Civil-military operations or CMO are activities of a military force to minimize civil interference on and maximize civil support for military operations.CMO is conducted in conjunction with combat operations during wartime and becomes a central part of a military campaign in counter-insurgencies.Also, some militaries have staff sections dedicated to planning and coordinating CMO for their command.[1]The U.S. Military defines CMO as: The activities of a commander that establish, maintain, influence, or exploit relations between military forces, governmental and nongovernmental civilian organizations and authorities, and the civilian populace in a friendly, neutral, or hostile operational area in order to facilitate military operations, to consolidate and achieve operational US objectives.Civil-military operations may include performance by military forces of activities and functions normally the responsibility of the local, regional, or national government.
Iraqi
farmers
stand outside a rural school while a U.S. Army Civil Affairs team evaluates it for possible reconstruction funds (near
Baghdad
, April 2005).
