text: Culture
  GREEN CELL AND CULTURAL ADVISOR
  3-17. The purpose of a green cell is to consider the population in order to promote a better understanding
  of the environment and the problem. At a minimum, the green cell provides for the independent will of the
  population. Planning teams must develop an understanding of civilian aspects of the area of operations and
  the will of the population. There are many techniques to achieve this capability, and each unit may
  approach this differently based on resources and available qualified personnel. Two techniques of note are
  the green cell and cultural advisor. (See MCWP 5-1 for more information on green cells.)
  3-18. A green cell is an ad hoc working group consisting of individuals with a diversity of education and
  experience capable of identifying and considering the perspective of the population, the host-nation
  government, and other stakeholders within an operational environment. Ideally, a green cell is composed of
  individuals with cultural expertise across all warfighting functions. If a whole-of-government approach is
  used, experts from other government agencies such as the Department of State should be included in the
  cell. The green cell cooperates closely with the other members of the planning staff so that cultural factors
  are considered throughout the range of military operations. The green cell also interfaces and coordinates
  with joint and interagency groups, drawing upon the collective knowledge and experience of the
  Department of State, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and foreign resources, such as provincial
  reconstruction teams. (See MCWP 5-1 for more information on green cell activities.)
  3-19. The commander forms the green cell during the receipt of mission and problem framing planning
  steps to add to the commander’s and the operational planning team’s cultural understanding of an
  operational environment. In order to support the operational planning team, the green cell understands the
  operational planning team’s mission and tasks and is able to translate cultural information in a way that is
  relevant to the mission.
  3-20. The cultural advisor is a concept developed and employed in Operation Enduring Freedom in
  Afghanistan. Cultural advisors are the principal subject matter experts on culture and planning related to
  their designated geographic region of expertise, serving as the cultural and language advisors to the
  commander. The cultural advisor is a special staff officer for the commander and a member of the planning
  staff. This person not only serves on the planning staff, but also deploys and serves as an ongoing advisor
  to senior leaders while they are in theater, if needed. The advantage of having a cultural advisor on staff is
  that this advisor can often help explain to the commander what the advisor sees on the ground in the area of
  operations. A foreign area officer or a civil affairs Soldier may be a good selection for a cultural advisor.
  Both can provide an understanding of the host nation and its specific regional, religious, and ethnic
  differences, and they may have foreign language skills. As a result, the commander can adjust operations in
  response to a culturally challenging environment.
  3-21. Overall, there are many options to task-organize staffs to incorporate culture into planning. While a
  green cell creates expertise in one part of the staff, those concerns are also important for other staff
  sections. It is important for commanders to create staffs that are well integrated across the warfighting
  functions. One danger of creating a cultural cell within the staff is that it will relegate cultural concerns to
  one staff element and inhibit cultural concerns being integrated into the planning process. Commanders
  ensure that the staff integrates all operational and planning concerns, including cultural concerns.
  3-22. Regardless of the particular planning configuration, commanders and planners find and use whatever
  cultural resources are available to the unit. Commanders and staffs incorporate culture into planning during
  the beginning of mission planning in order to understand an area of operations prior to developing any
  course of action. Success is recognized not by stand-alone briefs that describe the culture of an operational
  environment, but when all of the operational planning teams’ planning products reflect and have been
  informed by the cultural analysis that has been performed by subject matter experts.
  HUMAN TERRAIN SYSTEM
  3-23. The human terrain system provides tactical to strategic level support to commanders. The human
  terrain system conducts field research and analysis of the local population to determine the civil
  considerations in order to help commanders better understand the operational environment from the
  population’s perspective and assess how actions will potentially impact and be perceived by the local
  population.