News From USJFCOM: Experiment helps Afghanistan efforts


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Experiment helps Afghanistan efforts

U.S. Joint Forces Command's Joint Concept Development and Experimentation Directorate recently finished an experiment that evaluated how civil-military partnerships plan security sector reform efforts. The results have already borne fruit with aid to Task Force 435 in Afghanistan.

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By Army Sgt. Josh LeCappelain
USJFCOM Public Affairs

(NORFOLK, Va., March 11, 2009) – Members of U.S. Joint Forces Command’s (USJFCOM) Joint Concept Development and Experimentation Directorate (J9) conducted an experiment to evaluate ways the military and civilian agencies can partner to assess and plan for security sector reform efforts in partner nations.

The project developed and evaluated a prototype approach to stand up a team of experts able to deploy and assist combatant or joint task force commander requests to conduct the military part of a security sector assessment, said Navy Rear Adm. Dan Davenport, J9 director.

"Security sector reform is the set of policies, plans, programs, and activities that a government undertakes to improve the way it provides safety, security, and justice,” he said. “The overall objective is to provide an effective and legitimate public service that is transparent, accountable to civilian authority and responsive to the needs of the public."

The Prototype Deployable Assessment and Advisory Team (PDAAT) was the name used in the experiment to describe the joint DoD team that bridged planning and coordination gaps between commanders and civilian agencies executing security sector reform (SSR) programs.

After validating the prototype through experimentation, a team deployed to Afghanistan recently to support the task force responsible for overseeing corrections system there.

“We took the capability to Afghanistan to assess the prisons, detentions and corrections system there in support of the standup of Task Force 435,” Davenport said. “They are now using those results to help set up their approach.”

USJFCOM partnered with the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Department of Homeland Security for the project, Davenport said. DoD typically plays a supporting role in security sector assessments. The project provide an approach that enables DoD partner to more effectively with other agencies and governments in assessing and planning security sector reform operations.

Now past the prototype stage and renamed Deployable Sector Security Assessment and Assistance Team, a DSSAAT will consist of four to six experts and facilitate cooperation between commanders and local governments they suport.

The goal is to improve security and stability for local populations said Phil Kearley, the head of J9’s building partnership department.

“One of the key factors when you are dealing with situations that we have in Iraq and Afghanistan is to ensure that the rule of law is protected,” he said. “People need to know they are going to be safe out in the street and that their borders are protected. It’s fundamental to know that their safety and security are a priority for any government.

“If you don’t have that, you end up with things like insurgencies and organized crime,” Kearley added. “It’s important that people feel secure enough to go to the grocery store and buy groceries without having to deal with corruption or fear for their lives or the lives of their children.”

“We think we’ve developed what we believe is a repeatable process – with our civilian agency partners – in determining how you approach the country you’re going to work with and how to bring civilian agency partners together to conduct a comprehensive assessment.”