Stabilization and Reconstruction Staffing - RAND Corporation

8 Stabilization and Reconstruction Staffing: Developing U.S. Civilian Personneltional bodies involved in SSTR operations (e.g., with the State Department’sOffice of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization[S/CRS]), USAID, the U.S. Institute of Peace, UN DevelopmentProgram). In addition, we had formal and informal discussions andcommunications (including electronic-mail correspondence) withmid-level experts and practitioners with similar background and experience.The research also considers the insights of human-resourcespolicy experts at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whom weincluded because this is their area of expertise.The diverse set of interviewees led us to develop an informal andflexible set of questions, designed to pursue topics that the intervieweeidentified as important. In fact, we conducted the interviews morealong the lines of structured discussions (open-ended questions, focusingon constructive suggestions for change). The general categories pursuedin all the interviews were (1) direct experience pertaining to therole of civilian staff in SSTR operations; (2) identification and assessmentof major problems with the civilian staff in SSTR operations; and(3) awareness and evaluation of ongoing efforts to address the issuesidentified. To ensure candid responses, we conducted all of the interviews,discussions, and communications on a not-for-attribution basis.Finally, the authors have direct, relevant experience. Kelly was theDirector for Militia Transition and Reintegration for the CPA fromJanuary 2004 until the CPA went out of existence at the end of June2004. Tunstall was the principal director for DoD’s civilian personnelpolicy community, as well as the deputy leader of the panel createdby the Secretary of Defense to examine the personnel situation at theCPA.Detailed data that would allow for a more informed assessmentand analysis of the civilian staff in the CPA either were not available atthe time we conducted the research (at least we were not able to obtainthem) or were missing. Therefore, we relied heavily on interview dataand on our own experience in the course of our research. We acknowledgeour reliance on such “soft” data, but it is our impression that thekind of data we use was the best available at the time we conducted ourresearch. We would welcome the publication of detailed data on skill