Hi Callum,
That is a really good idea. I'm trying to see if I can get a get-together like that set up for you in Ottawa for when you are over here - if you're interested .
Part of that narrative continuity lies in "naming". So, for example, if Jon's unit uses the term Civil Affairs Officer as the key contact for local micro-development efforts, you should use the same term.
This brings up another point which has been problematic for me as I look at the effort in Afghanistan - poor reachback. In simple terms, "corporate knowledge" of an area gets lost with each unit rotating out and the handover when a new unit comes in tends to be dominated by the most immediate common denominator (aka kinetic potential). This is a real problem, and it's one that I think we should be thinking about.
This entire project is, in some ways, an attempt to circumvent the institutional lack of a decent reachback facility (as is Rach's CMO). It may be seriously woth thinking about designating someone as a reachback officer - someone whose focus is on making sure that knowledge gets stored where it can be accessed by other units going into the area (assume a FOUO level) and where people who are subject matter experts can be contacted.
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