21st Century U.S. Army Noncombatant Evacuation Operations Field Manual (FM 90-29) - Security, Logistics, Safehaven, Psychological Operations

This is the latest edition of an important U.S. Army field manual (FM) covering the evacuation of noncombatants (civilians) under nonemergency conditions.

In the preface, it states:

"Field Manual (FM) 90-29 establishes Army guidance for planning, coordinating, and executing noncombatant evacuation operations (NEOs) under nonemergency conditions. Nonemergency conditions are those in which full mobilization has not been authorized but deployment of combat forces or the use of force may be required to accomplish the mission. The manual provides direction to Army commanders and staffs charged with duties related to these operations. It attempts to harmonize procedures and terminology between the various government agencies that may be involved. Commanders with this type of mission should ensure that their planning staff is acquainted with reference publications to reduce the potential for flawed coordination and mission execution."

Some highlights of the contents:

"Noncombatant evacuation operations (NEOs) are conducted to evacuate civilian noncombatants and nonessential military personnel from locations in a foreign (host) nation during time of endangerment to a designated safehaven. NEOs are normally conducted to evacuate United States (US) citizens whose lives are in danger from a hostile environment or natural disaster. NEOs may also include the evacuation of US military personnel and dependents, selected citizens of the host nation (HN), and third country nationals. NEOs would not normally include retrograde operations of military personnel solely as part of a military operation. NEOs involve swift, temporary occupancy of an objective and end with planned withdrawals. They may include the use of force. If so, the commander limits the amount of force to that required to protect the evacuees and the evacuation force. Every US embassy is required to maintain an emergency action plan (EAP), which includes an NEO plan. The Department of State is the lead agency for planning and conducting NEOs. NEO plans consider HN assets as the primary source of security, transportation, and temporary facilities. If HN assets are inadequate or unavailable, US military resources are used to fill the shortfall. If military forces are employed in a NEO, they usually comprise units from more than one service. The combatant commander (commander in chief (CINC), on being ordered to support a NEO, normally designates a joint task force (JTF) commander to exercise overall control of operations involved in the NEO. He is responsible for all activities, from initial planning and deployment to an intermediate staging base (ISB), to conduct of the evacuation and, if required, operation of the safehaven. Evacuation operations differ from other military operations in that direction of the operation will usually remain with the American ambassador, if present, at the time of evacuation. Further, the order to evacuate is usually a political decision, with extensive ramifications. It indicates to the local population and other governments that the situation has deteriorated to the point that the United States has lost faith in the HN's ability to maintain control of the situation. This, in turn, may further destabilize the situation. Requesting military assistance in an evacuation is potentially more destabilizing. The presence of armed US troops may overly alarm the local population, adding to the possibility of unnecessary violence and confusion. Should circumstances require introduction of US troops, the commander should plan for early execution of psychological operations (PSYOP) to project and define his intentions to the HN government, military, and populace."

This manual is produced by Headquarters, US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). It is fully illustrated with numerous line drawings.