I hope to gain a sense of the purpose of intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan and its impact on soldiers. I will further study Afghani culture and compare it to American culture. Hopefully, this will explain some of the hostility Americans have received from those invaded. The economic and political agendas within these missions will be explored with emphasis on neocolonialism and imperialist motives. In addition, civilians will be interviewed about their views on the war on terrorism and their knowledge of the impact of invading another country. Preferably, these will be interviews of Muslims and non-Muslims to evaluate the impact on both perspectives. All of my findings will be posted on the princegeorges.org website because this county needs to be more cognizant of international affairs and diplomacy.

This is what I intended on doing this summer. However, I found myself completing a project that was much more small-scale. First, my travels took me to Washington, D.C. at the Embassy of Afghanistan. I spoke with the education officer there who gave me wonderful information on Afghanistan and the reconstruction taking place. She also dispelled some common myths about the war in Afghanistan. If you would like to know more, click here.

I then continued my research on what I thought was the Civil Affairs Command, finding a lot of information on the Army National Guard. Unfortunately, after meeting with Cpt. John Koerner, an actual member of the unit, I found out the command is actually apart of the Army Reserves. So I regrouped, and gathered more information on that particular branch of the United States Army. To learn more about Cpt. Koerner’s first-hand experience in Afghanistan, click here.

Facts about Afghanistan

The reserve serves a complimentary role to the Active component of the Army, providing combat support and combat service support functions to enable the Army to ramp up its capabilities to protect combat forces and sustain mobilization.

It further enables the Army to:

1. do more with fewer resources


2. train soldiers at the highest possible level


3. maintain a force that can mobilize rapidly and skillfully at any level


4. Implement national objectives


5. Support national policies

The Army Reserve contributes:




1. 100% of the Army’s


1. Chemical brigades


2. Interment brigades


3. Judge advocate general units


4. Medical groups


5. Railway units


6. Water supply battalions


7. Training and exercise divisions


1. More than 2/3 of the Army’s


1. Civil Affairs units


2. Psychological Operations units


3. Hospitals


4. Medical Brigades

The Army Reserve is comprised of

54% combat service support


1. This includes Civil Affairs

27% mobilization base expansion


2. 18% combat support


3. 1% combat

Training

Upon entry, everyone selects or is assigned a MOS (military occupational specialty)

This is assigned based on individual interest and aptitude, availability, and the Army’s needs

The Reserve train with Active and National Guard units to promote cohesiveness between the three branches

There are three types of training:

1. Basic Training

Soldier skills are learned (Advanced Individual Training) Skills needed to perform MOS Classroom time, time in field (Sustainment training) Drill one weekend a month

1. Annual training- two weeks per year
Several units converge on an assigned post to perform a more involved training exercise

1. Innovative Readiness Training (IRT)
Dept of Defense program addressing serious domestic needs in the U.S.

Facts about the Civil Affairs Unit

What is a Civil Affairs unit?