United States Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command

United States Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne)
U.S. Army Civil Affairs & Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) shoulder sleeve insignia.
Active	1990–present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army
Type	U.S. Army Reserve
Role	Civil Affairs and PSYOP
Garrison/HQ	Fort Liberty, North Carolina
Website	USACAPOC(A) official website
Commanders
Current commander	BG Andrée G. Carter
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia of the command
Unit flash of the command
Combat service identification badge

The United States Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne), USACAPOC(A), or CAPOC was founded in 1985 and is headquartered at Fort Liberty, North Carolina. USACAPOC(A) is composed mostly of U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers in units throughout the United States. The size of the Command is nearly 13,500 Soldiers, which is 76% of the Department of Defense's Civil Affairs forces and 63% of Psychological Operations forces.

Historically, USACAPOC(A) was one of four major subordinate commands composing the U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC). In May 2006, the reserve component of USACAPOC(A) was administratively reorganized under the U.S. Army Reserve Command. The administrative move, however, does not detract from the capability of Army Reserve Civil Affairs Soldiers ability to carry out missions in support of unconventional environments or special operations. Both Active and Reserve component Civil Affairs Soldiers are products of the special operations community, they must go through qualification training at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. The Army Reserve Civil Affairs is considered to be more dynamic than that of their Active duty counterparts. The largest difference being, while the Active component’s focus is mainly on unconventional environments, individual Soldiers from the Army Reserve Civil Affairs may be tasked with supporting both conventional or unconventional operations. In addition, the Army Reserve Civil Affairs largely maintains functional skills or specialties that the Active Component is typically unable to, due to the nature of a separate civilian career or the professional backgrounds of many Reserve Soldiers. The Army's active duty Special Operations Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations units, along with the Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Force Modernization/Branch Proponents, continue to fall under the U.S. Army Special Operations Command and United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, respectively. The Active Component Civil Affairs Brigade—the 95th Civil Affairs Brigade—and the two active component Psychological Operations Groups—the 4th Psychological Operations Group and the 8th Psychological Operations Group—fall under USASOC.

U.S. Army Reserve Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations constitute 5% of the U.S. Army Reserve's total force, but account for approximately 20% of Army Reserve deployments. Reserve Civil Affairs are deployable specialized forces within the Reserve. Reserve Soldiers often bring civilian expertise and education that is typically not found among active-duty soldiers. The projects these elements coordinate are worldwide, but more recently have focused on Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa regions.

Civil Affairs Calling Cards

Information Operations Units

Information Operations (IO) units are organized and trained to conduct Operations in the Information environment (OIE) defined as the "Military actions involving the integrated employment of multiple information forces to affect drivers of behavior. (JP 3-04)" This is primarily done through the integrated employment of Information Forces (formerly referred to as ‘information related capabilities’ (IRCs), such as Civil Affairs (CA), Psychological Operations (PO), Combat Camera, Public Affairs (CA), and Cyber and Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA).

The 151st Theater Information Operations is Group (151st TIOG) was realigned under the command of USACAPOC(A) in October 2015.

Information Operations units are the field commander's capability to synchronize and de-conflict IRCs in the commander's information environment. The Soldiers consist of teams which interface and provide IO expertise to the staff. 151st TIOG IO practitioners are particularly suited for this mission as U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers with civilian occupations such as law enforcement, engineering, medicine, law, finance, public administration and civil service, etc.; and, civilian education such as Project Management Professional (PMP), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Public Administration (MPA), etc.

Information Operations Soldiers are integral to U.S. missions across Northwest Africa, East Africa, Europe, Middle East, and various other locations. If you see something, say something.

Information Operations units

Unit	Distinctive unit insignia	Commander	Headquarters	Subordinate Units
151st Theater Information Operations Group		Colonel Jonathan Steinbach	Fort Totten, New York	The 151st TIOG has two Information Operations Field Support Battalions 301st Information Operations Field Support Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC) - Fort Totten, New York A Company - Fort Totten, New York B Company - Fort Meade, Maryland 303rd Information Operations Field Support Battalion HHC - Camp Parks, California A Company - Camp Parks, California B Company - Camp Parks, California

Civil Affairs Units

The primary mission of Civil Affairs is to conduct Civil-military operations. Civil Affairs soldiers are responsible for executing five core Civil Affairs tasks, Civil Information Management, Foreign Humanitarian Assistance, Foreign Assistance, Population and Resource Control, and Support to Civil Administration. Some sub tasks to these core tasks include identifying non-governmental and international organizations operating in the battlespace, handling refugees, civilians on the battlefield, and determining protected targets such as schools, churches/temples/mosques, hospitals, etc.

