Civil-Military Relations Mobile Education Team (MET)

The Civil-Military Relations MET is an intensive five-day course on civil-military relations designed for a mixed group of senior military officers, civilian officials, legislators, and non-governmental personnel. This is a general course, designed to be given to countries seeking a broad spectrum of insight into civil-military relations challenges. Faculty are selected based on their expertise in the specific topics of interest to the hosting country, and may include professors from the Naval Postgraduate School, high ranking military officers (both retired and active duty), and senior government officials from both the Executive Branch and Congress. The course is usually taught abroad (with interpretation), although it can be taught in the U.S. on a limited basis. The curriculum has a strong problem-solving focus designed to help participants analyze and resolve civil-military conflicts, and to provide them with tools to strengthen civilian oversight and deal with the many underlying causes of civil-military conflict in democracies.

This six quarter curriculum (effective FY 99) leads to the M.A. degree in International Security and Civil-Military Relations at the Naval Postgraduate School and provides the student with a comprehensive understanding of the real problems surrounding civilian oversight of a professional military in a democracy. The program is designed for military officers (0-3 to 0-5) and equivalent civilian officials. International students in this curriculum are fully integrated with U.S. students at the Naval Postgraduate School. As part of the degree, the students are required to complete a thesis that deals with a significant civil-military issue for their country. The program is also designed to provide graduates with the tools they need to initiate and teach civil-military relations programs in their own countries. More information

The Executive Program in Civil-Military Relations is a two week program conducted in June at the Naval Postgraduate School. It is designed for senior (0-7 and above) military officers and their civilian counterparts from legislatures, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations. Participants have the opportunity to meet and work with senior leaders from around the world on issues of civil-military relations common to democratic nations. The curriculum has a strong problem-solving focus and draws examples and case studies from the experiences of many countries.

This two-week course for peacekeeping training center instructors from EIPC-funded recipient countries will concentrate on curriculum development and teaching skills as well as methods for peace support operations education and training. The goal of this course is to produce highly skilled peacekeeping trainers who have been introduced to a variety of training and educational methods and have a good grasp of peace support operations policy, doctrine, logistics, and interoperability issues.

In addition to the courses listed above, CCMR is able to design special in-residence courses and METs to meet the specific needs and interests of a given country or organization. Normally these courses address one or more aspects of civil-military relations in depth. Each course is a variation of MASL P309070, with country-specific and topical content, worked out through dialogue among the SAO, host nation officials, and CCMR. Beyond the numbered listing, CCMR will consider requests for special educational programs on a case by case basis, again based on country needs and faculty expertise.

The Civil-Military Dimensions of Domestic Support Operations. The civil-military challenges of domestic support operations are manifold. This course is a comprehensive review of the use of military forces to support civilian authorities. Topics covered may include (but are not limited to) the place of the armed forces in a democratic society, the proper roles and missions of those forces (as opposed to police forces), the pitfalls of using military forces internally, and the dilemmas faced by democratic governments faced with domestic strife. Additionally, the seminar investigates the use of military forces for disaster assistance at home and profiles ways in which governments can bolster the public image of their armed forces through contact with the population they serve. Classroom exercises, which require the formation of small discussion groups, are inserted into the program where appropriate. Case-studies from around the world are examined for lessons-learned, and host nations are invited to discuss openly their own domestic operations challenges.

Defense Personnel Management and Civil-Military Relations. The systems by which civilians and military personnel are managed within a national security organization are critical to sustaining democratic civilian control of military forces. This seminar introduces principles of human resources management in a civil-military environment and offers basic information about the U.S. system. Topics covered may include (but are not limited to) recruiting, selection, leadership development, position analysis, compensation, separation, and professional education. Classroom exercises require the formation of small discussion groups. As with other CCMR courses, this program relies heavily on discussion of lessons-learned and examining the application of principles and lessons to the unique circumstances of the host country.

