By David Morgan

CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina, April 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned on Thursday the civilian side of the Obama administration's strategy for Afghanistan is falling behind the military and may have to be bolstered by military reservists.

In a visit to the U.S. Marine Corps' main staging point for deployments to Afghanistan, Gates said he may ask reservists skilled in disciplines such as veterinary medicine, accounting and agronomics to volunteer to ensure the Afghan people get development assistance vital to the U.S. mission's success.

Under a proposal he has put forward, Gates said the volunteer reservists would remain on duty until replacements from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development could be assigned.

"I'm concerned that we will not get the civilian surge into Afghanistan as quickly as we are getting the troops into Afghanistan," he told reporters over the crackle of gunfire from a nearby training range.

"We have a finite amount of time to show we're going to make progress in Afghanistan and I just don't want to see any delays, whether it's on the military side or whether it's on the civilian side."

The Pentagon said the Obama administration has asked for 200 to 300 reservist volunteers to fill out the civilian ranks.

"This would just be a fraction of what ... the United States is looking at in terms of civilian capacity," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said in Washington.

The shortage of civilian experts was first reported on Thursday by the New York Times.

The Obama administration, which unveiled its new strategy for Afghanistan last month, plans to more than double the number of U.S. troops in the country from about 32,000 at the end of 2008 to 68,000 by the end of 2009.

There are now about 40,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan as part of a Western military presence of more than 70,000 troops, including forces from other NATO countries.

LOCAL SUPPORT

Afghanistan is already experiencing the worst violence since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban regime after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.

Military officials and other experts predict the U.S. troop build-up will bring new heavy fighting by summer and an upswing in U.S. casualties, particularly in southern Afghanistan where most of the new combat forces are expected.

A parallel infusion of civilian services is seen as vital to maintaining the support of the war-weary Afghan population, without which U.S. officials admit they cannot win against the Taliban and other militant groups.

"As long as they're on our side, we'll be okay," Gates said earlier in the day while listening to a Marine officer describe efforts to protect Afghan civilians from roadside bombs.

Camp Lejeune, the main Marine installation on the U.S. East Coast, is the staging point for 8,000 Marines that Obama is sending to Afghanistan. The troops are expected in the south, where Taliban violence has been fiercest.

Gates spent most of his visit observing Marines in their final phase of training before heading to Afghanistan.

Under an enamel-blue sky, he watched a company of Marines assault a maze of shipping containers arranged to represent an Afghan village, where comrades acted as insurgents with AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

In 12 minutes, the troops had stormed the village and sent up a plume of green smoke -- the all-clear signal for fellow Marines behind a cover of pine trees.

Gates arrived from an observation platform to give the troops a pep talk about the importance of their mission.

"Good luck," he said. "Be successful. Beat those guys. Come home safely." (Additional reporting by Andrew Gray; Editing by John O'Callaghan)

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