RIHANIA, Lebanon – The Third Army/ARCENT Civil Military Operations team and International Military Affairs conducted an information exchange seminar with Lebanon’s Fouad Shehab Command and Staff College, Aug. 3-5.
The purpose of the exchange was to inform the Lebanese armed forces about methods for conducting civil affairs and civil-military cooperation. The goal for the FSCSC is to be able to incorporate both progams into exercises for their annual Battalion Commander Course and Staff Course in 2012.
This is the sixth event between Third Army/ARCENT CMO and the LAF with support from the U.S. Embassy-Beirut Office of Defense Cooperation.
The CMO reached out to Lebanon in 2006 following the war between Hezbollah and Israel, and is intended to accomplish the following: help the LAF fight terrorism, provide humanitarian relief, facilitate disaster response, support peace-keeping operations, and give the ability to deploy a civil affairs team in support of future UN missions, among other applications.
Participants in the seminar included personnel from Third Army, LAF, as well as Indonesian and Italian representatives from United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon, and a member of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Lebanon.
On the first day of the seminar, Third Army Civil Affairs team presented a briefing designed to familiarize LAF with the methodology of U.S. civil affairs.
Following the U.S. team, UNIFIL team briefed the concept of civil-military cooperation.
Later in the seminar, the LAF civil affairs team, previously trained by Third Army civil affairs personnel, led a class on the mission, informal structure, and implementation of the CIMIC within the LAF.
The information exchange seminar provided a unique opportunity to share experiences and gain knowledge of civil affairs experts from around the world.
Third Army participating in this seminar demonstrates their desire to shape the future not only of the U.S., but of our allies.