unit is reporting this month for processing for just that mission. He gets to go through 5 months of training at Ft. Bragg before going, however.
It seems the NECC is a little more expansive than I originally thought, but in a good way. The stand up of this new command (MCAG) will, I think, help with engagement overseas.
I just wonder if there will be a reserve unit associated with it…
As a Civil Affairs Specialist in the Army, I’m glad to see that the other branches (other the the Marines) are attempting to win their hearts and minds.
Also, I had to reclassify to 38A when I entered the CA world, and it wasn’t 5 months at Bragg. Which is what the AIT kids go through. I did a little over 2 weeks at Ft. Dix.
They teach you to take notes, ALWAYS have your interp and NEVER make a promise. EVER.
Oh, and be prepared to go from handing out beanie babies and bottled water to kicking in doors and going on raids.
Jack of all trades, master of none.
Well, Well,
The time has finally arrived. The New war doctrine of 3 dimensional real time adjustments augmented with inter-service redundancy to cover all aspects of…..man do I need a scotch….yes I know it’s all about fluid dynamics, the different aspects of asymmetrical warfare and all… I am old enough to remember a time in history when we used to just pound the crap out of the enemy until they gave up. O.k yes I understand.. no …no, I’ll just sit back down and be quiet…
Richard
JB2D – I can only tell you what his orders say: 5 months at Ft. Bragg. He has promised to email to pass along what this training entails, because I am as curious as he is. This training might be so long because as a Navy officer, he has had zero infantry training…
Richard – so true.
Supporting the Navy RIVRONs will apparently be one of our missions on this next trip downrange. I worked with a couple of them on a TACP shoot back in November. We talked a lot of shit beforehand about how they were just a bunch of SWOs looking to inject some excitement into their careers, but I came away impressed by their enthusiasm and willingness to learn about CAS and fire support from the Marines on the OP.
Civil Affairs and Information Operations are not the cure-all or the “wave-of-the-future” but they are a necessary and vital component to our military effort. There are times when they supercede lethal operations… other times not.
One thing that I hope the military will do is have a much better coordinated effort in the CA and IO realm. From my persepctive as a PSYOP team chief (I worked in the same cell as our CA team and went out of the wire with them on occasion), there is little coordination on reconstruction efforts. You have the NGO’s, State, and Army CA doing their things. Then, you have the individual units that rotate through and spend the hell out of money in order to produce “x” number of schools, hospitals, etc. in order to produce a quantitative number for a good OER or unit citation.
The Army has to understand that CA is not a one-year long effort. I think what has largely happened is that units do not build upon what they fall onto. Instead, they simply scrap the old program (after all, it was those “other guys” and we’re a better unit) and start over.
Two steps forward and one back may be progress, but its slow and we’re running against the clock here.
“MCAG’s mission is to assess, plan and execute civil affairs (CA) activities in the maritime operational environment.”
So they build houseboats?
:V
Gentlemen of the uniform,
May I speak?
I have always held your op-in in the highest
regard because you were THERE!! My own Mil-Serv was at a time and with a C.I.C who was busy trying to “down-Grade” the Mil into something akin to third world junta,supporting the drug trade for peanut farmers.. nuf said…low be it said I that I used to make my baby-sitting of his sorry ass
a high point of MY mil-serv.I will never say his low-life name again , and should he show up in L.A this fall…. showers of rotten peanuts on this pathetic, moon-bat demented OLD MAN…..WHAT TOO STRONG?????
He shook the hands of all the O.P.D motor units but turned his back on the MIL NAVY Corpsman Corpswave Ambulance crew that trailed his sorry ass for 3 days while he was in OAKLAND…..Dear JIMMY suck my…..oh …sorry this is Easter Week……..BULL
To my friends who have known the SERVICE.
I am new to this way of stating it plain.
I have made some mis-steps in the articulation of the thought.mindset, battle-plan forward-thinking P.C (CRAP) (COVER YOUR ASS-HAT)
build your blogg-site,(TOSS THE DETRACTORS WHO MAY DIMINISH THE INCOME TO YOUR ASS_HAT web-site
kind of thinking…NEO-CON i am, punch the monkey, but watch your sick. JIMBO
Redress and I’ll take the shame,
This is an open apology to all readers of OP-FOR.
The previous two posts that you all have looked at and, for the most part just shook your collective heads and thought “Man”…. Please,
I won’t go into details, it is a major case of “HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM”. It is very difficult for a man who wants to do something more in this time of war, to be more in the front lines when he is at an age that prevents him from dong so. Bull, you know I have a good heart but the scotch/blogg interface is not working. Especially when I wake up in the morning and see for myself what the night has brought. I love and respect my military, the “ROUGH MEN ON THE WALL” wish I was 20 years younger. Yet, I have to raise good kids, that should be my focus, not ranting and raving on a site best suited for those that wear the uniform and stand on the wall.
Respectfully and lastly,
Richard
In answer to the last question on the blog post. There are reserve CA units forming as I type this.
Shaun – Navy Reserve CA units? Where? Can you send me a link to more information? Thanks.
bullnav – I’m scheduled to go to a Civil Affairs unit in Afghanistan after 5 mo training at Ft. Bragg. Any info or contacts you might have would be appreciated. Contacted a bunch of the POC’s on my orders but haven’t gotten much gouge.
In response to the question of Reserve Units dedicated to MCAG. Yes. Serveral squadrons are being formed across the U.S. to augment the CA needs of the Navy. Most are currently focused on training requirements to support the mission. The focus is for both operations and humanitarian support. In the light of Katrina and Thailand it is all too apparent that this is long overdue.
I’m an MA with the 90CA NEC from a PRT deployment to Afghanistan. What ratings are open to the MCAG?
Thanks for the informations they are too helpful for this subject..