The Civilian Expeditionary Force

During his town hall in Racine, Wisconsin today President Obama spoke about the civilian expeditionary force within his National Security Strategy.

“We just got to be smart about using all the elements of American power, not just one element of American power,” he said.

The president pointed to Iraq and Afghanistan where military personnel are having to engage in work that he said really should be civilian work– like building schools and bridges -- because of under-resourcing on the civilian side

“The problem is -- is that we don't have a civilian effort that has always matched up to the military effort. So the military goes in there, they clear out everything, they're -- they're making everything secure, and now the question is, all right, can we get the civilians to come in to work with the local governments to improve the situation? And a lot of times that civilian side of it has been under-resourced.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fO-usAlqak
Mr. Obama said the burden should not be all on the military.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/06/the-civilian-expeditionary-force-obama-says-burden-cant-be-all-on-the-military-.html