![]() | This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information.(April 2012) |
![]() | |
Established | October 2008 |
---|---|
Coordinator | Robert Geers Loftis |
The Civilian Response Corps (sometimes referred to as CRC [1] ) is a program of the United States Department of State, Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization (S/CRS). The Civilian Response Corps is a group of federal employees and volunteers from the private sector, state and local governments who are trained to deploy rapidly in countries that are in crisis or emerging from conflict in order to provide reconstruction and stabilization assistance.
The assistance was partly humanitarian, and partly to prevent failed states from becoming "havens" for terrorist groups or otherwise the possibility of a threat to the security of the United States. Originally proposed by Senators Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Joseph Biden (D-Del.), the Civilian Response Corps was responsible for the U.S. government efforts to stabilize war-torn societies and rebuild nations. [2]
The President has empowered the Secretary of State to coordinate and lead integrated U.S. government efforts to prepare, plan for, and conduct stabilization and reconstruction activities and to coordinate with the Secretary of Defense to harmonize civilian and military activities. [3]
As of 2017, or possibly earlier, the United States no longer has a Civilian Response Corp. [4]
The Civilian Stabilization Initiative (CSI) has been used in multiple countries since forming, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, Sudan, Kosovo, and Somalia. CSI was an answer for Congress’ call for the U.S. government to build its civilian capacity. [5]
President Barack Obama's Fiscal Year 2010 budget, released on May 7, 2009 requested $323.3 million for the CSI to build U.S. civilian capacity for reconstruction and stabilization efforts. [6]
The initiative would expand the current Civilian Response Corps and established a permanent U.S. government-wide civilian reconstruction and stabilization response capacity. The President’s budget request supports the recruitment, development, training, and equipping of the Civilian Response Corps.
President George W. Bush requested $248.6 million in Fiscal Year 2009 budget for the CSI, which includes the Civilian Response Corps. [7] The intent of CSI was to:
In the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008 [8] United States Congress provided up to $75 million in initial funding for the active and standby components of the Civilian Response Corps.
Section 1207 of the FY 2006 National Defense Authorization Act authorized the United States Secretary of Defense to transfer up to $100 million per year for two years to the Department of State for programs that support security, reconstruction or stabilization. In passing section 1207, United States Congress recognized the need previously expressed by the Bush administration for a civilian response capability for stabilization and reconstruction activities in countries that are prone to conflict. [9] After funding $110 million in projects in FY06 and FY07, it was apparent that 1207 was a promising way to respond to stabilization and reconstruction needs. As a result, section 1207 was renewed for an additional $100 million in 2008. [10]
The 2009 Capstone Concept for Joint Operations (CCJO) [13] reinforces the role of the military in reconstruction and stabilization by listing ‘relief and reconstruction’ as one of the four basic military activities. The Defense Department has identified the importance of integrated civilian and military environments as essential to stability operations [14] and other government and non government agencies and organizations have identified the preference of civilians over military actors. [15] Currently to coordinate reconstruction efforts between the military and civilian elements, the President signed into law National Security Presidential Directive 44 on December 7, 2005. [16]
In National Security Presidential Directive – 44 (NSPD-44), the president stated the need to create a cohesive and permanent mechanism for the US government to address stabilization and reconstruction issues abroad. The Civilian Response Corps was created as a civilian interagency mechanism that would interface with the military to bring peace and stability to war torn countries. In this capacity the Secretaries of State and Defense integrate stabilization and reconstruction responsibilities to maintain clear accountability and to lead and support operations. [17]
The Civilian Response Corps was an interagency body that tried to promote “whole of government” planning and implementation of such missions with members in the Departments of State, Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Justice, and Treasury, as well as the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Participant were diplomats, development specialists, public health officials, law enforcement and corrections officers, engineers, economists, trade specialists, demographers, lawyers, public administrators, agronomists and others – to attempt restore "stability" and the rule of law, and achieve economic recovery and sustainable growth as quickly as possible.
The U.S. Department of State's Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization (S/CRS) coordinates the Civilian Response Corps and has developed pilot groups of Active and Standby members who have deployed to Sudan, Chad, Haiti, Lebanon, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan to assist with conflict prevention and mitigation.
The State Department coordinates with the Secretary of Defense to harmonize civilian and military activities.
A Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) was a unit introduced by the United States government, consisting of military officers, diplomats, and reconstruction subject matter experts, working to support reconstruction efforts in unstable states. PRTs were first established in Afghanistan in early 2002, and were used in Iraq as well. While the concepts are similar, PRTs in Afghanistan and Iraq had separate compositions and missions. Their common purpose, however, was to empower local governments to govern their constituents more effectively.
The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a public graduate school operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California.
The Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) is an intelligence agency in the United States Department of State. Its central mission is to provide all-source intelligence and analysis in support of U.S. diplomacy and foreign policy. INR is the oldest civilian element of the U.S. Intelligence Community and among the smallest, with roughly 300 personnel. Though lacking the resources and technology of other U.S. intelligence agencies, it is "one of the most highly regarded" for the quality of its work.
