1. Religious Area Advisement (RAA) Training Fosters Cooperation and Enhances Partner Nation
Capabilities
Daniel L. Roberts

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Abstract
In 2012, the Command Chaplain for the United States Army Civil Affairs and Psychological
Command (Airborne) (USACAPOC[A]) recognized that external religious advisement was a
critical skill set for unit ministry teams (UMTs) in USACAPOC(A). However, most UMTs
lacked practice in actually conducting religious area advisement (RAA) and developing religious
impact assessments (RIAs). To combat this problem, the USACAPOC(A) chaplain office, in
partnership with the United States Army Chaplain Center and School (USACHCS) and General
Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), developed an RAA training program that included
classroom instruction, practical exercises, and multimedia simulations. In 2014,
USACAPOC(A) expanded its training audience to include Canadian chaplains. Since then, the
USACAPOC(A)/Canadian RAA (UC-RAA) training program has continued to expand,
including training exercises in both countries. The training experience has fostered increased
cooperation and has enhanced the capabilities of chaplains in both countries. This article
chronicles the evolution of UC-RAA, how it has made partner nation chaplains better, and how it
has influenced cooperation in other areas.
Keywords: religious area advisement, chaplain training, partner nations, religious impact
assessment, Canadian chaplains

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Religious Area Advisement (RAA) Training Fosters Cooperation and Enhances Partner Nation
Capabilities
According to Army Techniques Publication (ATP) 1-05.03, external religious advisement
(ERA) is part of the chaplain’s religious staff advisor function. Chaplains engage in ERA when
they advise the commander on the religious context within the unit’s area of operations (AO).
The religious context may involve various religious groups, religious holidays, burial customs,
influential religious leaders, religious customs and practices, and ideology. Knowing the
religious context of the AO could mean the difference between mission success or failure.
Misreading or ignoring key religious factors in an AO can result in backlashes against American
coalition forces.
ERA is particularly valuable for a unit like USACAPOC(A) with a civil affairs mission.
Civil affairs operators work closely with indigenous peoples, conduct needs assessments, and
analyze the human terrain. A chaplain who can read the religious environment is invaluable.
Religious area advisement (RAA) is the process of gathering religious information about the AO,
developing religious impact assessments, and presenting the information to a commander in a
way that enables the commander to make informed decisions.
This article provides a chronicle of the evolution of the USACAPOC(A)/Canadian RAA
(UC-RAA) training from the original to the current version. The process of planning and
conducting UC-RAA yielded benefits that exceeded expectations. Besides accomplishing its
original goals, UC-RAA training fostered cooperation between Canadian and U.S. chaplains and
enhanced the capabilities of both chaplaincies.
The Evolution of UC-RAA
The First Version
The USACAPOC(A) command chaplain recognized that there was a general lack of
knowledge within the UMT ranks about how to develop RIA products and execute RAA tasks.
The USACAPOC(A) chaplain office, in partnership with the United States Chaplain Center and
School (USACHCS) and General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), began to develop
a robust RAA training package. Using high-tech hardware and software, GDIT created
multimedia presentations and an interactive user interface. Representatives from USACHCS and
USACAPOC(A) served as role players and were recorded for the presentations. In 2012, the
first version of RAA training was rolled out. The training consisted of one day of classroom
instruction and three to four days of multimedia simulations.
The classroom period of instruction included a variety of topics, and both chaplain and
assistants participated. First, the USACAPOC(A) command chaplain described the importance
of RAA within the context of USACAPOC(A)'s mission, the doctrinal concepts behind RAA,
and classical examples of RAA. The command chaplain also discussed how understanding the
historical context of an area and its peoples can greatly enhance the RAA process. In other
words, the command chaplain offered a philosophical and doctrinal view of RAA.
The second classroom session covered cultural awareness. The instructor led students
through discussions on key RAA concepts including culture, worldview, belief, symbolism, and

