Provincial reconstruction teams improving effectiveness

Abstract

Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) are currently prominent constructs for stabilization and reconstruction in Afghanistan and Iraq. PRTs are composed of civil-military teams, including elements from coalition partners and the host-nation, and involve multiple military services and civilian agencies. Their missions are to extend the legitimacy of the central government throughout the country and to use Civil Military Operations (CMO) to counter anti-government forces. PRTs are prominent, but controversial. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) complain that the U.S. military blurs the lines between humanitarian assistance and military operations. Other critics have called PRTs interagency failures because the U.S. Department of State (DOS), the Department of Defense (DoD), and other government agencies have not contributed the personnel, resources, or training required to make PRTs operationally functional. The result is both lack of integration and of effectiveness. The purpose of this thesis is to determine how to make PRTs more effective in the future. While host-nation participation is necessary for success, this thesis will focus only on the controversies involving NGOs and interagency communities. These include humanitarian space, general attributes, and effectiveness of PRTs. The policy prescription for future PRTs is found in the concept of a Civil Military Operations Center (CMOC), which is described in U.S. Army's FM 3-05.40, Civil Affairs Operations. The core tasks of a CMOC, especially those of Civil Information Management (CIM), are designed to accomplish a variety of missions relating to Post-Conflict Reconstruction (PCR). They would serve well as foundational components of a PRT. Also, because of the interagency nature of PRTs, commanders of these teams must have the right character and skill sets to operate in this complex environment.