Security

'Human Terrain' Chief Ousted

The manager and co-founder of the U.S. Army’s controversial social-science program is no longer in charge. Retired Colonel Steve Fondacaro — a charismatic, mercurial, mile-a-minute former infantryman and East Harlem native — turned the Human Terrain System from an academic experiment into a military reality, embedding social scientists into combat units. Then he waged an internal […]

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The manager and co-founder of the U.S. Army's controversial social-science program is no longer in charge.

Retired Colonel Steve Fondacaro -- a charismatic, mercurial, mile-a-minute former infantryman and East Harlem native -- turned the Human Terrain System from an academic experiment into a military reality, embedding social scientists into combat units.

Then he waged an internal insurgency to expand the effort Army-wide, despite the service's dedication at the time to a purely bombs-and-bullets approach to warfare. "We're like a germ in the body of [the Army]," Fondacaro (pictured) once told me. "All of their systems are sending white blood cells to puke me up."

But the Army changed its ways. And Fondacaro's expansion effort was largely successful. At last count, there were 21 Human Terrain Teams operating in Iraq and six more in Afghanistan, offering advice to commanders on the local cultural landscape.

There was a sense of perpetual chaos swirling around HTS, however. The program came under assault from nearly every angle: the quality of the Human Terrain "experts," the depth of its training, the utility to infantry leaders, the competency of its managers, the exposure of civilian researchers to hostile environments, the ethics of turning social science into military intelligence.

Dozens left the program, disgruntled. Three social scientists were killed in action. One Human Terrain employee pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Another was charged with spying. A third was taken hostage in Iraq.

Sources within the program say that Fondacaro's apparent departure may not be final. The Army's Training and Doctrine Command wouldn't say much about the move, first reported by independent journalist John Stanton.

All spokesman Greg Mueller would offer was that "Fondacaro is no longer program manager." When I asked him why, Mueller offered no explanation. "It is U.S. Army Tradoc policy not to discuss internal personnel actions," he answered.

Photo by Steve Featherstone

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