Civil-military operations or CMO are activities of a military force to minimize civil interference on and maximize civil support for military operation

Military operation

Military operation is the coordinated military actions of a state in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state's favor. Operations may be of combat or non-combat types, and are referred to by a code name for the purpose...

s to facilitate accomplishing the mission. CMO is conducted in conjunction with combat operations during wartime and becomes a central part of a military campaign in counter-insugencies

Counter-insurgency

A counter-insurgency or counterinsurgency involves actions taken by the recognized government of a nation to contain or quell an insurgency taken up against it...

. Some militaries have specialized units dedicated to conduct CMO, such as civil affairs

Civil Affairs

Civil Affairs is a term used by both the United Nations and by military institutions , but for different purposes in each case.-United Nations Civil Affairs:...

 forces or form task forces specifically for this purposes, such as a joint civil-military operations task force

Joint civil-military operations task force

A joint civil-military operations task force, or JCMOTF, is a task organized military unit with the functional purpose of conducting civil-military operations...

 in the U.S. Military. Also, some militaries have staff sections dedicated to planning and coordinating CMO for their command. CMO is often called civil-military co-operation

Civil-Military Co-operation

Civil-Military Co-operation is the military function through which a commander links to civilian agencies active in a theatre of operations.-History:The United States Army has, since the Second World War, maintained Civil Affairs units...

 or CIMIC in NATO operations and civil-military co-ordination

Civil-military coordination

Civil-military coordination is efforts to coordinate activities in peacekeeping or humanitarian assistance missions during United Nations operations...

 in UN

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 operations.

Official definitions

The Canadian Military

Canadian Forces

The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...

 defines CMO as:
The U.S. Military

Military of the United States

The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...

defines CMO as: