BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- In Afghanistan, the main focus of the "civilian surge" has been the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs), hybrid civil-military outfits that oversee security, development and governance projects in Afghanistan's regions. For the most part, PRTs have concentrated on provincial issues, but a new plan is getting underway to bring civilian experts down to the local and tribal level, in part through something called "district support teams."
It's the diplomatic equivalent of sending soldiers out to remote combat outposts, instead of keeping them on large forward operating bases. The PRTs I have seen in Afghanistan are usually based in or near the provincial capital; their primary relationships are built with the local governor and provincial-level officials. The next phase would involve sending diplomats, aid workers or agricultural experts out to critical districts, where they would potentially have the most impact. As the military has learned, building relationships with district sub-governors (pictured here) and local police chiefs is key.
The plan has not received much press; the most recent Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction report, released last week, alluded only briefly to the district support teams, but provided few details about where the teams might be deployed and what their specific tasks might be. An earlier SIGAR report -- released shortly after the idea was floated by the U.S. Embassy -- offered a few more hints. "These teams will be critical in engaging and mentoring district and community leadership in areas which have been exceedingly difficult to reach due to terrain and personnel," the report said.
In addition, the State Department has mulled the creation of "fly-away teams" composed of of one to three civilians that can travel out to forward operating locations, as well as "tribal engagement teams" that would be established in primarily Pashtun areas.
The PRTs have been compared -- sometimes unfavorably -- to the Vietnam-era Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support or CORDS program (Note to history buffs: William Colby, "Blowtorch Bob" Komer’s deputy in CORDS, would later quietly change the R in CORDS to stand for “rural”). If this plan moves forward, the resemblance may grow a bit closer: In Vietnam, those civilian-military teams were assigned to all districts and provinces of South Vietnam.
Staffing these expanded teams, however, will require some effort. An interesting point of fact: The State Department has recently recruited a number of people for "limited non-career appointments" in the Foreign Service -- essentially, augmenting the U.S. diplomatic corps with temporary hires.
[PHOTO: U.S. Department of Defense]
See Also:
- Diplos To Take on Heavy Lifting Under Obama?
- Diplos Wonder if They'll Withdraw from Iraq, Too
- Diplos Heart 'Afghanistan CEO' Khalilzad — Not
- Diplos Still Not Ready for Nation-Building: Report
- Diplos Cry in Their Milk Over Iraq Assignments (Updated Again ...
- 'Complicating Factors' in Afghanistan Surge
- Danger Room in Afghanistan: Don't Call it a 'Surge'
- Danger Room in Afghanistan: Summer of the Surge
