Winning the Peace: Institutionalizing Provincial Reconstruction Teams in the United States Military.

摘要

Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, the U.S. military has accomplished a significant shift toward organizing, training, and equipping to conduct counterinsurgency and stability operations. Yet the impending financial reductions that the U.S. military is facing will force the Department of Defense (DoD) to make difficult decisions on what capabilities to keep at full strength, which ones to keep at reduced capacity, and which ones to shelve altogether. The Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) is a key asset in the conduct of stability operations, and it provides the Department of Defense with unique stability operations capabilities. Even as PRTs' contributions have been noted and the DoD has issued guidance directing the Services to organize, train, and equip for stability operations, the U.S. military has not codified the PRT model; PRTs remain in existence only as ad hoc units. To institutionally codify the stability operations lessons from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and to ensure that Combatant Commanders are armed with adequate stability operations capabilities for future conflicts, the PRT, or a variant thereof, must become a standing unit within the United States military. This paper begins its analysis by reviewing and analyzing the current guidance and doctrine on stability operations. It continues by identifying the importance, scope, and relevance of stability operations with the aid of historical accounts of major combat operations and counterinsurgency campaigns. The paper then conducts an in-depth examination of recent U.S. PRT operations in Laghman Province, Afghanistan. The paper concludes with recommendations on how to institutionalize the PRT in the United States military.