Civilian-Military Teams Practice Conflict Control in Germany
FrontLines - July 2009
By Pat Fn’Piere and Judith Dunbar
USAID, the State Department, the new Civilian Response Corps, and other civilian agencies joined with U.S. military officers in Germany in April for the first “whole of government” training to meet an international crisis and rebuild after a conflict.
Austere Challenge 2009, conducted by the U.S. European Command, gave civilians a chance to hone skills and learn to work with the military.
On the other hand, the military learned how to work with civilians
in reconstruction and stabilization
operations led by civilians.
The exercise focused on coordination between a mythical
U.S. embassy in a conflict-wracked country and a Joint Task Force comprised of all the military branches.
The embassy was in a “draw down” state with only essential personnel at post when a U.S. Advance Civilian Team arrived to bolster the embassy and work with the military.
This scenario played out at the U.S. Army’s training center in Grafenwöhr on the eastern border
of Germany near the Czech Republic. The operation began in late April with the military poised to boot enemy troops out of the sovereign territory of a U.S. ally.
USAID played a key role in the exercise along with the State Department’s Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction & Stabilization (S/CRS).
The training tested ways to manage a crisis by staffing
an embassy with civilian reconstruction and stabilization experts, including those from a USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team and from the Agency’s Bureau of Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance.
S/CRS led the staff that embedded with the military.
The walls of the mock embassy’s
conference room quickly filled with lists on butcher paper of all the commonly used acronyms.
Terms like BUA (Battle Update Assessment), JFMCC (Joint Forces Maritime Component Command), and ATO (Air Task Order) were thrown around by the military officers, who were surprised when civilians were not immediately
familiar with them.
Daily meetings, mostly conducted around finely crafted military PowerPoints, quickly filled everyone’s calendars.
After experiencing initial feelings
of inadequacy, it became clear that civilians needed to speak up, ask what the terms meant, and educate the military colleagues as to the civilians’ level of understanding.
The Advance Civilian Team, or ACT, was the eyes and ears of the embassy and gave voice to the “whole of government” objectives during military planning.
One USAID official asked that the locations of vital land and birth records be protected during military operations. The Department of Treasury advisor
worried about important infrastructure that was vital to economic recovery. The Disaster Assistance Response Team made clear their needs for getting humanitarian assistance into
the country.
There were “aha moments” when civilians gained insight into how the military operates, why they do things the way they do, and ways to work with them to promote overall U.S. goals.
“We were worlds apart when we started. I witnessed the shift from a military-centered mindset to a ‘whole of government’
approach,” said Rear Admiral William P. Loeffler, who served as the Joint Task Force Commander’s liaison to the ambassador during Austere Challenge 2009.
“Although there is still additional
work that needs to be done, we have made significant progress down the ‘whole of government’ road,” Loeffler said. “I would gladly serve again alongside the professionals of the Civilian Response Corps.”
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