Military-led Development Efforts
All -
This is my first SWJ post so I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to read and respond as able.
I am currently beginning an academic research project focusing on U.S. Military-led development efforts, the likes of which have become increasingly common in the Horn of Africa as led by AFRICOM and of course in Iraq and Afghanistan. I am primarily interested in activities engaged in by the military that traditionally have been associated, at least by the general public, with non-military aid and development organizations (both within and outside government).
I have attempted to begin my research with a narrow focus in the hopes of analyzing the successes/failures of specific programs. I realize that these represent just a drop in the bucket and would certainly be open to suggestions for other efforts to focus on as the project proceeds. As of now, I am concentrating on:
1) The Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP)
2) DoD's Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO)
I would greatly appreciate any open source materials or information that SWJ readers or contributors might have to share. In addition, any suggestions and contact information for SMEs that might be willing to answer a few emails regarding these programs.
Thank you very much.
WHAM in Afghanistan: a report on development aid in COIN ops
Maybe this thread, under above title can help:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=10084
Found whilst looking for another topic.
The first word in CERP is commander's
Quote:
Exactly! But I would go further to say that in a more mature combat zone where we have occupied terrain for some time, CERP still isn't development. It gets misconstrued as such, and then all sorts of bad things tend to happen when it is expected to be applied as such.
Absolutely correct. CERP is a shaping tool for the commander, spent to further the commander's goals, especially security. As that security improves, CERP can drift off target toward development, a shift encouraged by a vacum in real development planning and funding by interagency partners at State and USAID. One sometimes finds planning at State and USAID centered on how to gain control of and then use CERP funds. This tendency grows when you jump from embedded PRTs working with and within a BCT's battlespace to PRTs according to province. The first word in CERP is commander's, not ambassador, director, or even counsellor-minister.
Best
Tom
Academic cloister may help
Maybe worth trawling the website of the UK Institute of Development Studies, at Sussex University:http://www.ids.ac.uk/ Notably the Security & Conflict part.