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others. Students learned about how cultures can change and about how culture influences
religion.
In the third session, the instructor taught students about ASCOPE and PMESII-PT.
ASCOPE stands for area, structures, capabilities, organizations, people, and events. PMESII-PT
stands for political, military, economic, social, infrastructure, information, physical environment,
and time. Civil affairs operators, chaplains, and others use ASCOPE and PMESII-PT to analyze
the human terrain, structures, key leaders, and other environmental considerations to develop
advisement products (U.S. Department of the Army, 2011).
A practical exercise followed the third classroom session. In this session, students were
given a scenario and were instructed to develop an ASCOPE/PMESII-PT matrix based on the
scenario. This was the crawl phase of the crawl-walk-run training process.
The first day of training ended with students reviewing the operations order (OPORD)
and other documents that would serve as the basis for the simulation exercises on the following
days. Students were assigned to fictitious units in echelons from brigade to combatant command
headquarters. The purpose of this was to exercise students in developing RAA products,
supervising subordinate UMTs, and practicing the communication process.
For the next three days, students worked in teams and sat in front of computer stations.
Prompted by email messages or simulated blue force tracker messages, teams reviewed
multimedia files that presented scenarios for them to respond to. For instance, teams receive a
simulated broadcast news report that described an earthquake that occurred in the AO. Whatever
the scenario, teams developed RIA products, submitted reports up the chain, and briefed the
simulated commander (the USACAPOC[A] command chaplain).
USACAPOC(A) is a regionally aligned force (RAF). Each civil affairs command
(CACOM) is aligned with a different region of the world. One CACOM is aligned with Pacific
Command (PACOM), while another one is aligned with North Command (NORTHCOM), and
so on. Since chaplains represented units aligned with all of the different regional commands,
scenarios covered a wide range of situations and did not focus exclusively on theaters where
current military operations were taking place.
A small white cell managed the injects and fragmentary orders (FRAGOs), and
representatives from GDIT provided technical assistance. GDIT also provided training on Blue
Force Tracker, which was used to assist in tracking battlefield movements. The members of the
white cell acted as command staff elements, such as commanders, planners, and personnel
officers in order to make the scenarios more realistic and give students practice working with
coordinating staff.
For the next two years, USACAPOC(A) continued to conduct this training. The training
was conducted twice a year with up to 52 students per class. Chaplains, chaplain assistants, and
chaplain candidates participated. USACAPOC(A) also worked and trained with chaplains in
active duty units.

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The Combined Version
While USACAPOC(A) was conducting its training, senior chaplains in the Canadian
forces were discussing the need to institutionalize RAA and religious leader engagement (RLE)
within the chaplaincy. In other words, the Canadian chaplaincy wanted to take a top-down
approach to developing RAA and RLE doctrine and training. However, no one was sure where
to start. Dialogue between the USACAPOC(A) command chaplain and some key leaders in the
Canadian chaplaincy resulted in the first ever USACAPOC(A)/Canadian RAA (UC-RAA)
training.
Canadians had no substantial RAA/RLE doctrine or training. To begin the training
process the USACAPOC(A) command chaplain and noncommissioned officer in charge
(NCOIC) traveled to Canada to provide a shortened version of the classroom training. Canadian
chaplains who would later participate in the first full version of the UC-RAA training were in
attendance. This pre-training offered chaplains an opportunity to get a feel for the training and
get their initial questions answered. This took place the month prior to the full training event.
During the period between the pre-training and the “real” event, chaplains were given pertinent
field manuals and doctrinal publications to study.
While the Canadian chaplains were beginning to learn about RAA, the U.S. contingent
also learned some of the challenges the Canadians faced. First, Canadian chaplains operated on
a much smaller budget. In 2005, Canada spent approximately 1% of its gross domestic product
(GDP) on the military, while U.S. military spending was at 3.5% of GDP (The World Bank,
2016). In real dollars, that is 18.6 billion Canadian versus nearly $500 billion U.S. (The White
House, n.d.). While the Canadian military was much smaller than its U.S. counterpart —
146,000 versus 2.5 million (Global Firepower, 2016), the annual per capita military expenditures
were $127,000 Canadian versus $200,000 U.S. The U.S. spent 57% more per service member
than Canada. That simple analysis does not account for a lot of factors such as dollar rate
differentiation, priority of spending, and bureaucratic costs, but it was clear to the U.S. group that
budget considerations would always be a major factor when designing and planning combined
training.
A second lesson learned was that Canadian chaplains are not stovepiped into services and
branches in the same way U.S. chaplains are. Canadian chaplains belong to a service, such as
the navy or air force, but may be assigned to other services such as the army. A navy chaplain
could spend his or her whole career in army units. Canadian reserve chaplains work alongside
their active duty counterparts regularly. Because of the fluid nature of Canadian chaplain
assignments, it was valuable for chaplains from all services, active duty and reserve, to learn
RAA. A Canadian chaplain may not use it as much at his or her current assignment with the
navy, but may use it extensively at his or her next assignment with the army.
The third challenge was that Canadian chaplains had little formal training and practice as
staff officers. Unlike U.S. chaplains, who are expected to operate as highly functioning staff
officers, Canadian chaplains are seen more as shepherds to the flock. Canadian chaplains were
not used to developing products for commander briefings. Training had to cover fundamental
staffing processes.

