Bridging the Gap in Civil-Military Coordination to more Effectively Support Humanitarian Relief Operations

Abstract

The U.S. has increasingly been involved in the support of complex contingency and humanitarian relief operations throughout the world. History is replete with lessons learned citing disjointed interagency coordination as the prime culprit for lack of unity of effort in many of these operations. In May 1997, President Clinton signed Presidential Decision Directive-56 (PDD-56) in an effort to formalize the interagency planning process and improve civil-military coordination. The directive involved the implementation of a comprehensive political-military plan to provide strategic-level guidance and ensure effective interagency coordination. Three case studies (Operation Sea Angel, Operation Uphold Democracy and Operation Fuerte Apoyo) are analyzed to support the theory that implementation of PDD-56 can significantly impact the tangible and intangible costs associated with an operation by improving interagency coordination and unity of effort among multiple actors.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 09, 2004
Accession Number
ADA422713

Entities

People

  • Jamie H. Wise

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Case Studies
  • Central America
  • Civilian Personnel
  • Command And Control
  • Democracy
  • Department Of Defense
  • Directives
  • Governments
  • Guidance
  • Interagency Coordination
  • Lessons Learned
  • Military Operations
  • Military Planning
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Task Forces
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Government and Public Administration Law.
  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.