The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a network in the U.S. of community-based units initiated and established by local organizations aimed to meet the public health needs of their communities. It is sponsored by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) in the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The MRC consists of medical and non-medical volunteers who contribute to local health initiatives, such as activities meeting the Surgeon General's priorities for public health, and supplement existing response capabilities in time of emergency. The MRC provides the structure necessary to pre-identify, credential, train, and activate medical and public health volunteers.
United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) is one of eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense. The command is tasked with providing military support for non-military authorities in the U.S., and protecting the territory and national interests of the United States within the continental United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, The Bahamas, and the air, land and sea approaches to these areas. It is the U.S. military command which, if applicable, would be the primary defender against an invasion of the U.S.
Civil Affairs (CA) is a term used by both the United Nations and by military institutions, but for different purposes in each case.
The United States under secretary of defense for policy (USDP) is a high level civilian official in the United States Department of Defense. The under secretary of defense for policy is the principal staff assistant and adviser to both the secretary of defense and the deputy secretary of defense for all matters concerning the formation of national security and defense policy.
John Edward Herbst is a retired American diplomat who was the United States Ambassador to Uzbekistan from 2000 to 2003 and United States Ambassador to Ukraine from September 2003 to May 2006.
The under secretary of defense for intelligence and security or USD(I&S) is a high-ranking civilian position in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) that acts as the principal civilian advisor and deputy to the secretary of defense (SecDef) and deputy secretary of defense (DepSecDef) on matters relating to military intelligence and security. The under secretary is appointed as a civilian by the president and confirmed by the Senate to serve at the pleasure of the president.
The United States Department of Defense is an executive branch department of the federal government of the United States charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the U.S. government directly related to national security and the United States Armed Forces. The DoD is the largest employer in the world, with over 1.34 million active-duty service members as of June 2022. The DoD also maintains over 778,000 National Guard and reservists, and over 747,000 civilians bringing the total to over 2.87 million employees. Headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., the DoD's stated mission is to provide "the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security".
Transformational Diplomacy is a diplomacy initiative championed by former United States secretary of state Condoleezza Rice for reinvigorating American Foreign Policy and the United States Foreign Service.
Michael D. Lumpkin is a former American Naval Officer and businessman who served as the Special Envoy and Coordinator of the Global Engagement Center at the U.S. Department of State until January 2017. From 2013 until 2016, he was the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict. During that time, he also served as the acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, the third-highest civilian job at the United States Department of Defense.
The Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, or ATSD (PA), is the principal staff advisor and assistant to the Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Defense for public information, internal information, community relations, information training, and audiovisual matters in support of Department of Defense activities, leading a worldwide public affairs community of some 3,800 military and civilian personnel. The Assistant to the Secretary follows the Secretary's Principles of Information in providing Defense Department information to the public, the United States Congress and the media.
Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) is the process by which United States military assets and personnel can be used to assist in missions normally carried out by civil authorities. These missions have included: responses to natural and man-made disasters, law enforcement support, special events, and other domestic activities. A recent example of the use of DSCA is the military response to Hurricane Katrina. DSCA is the overarching guidance of how the United States military can be requested by a federal agency and the procedures that govern the actions of the military during employment.
The United States has provided security assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) since the mid-1990s. After the Oslo Accords formed the PA, the U.S. gave aid on an ad hoc basis, often covertly at the outset. Since 2005, however, the U.S. State Department has provided direct financial and personnel assistance to Palestinian security organizations when it established the office of the United States Security Coordinator (USSC) for Israel and the Palestinian territories through the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). In 2007 the USSC team began training certain Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF) including the Palestinian National Security Forces (NSF) and the Presidential Guard with the intent to train, equip, and garrison 10 NSF battalions by the end of 2010. Over the year, U.S. security assistance to the Palestinian Authority has expanded and received praise as well as criticism from American, Palestinian, and Israeli groups.
Robert Geers Loftis is a career member of the United States Foreign Service, former United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Lesotho, and former Acting Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization at the United States Department of State.
Joint Interagency Task Force West is a standing United States military joint task force with the mission of combating drug-related transnational organized crime in the Indo-Asia-Pacific. JIATF West's area of responsibility (AOR) is that of United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). JIATF West is one of two Joint Interagency Task Forces with a counter-narcotics mission. The other is Joint Interagency Task Force South. The task force is run as USPACOM's "executive agent" for counterdrug activities providing support to partner nation law enforcement. Approximately 100 active duty and reserve U.S. military forces; Department of Defense civilian employees; contractors; and U.S. and foreign law enforcement agency personnel are members of the task force.
The Global Security Contingency Fund (GSCF) is a fund that was established under the United States National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2012 in section 1207.
Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative or USAI is a U.S. Department of Defense-led funding program to increase Ukraine's capacity to defend itself more effectively against "Russian aggression" through the further training of its Armed Forces, equipment, and advisory initiatives. USAI was formed on June 11, 2020.