Stabilization and Reconstruction Staffing - RAND Corporation

CHAPTER THREEWhat Capabilities Does the United States Need?To make recommendations about capabilities that the U.S. governmentshould create, we must first specify the requirements. In ChapterTwo, we presented the idea of an A-Team staff and discussed brieflysome of the U.S. shortcomings in Iraq in this regard. However, thisgeneral articulation of goals is not sufficiently detailed to establish therequirement. In this chapter, we present a framework for consideringsupply and demand for civilian personnel for staffs in SSTR operations.We begin with the basic question—What is a staff?—and noteseveral other preliminary questions for helping us narrow the scope ofthe problem.What Is a Staff?Had the United States had the right people in Iraq for long enoughperiods, the situation may have evolved more in line with U.S. goals forthat country. However, personnel are only one part of the larger pictureof influencing the evolution of that country. Staffs consist not only ofpeople but also of policies, structures, processes, and procedures—inother words, bureaucracies. For any staff to function well, a myriad ofquestions must be answered: What offices will exist? Who will leadthem? To whom will they report and how often? To whom are theyaccountable? How will bills get paid? Who buys and delivers supplies?What are the procedures for handling classified information? In Iraq,the CPA staff answered many of these and other questions in an adhoc manner, through the efforts of talented and dedicated people. Had27