Civil-military operations center

Last updated March 20, 2019

A civil-military operations center or CMOC is a center usually established by a military force for coordinating civil-military operations in an area of operations.^[1]^[2] This center usually serves as a meeting place for military and non-military entities involved in governance, stabilization, humanitarian relief and reconstruction activities or for interaction between the entities involved in these activities and the civilian population. Often, it also serves as a central location for information on civilian related activities in the area or maintains the status of the infrastructure or institutions. During combat operations, a CMOC is usually in a secure compound.

Civil-military operations or CMO are activities of a military force to minimize civil interference on and maximize civil support for military operations. CMO is conducted in conjunction with combat operations during wartime and becomes a central part of a military campaign in counter-insurgencies. Some militaries have specialized units dedicated to conduct CMO, such as civil affairs forces or form task forces specifically for this purposes, such as a joint civil-military operations task force in the U.S. Military. Also, some militaries have staff sections dedicated to planning and coordinating CMO for their command. CMO is often called civil-military co-operation or CIMIC in NATO operations and civil-military co-ordination in UN operations.

Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars and famines. Humanitarian aid is material or logistical assistance provided for humanitarian purposes, typically in response to humanitarian crises including natural disasters and man-made disaster. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity. It may therefore be distinguished from development aid, which seeks to address the underlying socioeconomic factors which may have led to a crisis or emergency. There is a debate on linking humanitarian aid and development efforts, which was reinforced by the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. However, the approach is viewed critically by practitioners.

Temporary governance

A civil-military operations center can be used as a place for temporary governance until the normal civilian governance is reestablished in an area impacted by military operations or natural or man-made disaster. In a military operations, temporary governance is often referred to as military governance, and is often performed by military organizations until the normal governmental body can perform these duties. This allows for the functions of governance to continue during a crisis situation.

International operations

Humanitarian operations involving multiple international organizations often use other terms for a CMOC, such as combined coordination center. These centers seek to achieve coordination and unity of effort among organizations delivering humanitarian aid during disaster relief.

Unity of effort is the state of harmonizing efforts among multiple organizations working towards a similar objective. This prevents organizations from working at cross purposes and it reduces duplication of effort. Multiple organizations can achieve unity of effort through shared common objectives. In military operations, unity of effort is similar to unity of command except it usually relates to coordinating organizations not in the same command, such as in interagency operations. In this case, unity of effort is often achieved through campaign plans or coordinating committees instead of through a unified commander. In emergency management, unity of effort describes the integrated approach by different levels of government and multiple civilian organizations in response to the event.

Emergency management is the organization and management of the resources and responsibilities for dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies. The aim is to reduce the harmful effects of all hazards, including disasters.

Historical examples

Iraq War

During the Iraq War, the U.S. Marines operated a CMOC near the city of Fallujah outside of the MEK Compound.^[3] This CMOC was called the Fallujah Liaison Team or F.L.T. and it was a compound used for interaction between the Marines and the local civilians. At the F.L.T., Marines supported by U.S. Navy Seabees developed and managed reconstruction projects with local contractors. Marines also settled battle damage claims and facilitated reestablishment of local governance.

The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the next decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government. An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first three to four years of conflict. The U.S. became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition; the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue. The invasion occurred as part of a declared war against international terrorism and its sponsors under the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Fallujah is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly 69 kilometers (43 mi) west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jewish academies for many centuries.

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

During the humanitarian response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, militaries from multiple countries worked with non-governmental organizations at a Combined Coordination Center to organize delivery of humanitarian aid to the region.^[4]

The humanitarian response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake of a magnitude of 9.3 was prompted by one of the worst natural disasters of modern times. On 26 December 2004, the earthquake, which struck off the northwest coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, generated a tsunami that wreaked havoc along much of the rim of the Indian Ocean. Particularly hard-hit were the countries of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. About 230,000 people were killed, tens of thousands more were injured, and 1.7 million became homeless and displaced.

Non-governmental organizations, nongovernmental organizations, or nongovernment organizations, commonly referred to as NGOs, are usually non-profit and sometimes international organizations independent of governments and international governmental organizations that are active in humanitarian, educational, health care, public policy, social, human rights, environmental, and other areas to affect changes according to their objectives. They are thus a subgroup of all organizations founded by citizens, which include clubs and other associations that provide services, benefits, and premises only to members. Sometimes the term is used as a synonym of "civil society organization" to refer to any association founded by citizens, but this is not how the term is normally used in the media or everyday language, as recorded by major dictionaries. The explanation of the term by NGO.org is ambivalent. It first says an NGO is any non-profit, voluntary citizens' group which is organized on a local, national or international level, but then goes on to restrict the meaning in the sense used by most English speakers and the media: Task-oriented and driven by people with a common interest, NGOs perform a variety of service and humanitarian functions, bring citizen concerns to Governments, advocate and monitor policies and encourage political participation through provision of information.

Notes

↑ Chairman, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Civil-Military Operations, Joint Publication (JP) 3-57 (Washington, DC: CJCS, July 08, 2008), p. xviii.
↑ Office of Military Affairs, U.S. Agency for International Development. Civilian-Military Operations Guide (April 27, 2010), p. 34.
↑ Lawrence, Virginia K. "4th CAG Marines have left the building", Marines.mil website, October 10, 2006. Retrieved on September 28, 2008.
↑ Asia-Pacific Defense Forum Staff. "Turning Military Coorperation Into Humanitarian Aid", Asian-Pacific Forum, Special Edition 2005. Retrieved on 2009-02-07.

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[1] Chairman, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Civil-Military Operations, Joint Publication (JP) 3-57 (Washington, DC: CJCS, July 08, 2008), p. xviii.

[2] Office of Military Affairs, U.S. Agency for International Development. Civilian-Military Operations Guide (April 27, 2010), p. 34.

[3] Lawrence, Virginia K. "4th CAG Marines have left the building", Marines.mil website, October 10, 2006. Retrieved on September 28, 2008.

[4] Asia-Pacific Defense Forum Staff. "Turning Military Coorperation Into Humanitarian Aid", Asian-Pacific Forum, Special Edition 2005. Retrieved on 2009-02-07.