Hello SWJED !
To say the least, a very interesting interview filled with a wealth of information for anybody that would have to replace you and your team.

By December, we were thinking hard about how, where and to whom to allocate CERP funds to rebuild schools, create health clinics and kick start the local economy. Our civil affairs team helped manage that process, but we really didn’t have the deep understanding of the local economy or full knowledge of tribal affiliations and contractor management skills to be as effective as we could have been. This is an area where State Department augmentation down to the battalion staff level would be immensely useful, although State isn’t manned to support such a requirement at present.
I relate especially well to your comments regarding the use of CERP and the unfortunate inability to fully employ it without sufficient "outside the batallion" civilian assistance. Typically, the embassy's various elelments would have made your life a little easier, but this also comes with a price tag, as my former Colonel told me, pick-up basketball teams have some weeding out to do and rarely does anyone give you the best of their staff, you have to steal it, and that's where a good NCO takes over

The embassy's other-than-State assets in most cases should have tons of material and a little experience with the host country's customs, affiliations, etc.
They also should have been there for contractual support, the GSO is indeed a defacto Contracting Officer, and in addition to using your MIRPs and funds cites, can even pay in cash.
Finally, most embassies routinely deal with translators and translation support. They are however in most cases local hires. My 8 consecutive overseas tours (6 in the embassy world) taught me to be suspicious about local translators. The context of most conversations is twisted to meet and greet the local climate, and may not always come out the way in which it was originally conveyed.

Good Luck Colonel !
Regards, Stan