Impressions of an Army Engineer
’’Magbenta ng Yelo sa Alaska”.
These words were ought to inspire every Civil Affairs (CA) Graduate. When I first heard of it, I was curious on what it really meant. Perhaps, it alluded to a CA Specialist’s ability to accomplish even the seemingly impossible task. Challenged by these words, I became eager to take up the course and learn as much as I could.
Being a proud Army Engineer of the 546th Engineer Construction Battalion in Samar, this training enhanced my knowledge and skills to better perform my Civil Affairs duties. Undergoing the course widened my understanding about how things should be done and enhance the services I can offer back to my Unit.
As I have learned, CA tackles both military and civilian links and their inter-connectivity for the accomplishment of the mission. I learned how to conduct an area study and link analysis to identify the right individuals and organizations to coordinate with. I also learned about the CA methodology which is used to determine the inequalities and other problems in the community.
The principles I learned in Key Leader Engagement encouraged me to become a more effective and competent CA specialist.
It enhanced the way I personally converse with key leaders and officials. I also learned how to conduct face to face dialogues with confidence. It improved my communication skills and molded me to become a capable CA specialist.
I believe that being a CA specialist would contribute to our Army Engineer missions. Since we have a big role in addressing the vulnerabilities in the community, the skill sets of a CA specialist would help us provide effective and efficient services to our constituents. We are focused on setting up buildings, infrastructures and other high impact projects in the communities we serve. In order to do this, we need the support of local government units, agencies, and organizations from the civilian sector. Through inter-agency coordination, we are able to engage with them to perform our tasks and missions, pursuing the commitment to support development.
Being an Army Engineer, we collaborate with civilian partners and authorities on a regular basis. We use community organizing to coordinate with civilian agencies to pool our resources for the accomplishment of the mission. I gained the knowledge, skills, and confidence to effectively relate with any individual or group. If given the chance to go on another schooling, I will gamely signify for another CMO course.
In closing, I recommend the CMO courses of the Army CMO School for soldiers who wish to level-up and gain a deeper understanding of CMO. I encourage all of you to undergo the training and be the best CMO specialist that you can be.
