On 16 July 2008, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice announced the creation of a Civilian Response Corps (CRC) within the Department of State. Recent legislation provided the funding to build the first pieces of an ambitious new project: a corps of civilian experts who would provide the “capacity and expertise necessary to respond rapidly to a reconstruction and stabilization (R&S) crisis.”1 This is a welcome development for those in the U.S. Army who work on stability operations. The CRC will fulfill the oft-noted need for a civilian capability to match the capabilities developed by the military in recent years.