Interagency Task Forces: The Right Tools for the Job

Abstract

The US government (USG) conducts a host of operations abroad. Some are responses to crises, such as natural disasters, man-made humanitarian emergencies, or an attack on a friendly foreign country. Others are deliberately planned, such as preemptive military strikes or complex postconflict reconstruction and stabilization operations. Still other operations address such long-term issues as countering narcotics trafficking or global terrorism. In complex operations requiring participants from more than one US agency, coordinated planning and execution at the operational level often is lacking. This leads to redundancies, gaps, friction, and frustration. Several examples herein of US operations abroad highlight both successes and shortcomings. This analysis discusses four organizational reform models and recommends the interagency task force (IATF) as the preferred structure. Expertise for these many different missions is spread across several executive-branch agencies. The US Agency for International Development's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) responds to disasters like the 2004 Asian tsunami and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The military conducts offensive and defensive operations, such as coming to the aid of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait or removing Saddam Hussein from power in the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. The State Department's (DoS) office of the Coordinator of Reconstruction and Stabilization (S/CRS) has been assigned the lead role in postconflict reconstruction and stabilization operations. The DoS Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, together with US law enforcement agencies, most operating under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), have the leading role in counternarcotics operations abroad.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2011
Accession Number
ADA545502

Entities

People

  • Robert S. Pope

Organizations

  • Air University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Combatant Commanders
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Department Of State
  • Federal Budgets
  • Foreign Relations
  • Government Procurement
  • Interagency Coordination
  • Management Personnel
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Personnel
  • Military Science
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Task Forces
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.