BRITISH IN HELMAND KEEN TO IMPROVE CIV-MIL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000587 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM STATE PASS USAID FOR ASIA/SCAA USFOR-A FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/14/2019 TAGS: GOV PREL KDEM MOPS NATO PK AF UK SUBJECT: BRITISH IN HELMAND KEEN TO IMPROVE CIV-MIL INTEGRATION REF: KABUL 567 Classified By: PRT Counselor Valerie C. Fowler, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: British Deputy of Mission in Helmand Kevin McGurgan and British Political Counselor Mark Bryson Richardson visited the embassy's State PRT section on March 13 to discuss plans for heightened civilian-military cooperation in Helmand. In light of the impending lay down of thousands of U.S. troops across RC-S this summer, they expressed a desire to further integrate international partners, especially the United States, into the Task Force and PRT in Helmand. The UK has begun revamping the Helmand Road Map into a new Helmand Stabilization Plan, which aims to be more inclusive of international partners than the original Road Map. A first draft may be distributed for U.S. and other international input by early April. McGurgan and Bryson said the UK would like to better define the roles of each of the USG positions - new and existing - into the summer, and provided a non-paper (full text provided in para. 6) and two annexes. End Summary. ¶2. (C) British Deputy in Helmand Kevin McGurgan reported to State PRT Director in Kabul on March 13 that the U.S. and UK enjoy close civil-military cooperation in Helmand. McGurgan lauded State Department Representative Marlin Hardinger for his active, productive participation in the PRT's work. Although British civilian-military integration is quite advanced, with 55 British military troops and 66 civilians working at the PRT, the British want to improve on that model by integrating more civilians into the military-dominated task force (TF) level, and by making planning less U.K.-centric. With this in mind, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) - the British counterpart to USAID - has been charged with drafting the revision to the Helmand Road Map, to be renamed the Helmand Stabilization Plan. The new Stabilization Plan will be much more inclusive of other international partners than the Road Map and will continue to prioritize joint planning with provincial GIRoA officials. McGurgan expects that international partners - including the U.S., Denmark, Estonia and the United Arab Emirates - will be invited to give input to the first draft as early as April. ¶3. (SBU) The current relief in place (RIP) of British troops in Lashkar Gah has already started, and the transfer of authority (TOA) should be complete by mid-April. McGurgan invited the U.S. Embassy to discuss further planning with the British in Helmand before the RIP-TOA. The British have also asked that Marlin Hardinger participate in the Second Marine Expeditionary Brigade Mission Readiness Exercise (2nd MEB MRX) on 29 March to 1 April at Camp Lejeune, to help the new unit prepare for its work in Helmand. We expect to respond favorably to this request. The British are currently designing the incorporation of the new MEB into the overall Helmand Joint Command Board structure, and suggested they would like a civilian to advise the Battalion commander in Garmsir, especially on stabilization issues. ¶4. (SBU) On a practical note, McGurgan mentioned that new office space at the PRT is almost ready to incorporate additional personnel, but beds for new staff could be tougher to find until June 2009. Alluding to the lack of Memorandum of Understanding for UK-U.S. operations in Helmand, he said the accommodations challenge has sparked a debate over cost recovery among the British, and he expects this issue to remain a topic of discussion in the coming months. ¶5. (C) To better define the British plans for integration in Helmand, McGurgan provided a British confidential non-paper entitled "Civil-Military Cooperation in RC-South: Measures in Hand to Integrate U.S. with UK and other TCNs,"(provided in full in para. 6). Two annexes entitled "U.S. Integration into Helmand PRT" and "Parameters for Joining Up: UK/U.S. (And Other Players') Governance R&D Efforts in Helmand" serve to better define the roles of U.S. civilian and military positions in Helmand and RC-S, and proposed approaches to key integration issues. Post has provided both annexes electronically to SRAP and SCA/A. ¶6. (C) Text of "Civil-Military Cooperation in RC-South: Measures in Hand to Integrate U.S. with UK and other TCNs" Helmand KABUL 00000587 002 OF 002 - Principles on Single PRT Structure: to coordinate all stabilisation and development business with Helmand authorities, Brig. Nicholson has told the RC-S Joint Command Board that COMISAF has endorsed this main principle; and both Nicholson and Comd MEB have said they like/accept the more detailed propositions in the attached annex. - Current Representation in PRT: State Department officer fully integrated into Political Section; USAID representative based in shared office with DFID Governance, Health, and Education Teams; USMC Civil Affairs LO (liaison with SPMAGTAF currently responsible for Now Zad, and with the incoming MEB to ensure it has situational awareness of Helmand and of the role of PRT); PEF LO (shared with TFH) to coordinate eradication operations. - Additional U.S. Staffing for PRT: - MEB to provide U.S. Military Deputy for PRT from April. Overall head of MEB Civil Affairs. (Already agreed by Comd. MEB) - Attached list of extra PRT slots (e.g. media, CN, political/governance, civil affairs StabAds),has been fully incorporated in RC-S DCom Stabilisation's formal bid (endorsed by U.S. Embassy) for extra U.S. civilian staff (71) across the South. - Garmsir: Agreement in principle between PRT and MEB that UK civilian StabAds should continue to lead District Stabilization Team until U.S. civilian equivalents available. Precise working relationship with the incoming U.S. Battalion's Civil Affairs team of 5-7 (broadly equivalent to our MSST) has yet to be pinned down. - Joint Planning: - Helmand Programme Board: Meets fortnightly. Coordinates decisions on SAF expenditure with DFID, DN, USAID, and CERPs plans. Intent is to involve Governor idc. - Helmand Road Map: U.S. Reps (State, USAID, MC) are fully involved in its "refresh," which will be shared with their respective head offices. Ambition/intent is for HRM to be endorsed by all chains of command (ISAF, national and ideally Afghan) as the shared set of detailed stabilisation objectives in Helmand. - JCB/JEMS: Preliminary agreement with MEB to introduce a Joint Effects Management System, and Joint Coordination Board, structure and process between the PRT and the two ISAF Brigade staffs in Helmand. This would rotate between LGK and Bastion. Agreement, too, that Comd MEB should join weekly private dinner sessions with Governor. RC-S - Joint Coordination Board(s): Involving all Hds PRTs/Civreps and Comd TFs (as well as UNAMA, and ANSF for certain sessions). Monthly, chaired by COM RC-S. U.S. participates fully through Brigadier Nicholson (DCOM STAB),Colonel Duffy White (CO, SPMAGTAF),Colonel Sommerskill (Head ARSIC),as well as U.S. PolAd and USAID reps. - Civ-Mil Cell: Works with Brigadier Nicholson to improve coordination of civilian military activities in RC-S. Current acting head is the UK StabAd. Cell has already established: - Regional Working Group on Roads and Infrastructure; - Regional economic development study, building on (and filling any cross-provincial gaps in) existing R&D plans for Helmand, Kandahar and Oruzgan. Likely to be a principle driver for future CERPs, and possibly USAID, expenditure. UK PRT already working closely with this project, and already provided the staff to define its TORs. - Intelligence: HQ ISAF CJ2 (U.S. Brig. Carr) and Hd of U.S.-DIA Afghanistan, visiting LGK on 19/20 February to discuss arrangements for developing shared U.S./UK intelligence fusion/analysis and targeting. End Non-Paper. WOOD