Military Wants More Civilians to Help in Iraq
7 February NY Times - Military Wants More Civilians to Help in Iraq by Thom Shanker and David Cloud.
Quote:
Senior military officers, including members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have told President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates that the new Iraq strategy could fail unless more civilian agencies step forward quickly to carry out plans for reconstruction and political development.
The complaints reflect fresh tensions between the Pentagon and the State Department over personnel demands that have fallen most heavily on the military. But they also draw on a deeper reservoir of concerns among officers who have warned that a military buildup alone cannot solve Iraq’s problems, and who now fear that the military will bear a disproportionate burden if Mr. Bush’s strategy falls short.
Among particular complaints, the officers cited a request from the office of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that military personnel temporarily fill more than one-third of 350 new State Department jobs in Iraq that are to be created under the new strategy...
an unattractive career option
Evening Jed!
I think State will be writing you soon !
Dropping the Other Shoe: What Do You Mean, We, Paleface?
Quote:
Military Must Fill Iraq Civilian Jobs
Rice, Pentagon at Odds Over Plan
By Karen DeYoung, Washington Post Staff Writer
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Congress yesterday that more than 40 percent of nearly 300 State Department positions to be added in Iraq as part of President Bush's new strategy will have to be filled by military personnel.
"Frankly, the agencies of the U.S. government cannot fill that many posts" as quickly as necessary, Rice said at a hearing of the House Foreign Relations Committee yesterday morning. "And so our agreement with the Department of Defense was that for a period of time . . . we would actually use reservists to fill those positions."
The State Department has asked the Pentagon for 129 people to fill slots in "business development, agribusiness, medicine, city management" and other areas for 10 new provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs), according to David Satterfield, Rice's coordinator for Iraq, who spoke to reporters in an afternoon briefing.
Agree 120MM with the upheaval approach on getting this right.
But the upheaval needs to occur as a national imperative drawing on all segments of the national population, not just the active duty military or reservists, or even retirees, or those already in service of one form or another.
If we are a nation at war, we must be a collective we, not a selective, you.
That truly has to start at the top.
Tom
Pentagon to Fill Iraq Reconstruction Jobs Temporarily
20 February NY Times - Pentagon to Fill Iraq Reconstruction Jobs Temporarily by Thom Shanker.
Quote:
The Pentagon and State Department have worked out a deal to send a small number of military personnel and Defense Department civilians to Iraq for several months until Foreign Service officers and State Department contract workers with specialized skills can fill those jobs, senior officials said Monday.
The internal administration discussions over filling the posts had exposed tensions between the military and civilian agencies over how to share responsibilities in carrying out President Bush’s new strategy for stabilizing and rebuilding Iraq — in particular, how to fill hazardous positions in new provincial reconstruction teams.
The State Department had asked the Pentagon to come up with military personnel or civilians to fill about one-third of the 350 new State Department jobs in Iraq. While the numbers involved are relatively small, the debate raised larger issues of whether the government was properly organized to carry out a long-term occupation of a country like Iraq.
The State Department’s written request for military personnel to fill some of the positions temporarily, received in late January, was met with frustration by a number of senior Pentagon officials and military officers...
Growing your own "capacity" from within
I meant to add I thought of the above post as recruiting / promoting from within. There is already the aparatus for getting the word out - AKO, DKO, etc. ; and for identifying and appealing on a personal level those folks we want - but lets not half step and try to get our talent on the cheap - if you want them to stay - pay them what they are worth, take care of them and their families and you will probably start on the right foot. There are probably allot of retirees and recently seperated folks who would be great, but are considering offers from contract type jobs or the private sector - give them a competitive (a real one) and a good bonus, and they'd probably sign on.