civilian

At least two of those relationships with civilian Pentagon chiefs — retired Marine Gen. James N. Mattis and Army combat veteran Mark Esper — resulted in open acrimony, despite a long-standing reluctance on the part of current and retired military officers to publicly criticize the commander in chief.

It has also accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields by operating inside homes and civilian infrastructure.

HRW also alleges that Israel’s military has “intentionally demolished or severely damaged civilian infrastructure, including controlled demolitions of homes, with the apparent aim of creating an extended ‘buffer zone’ along Gaza’s perimeter with Israel and a corridor which will bifurcate Gaza”.

The results varied widely from region to region, but in Southern California, homes protected by a fire department were 19% less likely to burn — 31% if a civilian helped defend it too.

The Defense Department, with a budget of more than $800 billion, includes some 1.3 million active-duty troops and an additional 1.4 million in the National Guard, Reserves and civilian employees.