Stabilization and Reconstruction Staffing - RAND Corporation

PrefaceThe United States participated in several interventions and statebuildingefforts during the 1990s, and the rationale for U.S. engagementin such efforts received a new urgency after the 9/11 attacks.However, recent U.S. experiences in Afghanistan and, especially, inIraq have shown that engaging in Security, Stability, Transition, andReconstruction (SSTR) operations is a difficult and lengthy process thatrequires appropriate resources. Most of all, in order to have a chance ofsucceeding, a SSTR operation requires a realistic understanding of thecapabilities needed for the operation.This monograph presents the results of research on the U.S. civilianpersonnel and staffing programs for SSTR missions undertaken inother countries under U.S. leadership or with the participation of theUnited States. The study uses the Office of Personnel Management’sHuman Capital Assessment and Accountability Framework to assessthe personnel requirements for such missions and presents recommendationsthat the U.S. government should undertake to deal with thetypes of problems that the United States has encountered in post-2003Iraq. The research draws on the rapidly growing body of literaturedealing with SSTR missions, interviews with U.S. and British civilianpersonnel deployed to Iraq, and the authors’ own experiences inIraq as U.S. civilians involved with the Coalition Provisional Authority.The study should be of interest to policymakers dealing with SSTRoperations.This research is part of RAND’s continuing program of selfinitiatedresearch, which is made possible, in part, by the generous sup-iii