Public Affairs and Civil-Militgg Relations. This course explores the relationship between the mass media and defense establishments. The civil-military dimension of media's relationship to the military of a democratic nation has become an extremely important factor in all defense decision making. The gradual replacement of large-scale conflict by operations-other-than-war has exposed civilian and military components of the defense establishment to more ambiguous political environments and higher levels of public scrutiny. Transparency of all military operations and defense decisions will be the central theme of this course. Also treated will be the social dimensions of all-volunteer and conscripted military forces in democratic society. Through presentations by practical experts in military public affairs, ideas for successfully dealing with the media will be discussed thoroughly. Classroom exercises will complete the practical portion of the course. Academic experts will serve to maintain the vital connection among media strategies, democratic civil-military relations in general, and civilian control of military forces.

Legislative Issues in Civil-Military Relations. This course examines the vital linkages between defense establishments and legislatures in democratic systems. Presentations will be made by academic functional experts who have served on the U.S. congressional staff. In some cases, current members of Congress will participate. Two topic areas that receive significant attention are legislative control of the defense budget and legislative oversight of the intelligence process. Legislative issues are among the most challenging in the field of civil-military relations, and the course will provide insight for both communities into methods for improving this essential interface. Within a broad spectrum of civilian and military participants, the attendance of serving legislators and military legislative liaison officers from the defense ministry should be mandatory.

The Civil-Military Challenges of Peace Support Operations. Peace support operations have become increasingly important missions for democratically constituted military forces in all regions of the globe. This course examines the civil-military dimension of these operations, focusing on the policy and strategy levels. The decision to send military forces to areas of conflict in support of international peacekeeping efforts is a political one, but it must be made with adequate military counsel and an awareness of what the nation can support over the long term. There is no greater civil-military challenge than preparing a democratic population for lengthy commitments of military forces. The multinational aspect of peacekeeping makes that commitment even more difficult to sustain. This course will provide case-studies, presentations, and classroom exercises designed to stimulate discussion of vital issues and think about how each nation can manage their own variations of these challenges effectively.

Democratic Control of Intelligence Agencies and Operations. Civilian control of intelligence is a particularly vexing aspect of developing true democratic civilian control of military forces. Military organizations often prefer to maintain their own intelligence agencies, and the real need for secrecy in those organizations complicates civilian oversight. This course examines why those desires are inconsistent with democratic defense decision making. It attempts to explain why defense establishments actually benefit from placing their intelligence activities under civilian control, as well as executive and legislative oversight. Through a combination of theoretical and practical material, the seminar will explore the critical issues of transparency and political accountability, as well as the civil-military dynamics of intelligence operations. A classroom exercise will elicit new ideas on how governments can resolve the paradox of keeping secrets in a democracy.

Ministry of Defense Organization and the Roles & Missions of the Armed Forces. This course examines the reasons for having ministries of defense and their subordinate military forces. Through a combination of theoretical and practical presentations, augmented by a series of classroom exercises, the seminar will stimulate participants to question what democratic defense establishments are really for and think through the political challenges of employing military forces. The course will include an examination of the differences between military and civilian officials comprising integrated defense establishments. One major objective of the course will be to prove that the organization and purpose of a defense ministry cannot be detached from the commitment and sustainment of military forces in the field. Finally, the proper roles and missions of military forces will be examined in detail. Participants will be asked to share their own national and personal experiences in the extensive classroom discussion.

Defense Policy and Strategy Development in a Democracy. The formulation of defense policy and strategy should be an interactive process that yields clear guidance to military forces, while strengthening democratic civilian control. There is no aspect of civil-military relations where the need for mutual understanding and respect is more important. This course is conducted with case-studies and classroom exercises designed to stimulate in-depth discussion of policy and strategy issues between civilian and military participants. European countries who participate in the course will have ample opportunity to examine the NATO policy/strategy development process. The course is recommended for a broad spectrum of civilian and military practitioners but should include policy makers and strategists from both communities.

Beyond Peacekeeping - The Civil-Military Aspects of Peacebuilding. Peacebuilding - the creation of an institutional framework within which economic and political development can flourish - must become a cornerstone of future peacekeeping planning and operations. Before international peacekeeping forces can go home, in-country economic and political development can only occur within an improving security environment. Peacekeeping operations need to support the building of security-related institutions (and mechanisms for democratic oversight) that will make such development possible. This course will employ practitioners of both civilian and military sides of peacekeeping operations to help the audience sort out the best policies and strategies for enabling military forces to disengage, leaving in place the indigenous institutions necessary for sustaining long-tern peace.