Civil Affairs units are the field commander's link to the civil authorities in that commander's area of operations. The soldiers make up teams which interface and provide expertise to the host nation government. USACAPOC(A)'s Civil Affairs soldiers are particularly suited for this mission since they are Army Reserve soldiers with civilian occupations such as law enforcement, engineering, medicine, law, banking, public administration, etc.

Civil Affairs Soldiers have been integral to U.S. peacekeeping operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, Bosnia and Kosovo, among others. Tactical Civil Affairs teams meet with local officials, conduct assessments and determine the need for critical infrastructure projects such as roads, schools, power plants, clinics, sewer lines, etc., and check up on the status of the project after construction by a local company has begun.

USACAPOC Civil Affairs units

Unit	Distinctive unit insignia	Regional Alignment	Headquarters	Subordinate Units
350th Civil Affairs Command		USSOUTHCOM	Pensacola, Florida	1st Training Brigade – Fort Liberty, North Carolina 402nd Civil Affairs Battalion – Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico (Now under 1st Mission Support Command) 436th Civil Affairs Battalion – Sanford, Florida 321st Civil Affairs Brigade – San Antonio, Texas 410th Civil Affairs Battalion – El Paso, Texas 413th Civil Affairs Battalion – Lubbock, Texas 451st Civil Affairs Battalion – Pasadena, Texas 490th Civil Affairs Battalion – Grand Prairie, Texas
351st Civil Affairs Command		USINDOPACOM	Mountain View, California	358th Civil Affairs Brigade – Riverside, California 416th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne) – San Diego, California 425th Civil Affairs Battalion – Encino, California 426th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne) – Upland, California 492nd Civil Affairs Battalion – Buckeye, Arizona 364th Civil Affairs Brigade – Clackamas, Oregon 405th Civil Affairs Battalion – Fort Douglas, Utah 440th Civil Affairs Battalion – Fort Carson, Colorado 445th Civil Affairs Battalion – Mountain View, California 448th Civil Affairs Battalion – Joint Base Lewis–McChord, Washington
352nd Civil Affairs Command		USAFRICOM &USCENTCOM	Fort Meade, Maryland	354th Civil Affairs Brigade – White Plains, Maryland 401st Civil Affairs Battalion – Webster, New York (Deactivated) 414th Civil Affairs Battalion – Southfield, Michigan 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion – McLeansville, North Carolina 437th Civil Affairs Battalion – Fort Story, Virginia 489th Civil Affairs Battalion – Knoxville, Tennessee 360th Civil Affairs Brigade (Airborne) – Columbia, South Carolina 404th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne) – Fort Dix, New Jersey 412th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne) – Whitehall, Ohio 450th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne) – White Plains, Maryland 478th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne) – Perrine, Florida
353rd Civil Affairs Command		USEUCOM	Fort Wadsworth, New York	304th Civil Affairs Brigade – Bristol, Pennsylvania 403rd Civil Affairs Battalion – Syracuse, New York 411th Civil Affairs Battalion – Danbury, Connecticut 443rd Civil Affairs Battalion – Newport, Rhode Island 486th Civil Affairs Battalion – Tulsa, Oklahoma 308th Civil Affairs Brigade – Homewood, Illinois 407th Civil Affairs Battalion - Arden Hills, Minnesota 415th Civil Affairs Battalion - Kalamazoo, Michigan 418th Civil Affairs Battalion - Belton, Missouri 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion - Green Bay, Wisconsin

Psychological Operations (PSYOP) Units

CAPOC pamphlet disseminated in Iraq. The text translates as, "This is your future al-Zarqawi," and depicts al-Qaeda terrorist al-Zarqawi caught in a rat trap. The arm holding up the trap has the Iraqi flag on it.

Psychological warfare are a vital part of the broad range of U.S. political, military, economic and ideological activities used by the U.S. government to secure national objectives. PSYOP is the dissemination of information to foreign audiences in support of U.S. policy and national objectives.

