A wartime training program of interest to political scientists and of possible significance for postwar educational policy is the Army's Civil Affairs Training Program. This training program prepares officers for military government service in occupied territory, and is an extension of the training instituted at Charlottesville, Virginia, in the spring of 1942. The School of Military Government is an Army post located on the campus of the University of Virginia. It was originally expected to train a limited number of officers for positions in civil affairs headquarters staff, but the capacity of the School was later expanded and its graduates actually serve in either staff or field positions.

It soon became apparent that the demand for officers trained for civil affairs work would run far beyond the capacity of the School of Military Government. As a consequence, it was decided to utilize a number of universities in the training, and the Civil Affairs Training Program (CATP) was established. Like the School of Military Government, already in existence, this program was placed under the control of the Provost Marshal General.