The Foreign Service Journal, March 2007

Embassy Baghdad and Washington has been, for many PRTs, inadequate. In somewhat typical State Department fashion, the mandate to staff PRTs came down from above and the Foreign Service had to respond — without an influx of sufficient funding, training or personnel. (Some have compared it to the opening of embassies in all the new post-Soviet countries in the early 1990s, although those missions were not being established in active war zones.) The PRT Rollout “It was like, ‘Okay, here you go, the Secretary wants this to happen,’” explains a recently returned FSO who served in an Iraq PRT and asked not to be identified. “We don’t know how, but go ahead and figure it out because we don’t have time to do it for you.” Another FSO currently serving in a PRT, who asked not to be identified, echoes that sentiment, “Everyone is so policy-focused — get PRTs up and running in all 18 provinces — that they are not aware of, or even care if they are aware of, the reali- ties on the ground.” In October 2005, Robert Pope went to Iraq “a believ- er,” feeling optimistic that he would be able to do good work and make a contribution. He served in Mosul until September 2006 as an Iraq provincial action officer dur- ing the transition of the mission from a regional embassy office to PRT Ninawa. “Unfortunately, I had a major cri- sis of faith when I saw the waste and incompetence and sheer stupidity of what was happening over there,” says Pope. He describes visits to reconstruction projects that had been carried out earlier with no oversight or account- ability. A school built six months earlier was already falling down, and roads built in October were gone after January rains because they were not built to standard. F O C U S 24 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A R C H 2 0 0 7 The key to your success, and sub- sequently contributing to our mis- sion’s success, is a good attitude. Expect to learn a lot, relearn old things, and do many new things in ways you never imagined. PRT Anbar is like nothing you have ever experienced! PRT living is dirty, dangerous, exhausting, exciting, boring, dynamic, fluid, dusty, muddy, hot, cold, dry, wet, challenging, frustrating, dangerous (notice that I repeat that one), high-profile, serious, fun, fascinating — and the most rewarding assignment you can have. It’s the most “real” work in the State Department. It has the attention of the world, and is under a magnifying glass from Washington. I came here from a year in Embassy Baghdad’s political- military section. Baghdad is a five-star resort compared to here (which doesn’t mean Baghdad is that great). However, I much prefer the PRT, because I get out so often. For me, it goes from slow to fast and furious. Still, work and the condi- tions we face are not for the faint-hearted. PRT Anbar is in a Marine Forward Operating Base (called FOB Blue Diamond) just north of Ramadi. The Anbar PRT leader is in Fallujah, where the “MEF HQ” is. (MEF stands for Marine Expeditionary Force.) I’d recom- mend you start learning military acronyms and ranks if you haven’t already. You’ll not be living alongside a military culture; you’ll be living in the military. Actual locations for us can vary. I can’t say for sure where my “home” will be in 30 days, except that it’ll be somewhere in Anbar province, with occasional trips to Baghdad. There are no weekends here. Expect to work seven days a week. Not that it’s an 18-hour day every day. Sometimes you’ll have free time to work out, nap, read, watch movies, socialize with troops, etc. But you are in a war zone with constant activity, so you have to be available, even though you’re not immediately accessible at your desk. (Actually, I don’t have a desk; I have a table with a State laptop I brought out here). That’s the way it is. You’ll live either in a beat-up trailer or a beat-up building, and you go outside to use the latrine or shower. Flush toilets are few and far between when you’re embedded. Take everything I’ve said positively. This is a great assign- ment and a magnificent life experience where you are truly serving our country. Look at it that way, and all the “inconve- niences” of a war zone truly fade away (they do for me). Bidding Advice from PRT Anbar By Horacio Ureta, Iraq Provincial Action Officer Ureta visiting Kirkuk.