BASRA — The Civic – Military Co-Operation Group has deployed on every major UK operation since 1997. On the face of it they are the humanitarian side of the military, but this is a description that the commanding officer is keen to set straight: "we are not humanitarians, we don't do Red Cross work."
It is unusual perhaps for people whose work so directly impacts on improving the living conditions of disadvantaged people to so vehemently claim not to be humanitarians. But the primary role of CIMIC is to ensure the success of a military mission.
It just so happens that the nature of today's operations, where fighting takes place amongst the local population, the provision of aid work is seen more and more to be a key to military success. After all, aid work could significantly mitigate the hostility of locals to the army's presence. This is no more true than in Iraq and Afghanistan, where CIMIC personnel are permanently deployed.
The key role of CIMIC personnel on operations is to act as advisors to the Military Commander on the impact to the mission of the civil environment and how the military operation will affect the civil environment.
Of course, the military operation is the primary objective, and it is up to the Military Commander to prioritise any conflicting issues. Nowadays CIMIC is an aspect of every operation. The CIMIC group's Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Jackson, explains:
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(Photo: Courtesy of CIMIC)
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