The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2008

itors to both our PRTs and our brigades are struck by the strong and positive working relationships that exist among the Americans, regardless of agency. U.S. civil- ians who are assigned to non-U.S. PRTs work hard, with varying degrees of success, to replicate such relationships with their lead-nation hosts. The Civilian Component Civilian personnel are assigned to PRTs to provide crucial skill sets that the military lacks. These include political reporting, cultural awareness, an understanding of civilian governmental structures and a background in development. State Department personnel can be broadly defined as political officers, although on any given day they may be involved in public diplomacy or in economic, political-military or consular issues; or they may be engaged in work that falls outside of any defined category. USAID and USDA personnel serve as catalysts for development activities, ensuring that programs are integrated and coordinated with reconstruction efforts of the military and other donors, while reflecting the prior- ities of the Afghan government. As the lead for develop- ment, the USAID officer works closely with military and civilian counterparts to shape PRT efforts based on proven best practices. The fluid situation on the ground, however, makes it hard for civilian PRT officers to know with any certainty how their day will unfold. Positive things, such as inau- gurations of development projects or meetings with trib- al leaders, are somewhat predictable. Negative occur- rences are the wild cards: tribes may clash over land, insurgents may set off a bomb, the governor may clash with his provincial council chief, or rains may trigger flooding. One thing is certain, however: most of our officers get outside of their Forward Operating Bases on a daily basis. They interact with the governor (who is appointed by President Hamid Karzai), the popularly elected Provincial Council, tribal elders, religious leaders and others. They also interact with communities to identify F O C U S J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 8 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 33