“To give you an idea – and I’m not comparing myself to AFSOC – [at] the 1st Special Operations Wing, they have 76 aircraft and as of a couple of years ago, they had 5,810 people. You know, I had 183 aircraft, 2,993 people in three separate locations. So, you can see the span of control was a significant challenge for us. And now, the 160th SOAR commander doesn’t have to focus on that any more. He focuses on his operational battalions and we focus on those resourcing issues.”
95th Civil Affairs Brigade (CAB)
The 95th CAB finished up 2013 having completed the largest CA community enlargement in its history. Having grown from a single battalion to an entire brigade of five regionally oriented battalions in just a handful of years, the 95th is now the most powerful and important CA force in the U.S. Army. A long-time CA professional, Col. James C. Brown, USA, led the first Civil Affairs team that entered Afghanistan in 2001, and now commands the 95th. He feels bullish about the state of the brigade today.
“The brigade is stronger, smarter, and better prepared than it has ever been to tackle the challenges that our nation faces right now,” he said. “We now have an assessment/selection program, which we started recently. The CA qualification courses are providing us with the most talented young officers and NCOs [noncommissioned officers] that we’ve ever had. And the leadership is doing, I think, a pretty good job of empowering them to understand that we need them to use their own skills, talent, expertise, and experience to apply to the complex challenges that we have. We provide a basis and a methodology on how we want to do things, but those guys are on the ground doing what they need to do. And it’s their moral compass, their talent that they need to apply on the ground. There’s nobody overlooking them in these 10-man teams, which are going out and doing amazing things, bringing governments closer to their populations.”
“It’s a lot cheaper to go in with a small footprint – two to six Civil Affairs soldiers working with some SF guys and some PSYOP folks to go out there and truly improve the quality of life for the sect that we’re trying to engage, all the while trying to stabilize. We’re not the Peace Corps – we still have roles as soldiers first, and we don’t misrepresent that anywhere we go. So, we have earned the confidence for this demand signal.”
However, the brigade’s accomplishments, said Brown, have meant ever-increasing demands upon its personnel.
“I think we’re the victims of our own success,” Brown said. “We have earned the trust of the Department of State. We have earned the trust of the U.S. Agency for International Development. We have earned the confidence of the theater special operations commanders in the GCCs and they want more. I think that’s a positive thing. So, our soldiers continue to perform at a level that I think would make our nation proud, because again, we’re doing this from a conflict prevention perspective. It’s a lot cheaper to go in with a small footprint – two to six Civil Affairs soldiers working with some SF guys and some PSYOP folks to go out there and truly improve the quality of life for the sect that we’re trying to engage, all the while trying to stabilize. We’re not the Peace Corps – we still have roles as soldiers first, and we don’t misrepresent that anywhere we go. So, we have earned the confidence for this demand signal.”
He is especially proud, however, of the way his individual soldiers have performed, both in Afghanistan and across the globe.
“I believe, and I say this with confidence, that we’ve not sent one soldier downrange without the understanding that he was going to be able to go out there in positive influence,” Brown said. “I owe that to the soldiers and their families forever. Every person that leaves and deploys from this brigade, whether it’s to Cambodia, Indonesia, Afghanistan, the Philippines, is going out to meet the national interests that have been identified. And I wouldn’t send anybody unless I was absolutely confident that that was the fact. So, I’m confident that we have been used in exactly the right way.”
4th Military Information Support
Operations Command (MISOC)
Col. Robert Warburg, USA, commands one of the more intriguing U.S. Army units in service today: the 4th MISO Command. The 4th covers the roles and missions that used to be termed “Psychological Warfare Operations,” and is among the largest such units in the world today. Previously assigned as the chief of staff of the JFKSWCS, Col. Warburg took over his present command in 2012.
“Prior to the establishment of the MISO Command in 2011, the 4th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne), or 4th POG, was the reporting headquarters for six battalions,” Warburg said. “These include 1st Military Information Support Battalion [MISB] (Airborne), which provides support to SOUTHCOM [U.S. Southern Command]; 3rd MISB(A), which is the worldwide dissemination battalion; 5th MISB(A) that supports PACOM [U.S. Pacific Command]; 6th MISB(A) that provided support to EUCOM [U.S. European Command] and AFRICOM [U.S. Africa Command]; 8th MISB(A) which supports CENTCOM [U.S. Central Command]; and the worldwide tactical battalion, 9th MISB(A).
Four officers from the nation of Kazakhstan visited the 4th Military Information Support Group (Airborne) to conduct a military-to-military exchange focusing on psychological operations. The weeklong exchange helped to boost relations between the two nations and give the visiting officers insight into the world of information operations and influence. Sgt. Gabrielle Phillip
“Today’s organization for Army MISO has expanded, adding the 8th Military Information Support Group [MISG](A) alongside the 4th MISG(A) [formerly the 4th POG], as well as the overarching Military Information Support Command [MISOC]. Along with the establishment of the MISOC(A) and 8th MISG(A), the 7th MISB(A) was created to support AFRICOM while the 6th MISB(A) continues to provide forces to EUCOM.” This growth and change in organization reflects the dozen years of continuous combat the organization has been involved in, and despite the strain of ceaseless action, Warburg said the command is doing “exceptionally well.”
“The force is well positioned, and remains very adaptive to meet the challenges of ARSOF 2022 and future operational environment requirements,” Warburg said. “Naturally, the years have taken their toll on the force and the organization; however, they have also taught us a great deal about resiliency and forward thinking. Now we are in a position to posture the force and the organization to maintain momentum and adjust our focus to meet the coming challenges.”
Posturing the force and the organization to meet those challenges also means finally having a “surge capacity” to enable a rapid move into a crisis zone.