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In October of 2014, 14 Canadian chaplains showed up to Fort Jackson, South Carolina to
participate in RAA training. The Canadians were paired with U.S. chaplains and assistants and
assigned to fictitious units and echelons. The first day of classroom training proceeded as it had
in the first version.
Rather than do three days of simulation exercises (SIMEX), it was decided to shorten the
SIMEX to two days. On October 22, 2014, while the SIMEX was taking place, a gunman killed
a Canadian soldier guarding the National War Memorial (CBC/Radio-Canada, 2016). It was
decided that the incident would provide an excellent, but tragic opportunity for the students to
conduct a real-world RAA. Working together for a day and a half on the project, the combined
student group developed RAA and RIA products that were eventually sent to senior leaders in
both the Canadian and U.S. militaries.
The opportunity to build relationships as partner nation soldiers was a significant benefit.
One never knows when one may work alongside a partner nation chaplain overseas. Having
those relationships established beforehand can be incredibly valuable. Canadian chaplains were
also quite envious of U.S. chaplains who had chaplain assistants. Canadian chaplains often work
alone as there is no such thing as a chaplain assistant in the Canadian military.
Of course, there were some kinks that needed to be ironed out. First, there were some
logistical issues with travel and lodging that needed to be fixed. USACAPOC(A) provided
transportation to and from the airport, but this gave the Canadians limited options for evening
activities. The Canadian chaplains also felt that OPORD awareness training should have been
provided. This training could have covered how to read an OPORD and how to extract pertinent
information from it. Finally, the fictitious force structure, with a mix of Canadian and U.S. units,
caused some confusion and miscommunication at first.
UC-RAA Progressions
The classroom/SIMEX version of the training was repeated the following year. The
second iteration followed a similar pattern as the first. A different real-world scenario was
included this time. The training opportunities did not end there.
To increase Canadian chaplains’ exposure to RAA problems and further increase their
RAA skills, the chaplain to the Canadian Army Doctrine and Training Center (CADTC) planned
to include RAA-style injects in an upcoming exercise. The chaplain looked to USACAPOC(A)
to provide the expertise to assist with writing appropriate scenarios. In 2015, the
USACAPOC(A) command chaplain and NCOIC attended the writing board for the exercise.
Working with the CADTC chaplain and exercise planners, a variety of materials were developed,
including information on fictitious religious groups, biographical information on fictional
religious leaders, and scenario injects.
In February of 2016, the actual exercise took place in Edmonton, Canada. USACPOC(A)
provided an UMT to work alongside Canadian chaplains. The exercise lasted approximately two
weeks and provided a variety of opportunities for Canadian and U.S. chaplains to work together
solving RAA problems and integrating with Canadian command staffs. As in other training

