Results 1 to 20 of 29

Thread: Insights on DOS / country team culture?

Hybrid View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1
    Groundskeeping Dept. SWCAdmin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    DC area pogue.
    Posts
    1,841

    Default Insights on DOS / country team culture?

    I received this request via email:

    I am in the military and do a lot of work with country teams (DOS), is there a book you recommend that really goes into DOS culture, how they think and the way they strategize?
    Nothing immediately leapt to mind as being really deep on the matter, though a number of things give tangential insights. Can anyone think of a good recommendation, or just care to wax lyrically here?

  2. #2
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Rancho La Espada, Blanchard, OK
    Posts
    1,065

    Default Ambassador Edward Perkins

    published a memoir called Mr. Ambassador, OU Press in 2007 or 8 more or less. I haven't read it but I suspect it does give a view of the Contry Team.

    Cheers

    JohnT

  3. #3
    Council Member Bob's World's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    2,706

    Default

    We had a saying out at SOCPAC: "If you've seen one Country Team, you've seen one Country Team."
    Robert C. Jones
    Intellectus Supra Scientia
    (Understanding is more important than Knowledge)

    "The modern COIN mindset is when one arrogantly goes to some foreign land and attempts to make those who live there a lesser version of one's self. The FID mindset is when one humbly goes to some foreign land and seeks first to understand, and then to help in some small way for those who live there to be the best version of their own self." Colonel Robert C. Jones, US Army Special Forces (Retired)

  4. #4
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Rancho La Espada, Blanchard, OK
    Posts
    1,065

    Default I like that Bob

    How true it is. Still, there are common elements.

    What I'm really waiting for is Tom Odom and Stan to chime in on this.

    Cheere

    JohnT

  5. #5
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Posts
    35

    Default Possible Book

    Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan James Dobbins has written a book about this time in country which might be useful.

  6. #6
    Council Member CR6's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    TX
    Posts
    181

    Default not about a country team, but

    Robert Earle's Nights in Pink Motel highlights how DOS worked with DOD personnel in Iraq in the '04-'05 period. Earle was Ambassador Negroponte's "thinker" (read strategist) on Iraq. While more memoir than proceedural it has some good insights on DOS culture and approach to strategy.
    Last edited by CR6; 02-09-2009 at 02:12 PM. Reason: spelling
    "Law cannot limit what physics makes possible." Humanitarian Apsects of Airpower (papers of Frederick L. Anderson, Hoover Institution, Stanford University)

  7. #7
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Rocky Mtn Empire
    Posts
    473

    Default Can you spell unik? uniqe? One of a kind?

    Bob's point is too true. Been a member of four of them and each one was truly different. There are many reasons for this, but at the center is the fact that the ambassador is the president's (not DOS') rep in country and can do things pretty much however he/she wants. Instead of more specifics, I think I'll simply recommend The Special Forces Advisors' Reference Book by Research Planning, Inc. Think it was a contract for USASOC and may require AKO access. Some of the info is dated and there are a coupla inaccuracies, but overall, a good effort. Maybe Max 161 can secure a copy.

  8. #8
    Council Member Stan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Estonia
    Posts
    3,817

    Default

    Hey Bob,
    A brief response from Tom Odom (His server is blocking access to the discussion board at this time).

    Quote Originally Posted by Bob's World View Post
    We had a saying out at SOCPAC: "If you've seen one Country Team, you've seen one Country Team."
    As for Bob's world--tell him 2 Majors from group found out that one
    country team was not the same as was the one I was in....

    Best

    Tom
    If you want to blend in, take the bus

  9. #9
    Registered User
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    7

    Default Thoughts on the country team

    A few thoughts in response to the original question below, having served in several embassies:

    The country team SHOULD BE the mechanism that keeps all the disparate elements of an embassy in synch -- not unlike a daily or weekly BUA to a CG, but generally more interactive.

    That said, a country team is like the NSC in that it ultimately reflects what the boss (the ambassador) wants/needs out of the team. It can be a tightly run synchronization process or a very loose Kaffeeklatsch, and being able to adapt is an important skill for those in the mix. As somebody said below, the effectiveness of the country team is at bottom a leadership issue.

    Most country teams are far more "interagency" than just State and DOD -- generally any agency head is included, at least in the weekly routine, though it's true there is sometimes a "core" country team that may be smaller. Think USAID, CDC, Commerce, Customs, DEA, etc. etc. So for you bureaucratic cultural anthropologists out there, a good country team can be a gold mine!

    Seriously, though, the country team may just be the most effective interagency coordination mechanism the USG has. Most of the time, participants understand they need to synchronize their efforts and act constructively. Yes, as in any office setting, there is usually one or two stereotypical characters to be found (the whiner, the withholder, the suck-up, the clueless, the climber, etc.). Those generally don't correspond to agency affiliations, either. But unless there is really a leadership vacuum at the top, you can usually expect to get done what you need to get done.

    A lot of good basic information about how an embassy works can be found in the American Foreign Service Association's Inside a U.S. Embassy. It doesn't go into the differences in corporate cultures between State and DOD, but it's otherwise informative. I'll try to post some observations I've learned about State-DOD cultural differences later.

    OTW

  10. #10
    Council Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Posts
    16

    Default DOS/Country Teams

    Does anyone know if DOS funding will increase soon, either directly or through the stimulus, to bridge the gap between the mission and our current capabilities?

Similar Threads

  1. Abandon squad/section levels of organization?
    By Rifleman in forum Trigger Puller
    Replies: 120
    Last Post: 06-29-2014, 04:19 PM
  2. Should you merge Advisors with PRT's?
    By TROUFION in forum FID & Working With Indigenous Forces
    Replies: 22
    Last Post: 07-26-2013, 07:31 AM
  3. Officers With PhDs Advising War Effort
    By SWJED in forum US Policy, Interest, and Endgame
    Replies: 126
    Last Post: 12-16-2008, 08:55 AM
  4. 25 Strategies for Coalition Leadership
    By Arctic Breaze in forum US Policy, Interest, and Endgame
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 05-11-2007, 05:18 PM
  5. Country Reports on Terrorism 2006
    By SWJED in forum Adversary / Threat
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 05-02-2007, 09:33 AM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •