4th CAG at USMC War Memorial August 2004

4th Civil Affairs Group (4th CAG) is a civil affairs unit of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

. It is based in Hialeah, Florida. For information on 4th CAG prior to 2012, see 2nd Civil Affairs Group, which was formed out of the original 4th CAG in Washington D.C. This webpage listed locations of civil affairs units throughout the United States. It is one of only four civil affairs groups in the Marine Corps, all of which are reserve units. 4th CAG was the first civil affairs group in the Marine Corps and mostly supports II MEF.

Organization

4th CAG is commanded by a

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

and the unit has 38 Marine officers, 85 Marine enlisted, 4 Navy officers and 1 Navy enlisted. The unit consists of one Headquarters Detachment and three Line Detachments. Civil Affairs Marines carry the secondary

Military Occupational Specialty A United States military occupation code, or a military occupational specialty code (MOS code), is a nine-character code used in the United States Army and United States Marine Corps to identify a specific job. In the United States Air Force, a sy ...

(MOS) 0530/0531 (Civil Affairs Officer/Specialist) in addition to their primary military operational speciality.

History

On November 1, 1955, 4th CAG was activated originally as 5th Staff Group at Henderson Hall, Arlington, Virginia."Unit Profile- 4th Civil Affairs Group: Anacostia Naval Station, Washington, D.C.", ''Continental Marines'' (Fall 2011), page 28. The first commanding officer was Colonel Winslow H. Randolph Jr. In 1973, the unit had a table of organization of 30 officers and 50 enlisted and was commanded by Colonel J. Z. Taylor. In the late 1970s, 4th CAG supported several iterations of

Operation Solid Shield Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

with

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. In 1979, 4th CAG was relocated to

Naval Support Facility Anacostia Naval Support Facility (NSF) Anacostia was a United States Naval Base in Washington, D.C., close to where the Anacostia River joins the Potomac River. On 1 October 2010 the base was conjoined with the adjacent Bolling Air Force Base to form th ...

. 4th CAG activated several Marines for the first time in the unit's history to support

Operation Just Cause Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

in Panama.Brown, DeNeen L. "Activated for the Aftermath?", ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' (December 15, 1990), pages E1 and E3. The entire unit was activated for the first time in December 1990 and deployed for

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

in 1991. During Operation Desert Storm, 4th CAG was assigned to 2nd Marine Division and helped process over 10,000 Iraqi POWs. Immediately upon return from the Middle East, a detachment from 4th CAG deployed to Northern Iraq in support of

Operation Provide Comfort Operation Provide Comfort and Provide Comfort II were military operations initiated by the United States and other Coalition nations of the Persian Gulf War, starting in April 1991, to defend Kurdish refugees fleeing their homes in northern ...

to provide humanitarian aid to Kurdish refugees. 4th CAG sent numerous detachments to the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

in mid-1990s until 2003. 4th CAG participated in numerous

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe that was launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research ...

missions in Central/South America and the

Caribbean Islands Almost all of the Caribbean islands are in the Caribbean Sea, with only a few in inland lakes. The largest island is Cuba. Other sizable islands include Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago. Some of the smaller islands are re ...

. 4th CAG deployed to Iraq three times for the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

: (1) February to September 2003, (2) August 2004 to March 2005 and (3) September 2006 to April 2007. 4th CAG sent a detachment to support Joint Task Force Katrina in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, Louisiana, from September to October 2005. 4th Civil Affairs Group also sent detachments to Afghanistan for

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

in May 2009, November 2009, and August 2011 and participated in

Operation Strike of the Sword Operation Strike of the Sword or Operation Khanjar was a US-led offensive in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a la ...

. On December 15, 2013, 4th CAG was reactivated and relocated to Hialeah, Florida, as part of the Force Structure Review. Colonel Augustin Bolanio was assigned as the Group Commander and Sergeant Major Mark T. Davis was posted as the Group Sergeant Major. 4th CAG's primary mission is to provide civil affairs support to the U.S. Southern Command.

Unit awards

Presidential Unit Citation **March 21, 2003, to April 24, 2003 (with I MEF) **May 29, 2009, to April 12, 2010 (with 2d MEB) * Navy Unit Commendation ribbon

Navy Unit Commendation The Navy Unit Commendation (NUC) is a United States Navy unit award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944. History Navy and U.S. Marine Corps commands may recommend any Navy or Marine Co ...

**January 1997 to November 2001 **August 2, 2004, to February 1, 2005 (with I MEF) **September 2006 to March 2007 (with I & II MEF) * Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation ribbon

Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation ribbon

Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or s ...

**August 1, 1990, to June 30, 1991 (with 4th MarDiv) *

Commandant of the Marine Corps Certificate of Commendation 001

Commandant of the Marine Corps Certificate of Commendation **December 1978 to December 1980

Notable members

Richard Blumenthal Richard Blumenthal (; born February 13, 1946) is an American lawyer and politician who is the senior United States senator from Connecticut, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he is one of the wealthiest members of ...

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

Paul W. Brier Paul W. Brier is a retired United States Marine Corps major general. A combat veteran of the Persian Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan wars, he retired on 31 December 2016, completing 36 years of military service. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering ...

, USMC Major General CO, 6th Civil Affairs Group; CG,

4th Marine Division The 4th Marine Division is a reserve division in the United States Marine Corps. It was raised in 1943 for service during World War II, and subsequently fought in the Pacific against the Japanese. Deactivated after the war, the division was re-fo ...

Rich Brenner Rich Brenner (November 24, 1946 – February 27, 2012) was an American television Sports commentator, sportscaster. Life and career Brenner was a graduate of Baldwin Wallace University, Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. He was student senat ...

, sportscaster *

Bill Cahir William John Cahir (December 20, 1968 – August 13, 2009) was a former newspaper correspondent for Newhouse Newspapers; a Congressional committee staffer for U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and a 2008 Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress in ...

, ran for

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

, subsequently killed in action while serving with the CAG in Afghanistan *

Micah Caskey Micajah Pickett "Micah" Caskey IV (born June 2, 1981) is an American politician. He currently serves in the South Carolina House of Representatives, representing the 89th district. Caskey was first elected in 2016 defeating Democrat Peggy Butler ...

, South Carolina House of Representatives * C. Boyden Gray, diplomatO'Leary, Jeremiah. "High Desert", ''Leatherneck Magazine'', volume 54, number 26 (Marine Corps Association, January 1971), pages 27-28. Article says Clayland Boyden Gray served in 4th CAG as a Sergeant. * Paul Hackett, ran for

Andrew Horne Andrew J. Horne is an attorney, former political candidate, and a retired United States Marine Corps Reserves Lieutenant Colonel from Louisville, Kentucky who served in the Persian Gulf War and the Iraq War. Initially he tentatively supported t ...

, ran for

Charles Lollar Charles Lollar (born June 22, 1971) is an American businessman and Republican Party politician. A former Marine Corps officer, he was the Republican nominee for Maryland's 5th congressional district in 2010, losing to Democratic incumbent Steny ...

, ran for

Governor of Maryland The Governor of the State of Maryland is the head of government of Maryland, and is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state and has a broad range of appointive powers ...

* Raj Mukherji, New Jersey Assemblyman *

Mackubin Thomas Owens Mackubin Thomas Owens is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. From 2015 until 2018, he served as dean of academic affairs at the Institute of World Politics. He was previously the associate dean of academics for electives and d ...

, writer * Helen Pratt, Major General *

Arnold L. Punaro Arnold L. Punaro (born August 10, 1946) is a retired United States Marines, Marine Corps Major general (United States), Major General and CEO of The Punaro Group and IronArch Technology. He is currently Chairman of the Secretary of Defense’s ...

, retired Major General *

Van Taylor Nicholas Van Campen Taylor (born August 1, 1972), known as Van Taylor,Texas Birth Index, 1903–1997. is an American businessman and Republican politician from Plano, Texas. He is the U.S. representative for Texas's 3rd congressional district, ...

, politician * Frank Ryan, member of

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

* Robert J. Zangas, first

Coalition Provisional Authority ) , capital = Baghdad , largest_city = capital , common_languages = ArabicKurdishEnglish (''de facto'') , government_type = Transitional government , legislature = Iraqi Governing Council , title_leader = Administrator , leader1 = Jay ...

civilian killed in action

Notes

References

* 4th CAG briefed this slideshow presentation at the Civil Affairs Association Winter Board Meeting on February 4, 2006, and it contained a good summary of the organization and its missions. It also contained a synopsis of 4th CAG support to OIF and the future direction of the unit. * * *

External links

4th Civil Affairs Group homepageCivil Affairs Association homepage
* {{USMCmajorcommands Civil affairs groups of the United States Marine Corps Force Headquarters Group