USSOCOM Fact Book - United States Special Operations Command

Civil Affairs Soldiers enable military commandersand U.S. ambassadors to build and maximizerelationships with various stakeholders in a local areato meet the objectives of the U.S. government. CivilAffairs teams work with U.S. Department of Statecountry teams, government and non-governmentalorganizations at all levels and with local populations inpeaceful, contingency and hostile environments.Civil Affairs units may rapidly deploy to remoteareas as well as to larger population centers incountries around the world. They help host nationsassess the needs of an area, bring together local andnon-local resources to ensure long-term stability, andultimately degrade and defeat violent extremistorganizations and their ideologies. They may beinvolved in disaster prevention, management andrecovery, and with human and civil infrastructureassistance programs.Civil Affairs Soldiers are Soldiers first, but areadept at working in foreign environments andconversing in one of approximately 20 foreignlanguages with local stakeholders. They may work formonths or years in remote areas of a host nation. Theirlow profile and command structure allow them tosolidify key relationships and processes to address rootcauses of instability that adversely affect the strategicinterests of the United States.Formerly the Sustainment Brigade (SpecialOperations) (Airborne), the 528th SustainmentBrigade (Special Operations) (Airborne) assumedthe lineage of the 528th Support Battalion. As partof the overall Army Special Operations Forceslogistics transformation, the 528th SustainmentBrigade (Special Operations) (Airborne) sets theoperational level logistics conditions to enableARSOF operations worldwide using three SupportOperations Teams, two Special OperationsResuscitation Teams, and five Liaison Elements thaton order deploy to provide logistical command andcontrol capability. The 528th Sustainment Brigade(Special Operations) (Airborne) plans, coordinatesand provides operational and tacticalcommunications for Army Special Operations TaskForce commanders with the 112th SpecialOperations Signal Battalion (Airborne). During thepast few years, the brigade has transformed from aunit that does not typically deploy to one constantlyrotating into the field to make sure SpecialOperations Forces have what they need toaccomplish mission objectives.USSOCOM Fact Book19