Panelling to shrink the Gap

Great time on panel with former USAID mission director in Iraq (also with Bosnia experience). Very reinforcing to find so much agreement on both diagnosis and solutions--right up to the need for a DoEE.

Great observation from DAI contractor with huge experience in southern Iraq: first wave of civil affairs officers were highly technical, second wave reservists (very grounded in real world stuff), but 3rd and subsequent cohorts typically were out-of-the-box newbies, sporting five weeks of training and little else.

Low density/high demand (LD/HD) personified.

Comments

[Matt R.]

Tom,
Were any comments made as to which group faired best?
If not, and in order to figure that out, does it need to be stratified into which group did best in which sub-area of the mission?

Matt

[Tom Barnett]

My sense is that the reservists did best and were best prepared, but also that circumstances were best then.