Civil Affairs in Unconventional Warfare

The main problem addressed in this monograph is how to employ U.S. Special Operation Forces Civil Affairs units to support insurgent groups in Unconventional Warfare. The purpose of this research is to identify best practices from the insurgent's perspective, the Viet Cong and Hezbollah, in overthrowing or out-competing the incumbent government that they are fighting against using civil affairs-like tasks such as Support to Civil Administration. The thesis question that this research attempts to answer is can U.S. Special Operations Forces Civil Affairs units plan and conduct civil military operations to support insurgent groups in Unconventional Warfare. The conclusion of this thesis is that U.S. Special Operations Forces Civil Affairs units can plan and conduct civil military operations in support of insurgent groups in an unconventional warfare environment. Moreover, the best task for civil affairs forces is to conduct or focus on is Support to Civil Administration. This is mainly for two reasons including: (1) civil administration and social services helps mobilize the population, and (2) it strengthens the insurgent's shadow government and makes it ready to assume control over the government when they overthrow the incumbent regime.