[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 79 (Monday, June 7, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6463-S6464]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY RESERVE CIVIL AFFAIRS CORPS

  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, on June 1, 1989, the Department of the 
Army by General Order No. 22 established and placed the United States 
Army Reserve Civil Affairs Corps under the U.S. Army Regimental System, 
effective June 16, 1989, with its regimental home base at Fort Bragg, 
North Carolina. The Home Base Commander is currently Major General 
Kenneth R. Bowra, Commander and Commandant, U.S. Army John F. Kennedy 
Special Warfare Center and School.
  The U.S. Army Regimental System was created by Army Regulation 600-82 
``to enhance combat effectiveness through a framework that provides the 
opportunity for affiliation, develops loyalty and commitment, fosters 
an extended sense of belonging, improves unit esprit, and 
institutionalizes the war fighting ethos to provide each soldier with a 
continuous identification with a single regiment.''
  On June 16, 1989, an activation ceremony for the Corps was conducted 
during the Civil Affairs Association Annual Conference in Pensacola, 
Florida. At that time, the Corps distinctive standard was uncased and 
the Corps insignia adopted. The following designations were made: MG 
William R. Berkman as Honorary Chief of Civil Affairs; COL Eli E. 
Nobleman as Honorary Colonel; CSM Raymond A. Lash as Honorary Sergeant 
Major; COL Joseph P. Kirlin III as Adjutant; and COL Kalman A. Oravetz 
as Chairman of the Corps Committee.
  Since then, the membership in the Corps has spread through all Army 
Reserve Civil Affairs units and to other Army Reserve soldiers, active 
and retired, who are or have been in the Civil

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Affairs Branch. Currently, there are more than 2,200 soldiers who are 
members of the Corps.
  The Corps Committee operates under a charter to provide advice and 
assistance to the Honorary Chief of Civil Affairs and the Corps Home 
Base Commander with respect to Corps matters. The Corps Committee 
presently includes the Chairman, Adjutant, Honorary Colonel, Honorary 
Warrant Officer, Honorary Sergeant Major, Commanding Generals and 
Command Sergeant Majors of the five major Civil Affairs commands and 
other members designated by the Honorary Chief of Civil Affairs. The 
Home Base Commander and the Honorary Chief of Civil Affairs are ex-
officio members. The Committee meets biannually at the times and sites 
of the meeting of the Civil Affairs Association Board of Directors.
  Support to the Corps is provided by the Civil Affairs Association. 
The Association has existed since its formation in 1947 with a 
principal purpose to maintain and enhance the Civil Affairs 
capabilities required by the Armed Forces of our Nation. Support of the 
Corps is included in the broad objectives of the Association. The Corps 
and the Association have worked together to implement their common 
objectives.
  The efforts of the Corps and Association to enhance Civil Affairs 
soldiers' esprit de corps have included:
  1. Civil Affairs Symposium. Co-sponsorship in 1991 of a symposium at 
U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort 
Bragg on ``Civil Affairs in the Persian Gulf War'' and publication of 
the proceedings of that symposium.
  2. Commemorative Stone. The 1994 dedication of a Civil Affairs 
commemorative stone and its emplacement in the Memorial Plaza of the 
Headquarters, U.S. Army Special Operations Command which recognizes the 
service of soldiers in Civil Affairs/Military Government assignments--
past, present, and future.
  3. Shrivenham Plaque. The presentation and dedication in 1994 at the 
British Army Base at Shrivenham, England, of a commemorative plaque to 
memorialize the organization and marshaling of Civil Affairs and 
Military Government units in 1944 for World War II operations in 
Europe.
  4. Civil Affairs Exhibits. The preparation and presentation at Civil 
Affairs conferences of exhibits of historic applications of Civil 
Affairs doctrine and operations in military operations conducted by the 
Armed Forces of our Nation.
  5. Recognition of Civil Affairs in Military Museums. Currently, 
planning is underway to support and ensure that military museums have 
appropriate displays and information about the roles and contributions 
of Civil Affairs in military operations in our history.
  6. Awards Programs--Individuals. Recognition of deserving soldiers 
and individuals as Distinguished and Honorary Members of the Corps. 
Award of the Corps Esprit de Corps Medallion has been presented to 
Corps members and notables. The first medallion was presented to 
Senator Strom Thurmond who served in combat in World War II as a G-5 
staff officer and later, in the Army Reserve, commanded major Civil 
Affairs units and retired as a Major General.
  7. Awards Programs--Units. Distinguished Unit Citations have been 
awarded to Civil Affairs units in recognition of their accomplishments 
and contributions in military operations in Grenada, Panama, Somalia, 
the Persian Gulf War and Haiti. Units currently participating in 
military operations in Bosnia and those relating to Kosovo will be 
recognized.
  Mr. President, the U.S. Army Reserve Civil Affairs Corps, with 
support of the Civil Affairs Association, is fulfilling the objectives 
and purposes of the Army Regimental System. I congratulate both the 
officers and soldiers of the Civil Affairs Corps for their service to 
our Nation and the Association for its support of the men and women who 
proudly wear the insignia of the Civil Affairs Corps.

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