How the Pentagon Counts and Reviews Civilian Harm

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2026 — The Defense Department released an instruction on civilian harm mitigation and response on Dec. 21, 2023, saying the document establishes enduring policies, responsibilities and procedures for mitigating and responding to civilian harm. In a companion news story the same day, Pentagon officials said the instruction pulls together guidance that had long existed in pieces and places it under a single department-wide policy.

The instruction did not appear overnight. In January 2022, then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III directed the undersecretary of defense for policy to develop a Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan and, separately, to complete an instruction for his signature. The department released that action plan on Aug. 25, 2022. The December 2023 instruction, officials said, was a milestone in putting the plan into lasting policy and creating a framework of processes and institutions meant to improve how the department responds when civilians are harmed.

What the instruction tells commanders to do

The department said the instruction establishes policy on pre-strike and post-strike measures to address civilian casualties in U.S. operations that involve the use of force. It directs the appointment of a senior Defense Department civilian official “to develop, coordinate and oversee compliance.” It also covers assessments of civilian harm that may have resulted from U.S. military operations and investigations of incidents of alleged civilian harm.

Officials described the document as a guide for commanders and a standard for service members. They said it would help the department establish doctrine, tactics and operational processes; develop capabilities that improve awareness of civilians and civilian objects on the battlefield; and emphasize military improvements that could reduce risks to civilians. The policy also calls for applying those practices in multinational operations and in work with non-state armed groups, and for folding them into security cooperation and security assistance.

Alongside the instruction, the department created a Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response website to serve as a repository for policies, reports and other information, and to point the public to existing guidance for reporting civilian casualties.

The department was careful about what the policy does not promise. The Dec. 21 news story said the instruction “will not magically stop all civilian casualties,” that mistakes still occur in the “fog of war,” and that the document will not answer every question — including how a unit should act when an enemy uses civilians as shields. It calls for continued research and discussion.

That caution matters for readers who treat a Pentagon counting system as a complete ledger of wartime harm. The instruction standardizes how the department says it will prevent, assess and respond to civilian harm in U.S. operations. It does not, by the department’s own account, eliminate civilian deaths or resolve every disputed case. Policy and incident coverage is organized on the casualties and damage hub and in War & Conflict. Related explainers include combatant commands and the War Room dashboard.

Sources

• U.S. Department of War: DOD Announces Release of Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Instruction
• U.S. Department of War: DOD Issues Civilian Harm Mitigation, Response Instruction

Related coverage

• Combatant Commands Explained
• Casualties and Damage
• War Room