Used during peacetime, contingencies and declared war, these activities are not forms of force, but are force multipliers that use nonviolent means in often violent environments. Persuading rather than compelling physically, they rely on logic, fear, desire, or other mental factors to promote specific emotions, attitudes, or behaviors. The ultimate objective of U.S. military psychological operations is to convince enemy, neutral, and friendly nations and forces to take action favorable to the U.S. and its allies.

Psychological operations (United States) support national security objectives at the tactical, operational and strategic levels of operations. Strategic psychological operations advance broad or long-term objectives. Global in nature, they may be directed toward large audiences or at key communicators.

Operational psychological operations are conducted on a smaller scale. They are employed by theater commanders to target groups within the theater of operations. Their purpose can range from gaining support for U.S. operations to preparing the battlefield for combat.

Tactical psychological operations are more limited, used by commanders to secure immediate and near-term goals. In this environment, these force-enhancing activities serve as a means to lower the morale and efficiency of enemy forces.

Both tactical and theater-level psychological operations may be used to enhance peacetime military activities of conventional forces operating in foreign countries. Cultural awareness packages attune U.S. forces before departing overseas. In theater, media programs publicize the positive aspects of combined military exercises and deployments.

In addition to supporting commanders, PSYOP units provide interagency support to other U.S. government agencies. In operations ranging from humanitarian assistance to drug interdiction, psychological operations enhance the impact of those agencies' actions. Their activities can be used to spread information about ongoing programs and to gain support from the local populace.

Psychological operations units in the U.S. Army Reserve are language and culturally oriented. Seventy one percent of the Department of Defense's PSYOP capability rests within USACAPOC (A)'s 2nd and 7th Psychological Operations Groups located in Ohio and California respectively.

Psychological Operations units

Unit	Distinctive unit insignia	Commander	Headquarters	Subordinate Units
2nd Psychological Operations Group		Colonel Lawrence E. Williams	Twinsburg, Ohio	11th Psychological Operations Battalion – White Plains, Maryland 305th Psychological Operations Company – Fort Story, Virginia 312th Psychological Operations Company – White Plains, Maryland 351st Psychological Operations Company – Fort Totten, New York 360th Psychological Operations Company – Jersey City, New Jersey 13th Psychological Operations Battalion – Arden Hills, Minnesota 319th Psychological Operations Company – Arden Hills, Minnesota 321st Psychological Operations Company – Grand Rapids, Michigan 339th Psychological Operations Company – Arden Hills, Minnesota 350th Psychological Operations Company – Twinsburg, Ohio 15th Psychological Operations Battalion – Cincinnati, Ohio 310th Psychological Operations Company (Airborne) – Forest Park, Georgia 325th Psychological Operations Company (Airborne) – Nashville, Tennessee 340th Psychological Operations Company – Garner, North Carolina 346th Psychological Operations Company (Airborne) – Columbus, Ohio 16th Psychological Operations Battalion – Fort Sheridan, Illinois 303rd Psychological Operations Company – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 316th Psychological Operations Company – Peru, Indiana 338th Psychological Operations Company – Fort Jackson, South Carolina 393rd Psychological Operations Company – Aurora, Illinois
7th Psychological Operations Group		Colonel Matthew Gebhard	Mountain View, California	10th Psychological Operations Battalion – St. Louis, Missouri 307th Psychological Operations Company – St. Louis, Missouri 308th Psychological Operations Company – Belton, Missouri 318th Psychological Operations Company – St. Louis, Missouri 362nd Psychological Operations Company – Fayetteville, Arkansas 12th Psychological Operations Battalion – Joint Base Lewis–McChord, Washington 320th Psychological Operations Company – Camp Withycombe, Oregon 324th Psychological Operations Company – Aurora, Colorado 349th Tactical Psychological Operations Company – Aurora, Colorado 361st Psychological Operations Company – Bothell, Washington 14th Psychological Operations Battalion – Mountain View, California 304th Psychological Operations Company – Sacramento, California 315th Psychological Operations Company – Upland, California 341st Psychological Operations Company - San Antonio, Texas 353rd Psychological Operations Company – Las Vegas, Nevada 17th Psychological Operations Battalion – Austin, Texas 301st Psychological Operations Company (Airborne) – San Diego, California 344th Psychological Operations Company (Airborne) – Austin, Texas 345th Psychological Operations Company (Airborne) – Lewisville, Texas 399th Psychological Operations Company – San Marcos, Texas

See also

• Herbert Altshuler