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settings, this exercise fostered cooperation among partner nation chaplains and enhanced the
capabilities of all involved.
Results of the Training
Enhanced Chaplain Capabilities
Chaplains on both sides of the border benefitted from the training. The goals of the RAA
training were to help chaplains and assistants understand the importance of the ERA function,
learn the doctrine that drives the ERA capability, and understand the philosophy behind
USACAPOC(A)’s approach to RAA. Other goals included increasing UMTs’ abilities to
develop RIA products, brief commanders, and supervise subordinate UMTs. These goals were
accomplished, but other unexpected benefits were realized.
After the Canadians joined the training efforts, the training itself evolved. The real-world
aspect of the training was never part of the original training plan. The incident in Ottawa
changed all that. Since then, every iteration of RAA training has involved a real-world element.
Adding this element served to increase the skills of chaplains in finding, synthesizing, and
analyzing real-world data. For many issues, there is a plethora of information available, but
commanders only need key pieces of information. USACAPOC(A)’s approach to RAA is not to
provide the commander truckloads of data, but to offer recommendations based on pertinent facts
and expert analysis.
After action review (AAR) comments submitted by both Canadian and U.S. participants
described the training as effective. The white cell attempted to send scenario injects and
FRAGOs at a pace that put pressure on participants while giving them the time needed to
develop products. AAR comments verified that the white cell was successful in establishing an
appropriate operations tempo. Back briefing the USACAPOC(A) command chaplain gave
participants immediate feedback on how they could improve their briefing skills.
Increased Cooperation
One startling factor for U.S. chaplains was the very small size of the Canadian chaplaincy
and the lack of chaplain assistants. U.S. chaplain assistants readily chipped in to help Canadians,
and the Canadians learned the value of having an enlisted advisor and assistant. There were no
language barriers per se, but there were differences in cultures between Canadians and U.S.
personnel. The training fostered an atmosphere in which partner nation soldiers worked to
understand each other’s cultures and overcome any cultural barriers that arose.
A second result of the training was the development of doctrine. From the training, the
CADTC developed doctrinal notes to institutionalize RAA and RLE in the Canadian forces.
U.S. and Canadian chaplains cooperated in the development of those doctrinal concepts.
Expanded Training Venues
Cooperation between the USACAPOC(A) and Canadian chaplaincies did not stop at
RAA training. Since the first iteration of combined training, a Canadian chaplain has attended
each one of USACAPOC(A)’s annual UMT training events. This is general UMT training aside
from RAA training. In February of 2016, the USACAPOC(A) command chaplain and NCOIC

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attended a Canadian chaplain training event in Halifax, Canada. Chaplains from the entire
Canadian military were in attendance. The USACAPOC(A) representatives provided two hours
of RAA training to the entire group, but aside from that, important discussions about sexual
assault prevention programs took place. Sexual assault is a problem facing both militaries and
sharing ideas could only help chaplains provide better support. Other issues were discussed,
such as increasing female chaplain representation in both militaries and the possibility of
conducting a chaplain exchange program.
As of this writing, two training venues are planned. At least one Canadian chaplain will
attend USACAPOC(A)’s annual UMT training and representatives from USACAPOC(A) will
attend a similar training program in Canada. This cooperative training program has become an
important line of effort for key leaders on both sides of the border.
Conclusion
UC-RAA training is the product of an evolution of RAA training that began with the
USACAPOC(A) command chaplain. The original training audience was USACAPOC(A)
chaplains and assistants, but it later included active duty chaplains and assistants, and Canadian
chaplains. RAA training enhanced participants’ abilities to understand the external religious
advisement process, develop RIAs and other RAA products, synthesize raw data, brief
commanders, and supervise subordinate UMTs. The first iteration of UC-RAA included a real-
world scenario. This real-world scenario sharpened participants’ skills in developing complex
RAA products. The increased cooperation that UC-RAA fostered resulted in the development of
Canadian forces RAA/RLE doctrine and opportunities for combined training in other venues.

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References
CBC/Radio-Canada (2016). Ottawa shooting: A day of chaos leaves soldier, gunman dead.
Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ottawa-shooting-a-day-of-chaos-leaves-
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Global Firepower (2016). Comparisons of world military strengths results. Retrieved from http://
www.globalfirepower.com/countries-comparison-detail.asp?
form=form&country1=canada&country2=united-states-of-america&Submit=COMPARE.
U.S. Department of the Army. Civil Affairs Operations. Field Manual 3-57 (3-05.40).
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Army, October 2011.
The White House (n.d.). Department of Defense budget. Retrieved from https://
www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2015/assets/defense.pdf.
The World Bank. (2016). Military expenditure (% of GDP) data table. Retrieved from http://
data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS.