Security Assistance; and Logistics - Federation of American Scientists

those deficiencies are many, but the root cause appears to be lack of unity of effort acrossDoD and U.S. Government agencies. Rather than postponing action until a moretraditional security cooperation relationship develops at an unknown date in the future,USCENTCOM should use all means available to achieve unity of effort now, with anemphasis on focused, comprehensive planning and interagency engagement. The TheaterSecurity Cooperation plan is a valuable means to focus combatant command efforts, butit is not available to DoD elements in country. These issues are described in greaterdetail below, particularly at our response to Recommendation 20.c. on page 146.We request that USCENTCOM reconsider its position on the recommendation andprovide comments on the final report.19.a.(2) We recommend that the Commander, U.S. Central Command coordinate regularin-country training for Iraq Security Forces personnel with DoD sources such as theDefense Medical Readiness Training Institute and the Uniformed Services University ofthe Health Sciences.Client CommentsCommander, USCENTCOM partially concurred. USCENTCOM stated that theresponsibility for day-to-day engagement and training activities rested with forcescurrently located in Iraq (MNF-I and MNSTC-I), and that ongoing training and educationactivities were occurring. Furthermore, USCENTCOM stated that those trainingactivities were best developed by personnel in country who possessed an intimateknowledge of and relationship with components of the Iraqi health care system. TheCommander reported that the role of the USCENTCOM SGO was to assist in identifyingand facilitating relationships that supported the training and education mission of forcesassigned in Iraq and to maintain a strategic role in the training and education mission toensure a clear vision of health system development goals and continuity betweensuccessive assigned personnel.Our ResponseCommander, USCENTCOM’s comments were not responsive to the intent of therecommendation. While we agree that training activities for the Iraq Security Forces aregreatly influenced by the personnel in country who are working with the Iraqi health caresystem on a daily basis, we believe that the Theater Commander is in a unique position toleverage strategic partnerships with greater facility than the commander in country. Seeour summary response at Recommendation 20.c. on page 146 for greater detail. Werequest that USCENTCOM reconsider its position on the recommendation and providecomments to the final report.19.b.(1) We recommend that the Commander, Multi-National Force-Iraq mentor IraqiArmy health care personnel at the Iraqi Ground Forces Command, division, brigade, andunit levels by Coalition partners (this is discussed in more detail in Observation 20).131