Strategic Failure: Impacts and Lessons Learned From Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq and Afghanistan
Abstract
Following the commencement of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan in 2001, the first Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) was established in Gardez in 2003, composed of military civil affairs units and civilian agency representatives, under military control. In essence, PRTs were interagency teams tasked with leveraging civilian expertise and military manpower, security assets, and resources to increase local governments' capacity to deliver essential services (and thereby stabilize the country for transition to local control). The concept was predicated upon the U.S. governments assumption that a transition to peaceful democracy could be expedited by increasing local government capacity while warfighting operations were still taking place and thus while security was not yet established. Support initially ran very high as key military and civilian leaders hoped the PRT model would lead to a quick transition. Other PRTs were enthusiastically established in Afghanistan, and the concept was then expanded to Iraq, with the first PRT in Iraq established in Mosul in 2005, this time under civilian control by the U.S. Department of State.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 23, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1176494
Entities
People
- George A. Dusoe
Organizations
- Marine Corps University