Italy leader in civil-military cooperation
CIMIC: helping people to have a “normal” life
by LTC Fabrizio Zacché
The “Allied Joint Doctrine” AJP-01(B) defines CIMIC (civil-military cooperation) as “The coordination and cooperation, in support of the mission, between the NATO commander and civil actors, including national population and local authorities, as well as international, national and non-governmental organisations and agencies”.
Once they are familiar with the customs and habits of the country in which they are to operate, the military forces can become involved in supporting the civil environment and promoting the re-establishment of normal living conditions by selectively and temporarily deploying resources allocated for the specific purpose.
Such military activities are the responsibility of the civil-military cooperation (CIMIC) operational function.
This function has gained significant importance over the last decade, particularly in the conduct of crisis response operations (non-article 5 crisis response operations – non-art. 5 CRO), by adopting a broad, inclusive approach to establish a relationship between the civil and military environments.
CIMIC is a key function for use by commanders to fulfil their mission.
The resources deployed and operations undertaken within the scope of CIMIC must contribute to the achievement of the desired end-state and be consistent with the assets and capabilities of the armed forces.
The basic purpose of CIMIC is to interact with all the civil actors at the appropriate level within the area of operations in order to accomplish the mission.
In the medium and long-term CIMIC activities must promote and sustain conditions that will contribute to the achievement of objectives and the implementation of a strategy to enable the gradual handover of responsibility to local government authorities and the subsequent withdrawal of military forces from the theatre of action. In 2002 the Italian armed forces launched the project to set up a multinational joint force CIMIC command.
As the framework nation, Italy is responsible for CIMIC activities within NATO.
The project led to the creation of a regimental division called the Multinational CIMIC Group, based in Motta di Livenza (TV).
So far, six nations have signed the MoU (memorandum of understanding): Italy (framework nation), Greece, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Hungary. The Multinational CIMIC Group has taken part in all the main out-of-area operations involving the Italian armed forces and is currently deployed to the theatre of operations in Afghanistan and in Lebanon with specific assets.
