Military Deep Into Civilian Duties.

WASHINGTON - The US military, deeply immersed in reconstruction projects in Iraq and Afghanistan, has almost overnight become a major player in the traditionally civilian work of helping poor countries develop. It now spends more than 21 percent of all US overseas aid, nearly a fourfold percentage increase in just three years.

Kathleen H. Hicks, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who was director of the Defense Department's policy planning department until August 2006, said the State Department has "a real sense that DOD is making a grab here. At the DOD, that's not how they see this. Their feeling is, 'Let's just go do the job.' "

Hicks noted the clash of cultures between the military and civilian branches hasn't helped.

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