Bridging the Gap: A Roadmap for Joint Military-Civilian Stability Operations.

摘要

Recent regional disasters, some spanning several countries, and nation building during ongoing kinetic operations have highlighted the need for the Department of Defense (DoD) to plan, train, and coordinate closely with other elements of national power to achieve unity of effort and success. In the arena of international humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, DoD and the lead United States agency responder, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), have built relationships and have orchestrated their efforts effectively. The absence of conflict is a contributing factor to recent successes in joint efforts following the devastating aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. However, this synchronization of efforts is far more difficult when reconstruction, stability, and nation building operations are undertaken in areas where conflict is ongoing. The conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq initiated a paradigm shift in the thinking about cooperation between civilian and military operations, calling for the military to take a greater role in post-kinetic operations and civilian agencies to take a greater role in the planning phase before kinetic operations. This paper will briefly review USAID and DoD cooperation at the operational level, but its primary focus is on the tactical level in the theater of operations in Iraq. On-the-ground experience with the MultiNational Forces-Iraq (MNF-I) and the unique partnership forged in Baghdad between the First Cavalry Division (1st CAV) and USAID/Iraq from March 2004 through March 2005, which spanned a deadly insurgent uprising, provide concrete examples of operational issues that were addressed in the field. Applying lessons learned from this partnership will foster understanding between the organizations and result in better coordination and cooperation in similar operations.