6. A Peace Corps Volunteer is “on duty” seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. Public behavior, including internet communication, personal conflicts and news media coverage of work or social activities is subject to administrative scrutiny.
20. The age of volunteers drives the demand for online and electronic materials
21. The mandate from Congress to change the nature of administration for federal government programs to one where most business is conducted onlineBut Peace Corps also has a long tradition of Returned Volunteer activism and involvement in Peace Corps program administration both formally an informally, and this also contributes to the plethora of materials available for trainees. Indeed, it is the oft-cited “third goal” of the Peace Corps to share knowledge about their country of service when they return. The most common way for a RPCV to do that is to help prepare future volunteers. They do this through “Invitee” socials hosted by RPCV groups, forming open online communities (such as Peace Corps Wiki), and through directly recruiting trainees and guiding them through the process before the leave for the host country (this is not a formal program, and is actively discouraged by Peace Corps staff). It is from these people that Trainees learn what to pack, how to pack it, and what to bring to trade in the host country- the most pressing questions of every Trainee.<br />Training Design and Supporting Materials<br />In a survey of the training descriptions provided on the Wiki site, and based on the author’s own experience, the theme of self-directed training is a strong one throughout the discussion of training design. When a training need is expressed by trainees, it is often another trainee that meets that need by delivering a lecture or coordinating an activity to share their own education or skills developed in their pre-Peace Corps life. Phrases like “individual responsibility” and “the most important aspects of the training program is the experience of living” (both from the Gambia) are repeated, ad nauseum, throughout the written supporting materials of all Peace Corps countries.<br />Hands-on learning is central to the Peace Corps training approach. Extended family stays (with families trained to create problems for the volunteers to solve), mini internships during PST, and role play learning are employed for every lesson. While in many classrooms these sorts of activities would augment a lecture, in Peace Corps training they replace them almost completely (During the author’s training in Romania, we derisively referred to this as the scavenger hunt approach to learning.).<br />Peace Corps Trainees are trained as a sector group. That is, all community health trainees arrive in-country together, train together, and have in-service training together throughout their service. They are deployed to site, however, as part of a site team with several different sectors represented, or even individually. This is in contrast to the HTS method of training individuals who just happened to be hired around the same time. <br />Administrative, Medical, Financial and Psychological Support<br />Support provided by the Peace Corps administrative staff is highly variable and dependent on the conditions present in the host country, the number of volunteers hosted in the country, and the personalities of the staff.<br />All Peace Corps posts have U.S.-certified doctors and medical assistants specific for their volunteers and trainees. Peace Corps also has access to the military and civilian network available to military and State Department staff in the country. The trainees have daily contact with medical staff, in addition to training modules personally delivered by medical staff.<br />Occasionally, a financial or personal crisis at home may cause a trainee to have financial, emotional, or administrative difficulties. In that case, computer, phone, mail, and fax services are made available to the Trainee at no cost. Every attempt is made to accommodate the Trainee, including free round-trip plane tickets for 10-day home stays for Trainees mourning the death of a sibling, parent, or child. The Trainee is expected to stay with the program, however.<br />Performance Evaluation<br />A Peace Corps trainee is evaluated largely on their own training goals developed with their sector director. However, there are standard goals for all volunteers:<br />The Peace Corps requires that all volunteers acquire a minimum of Intermediate-Low (one level above beginner) on the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) interview test before they can be sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers. Some countries require this level before they can begin training, and others require a higher level at the end of training. Volunteers are given as many chances as they need to take the test to pass it. Volunteers who excel in other areas of their training may be sworn in without achieving that level of skill, but they often make an agreement with the country’s language Director for future performance goals.<br />Trainee attendance for all health and safety training is mandatory and there are no acceptable excuses. Training sessions are given on a one-on-one basis for trainees who missed their group’s original training. Some training sessions require that the trainee pass a quiz to successfully complete the module. Note the standard language in the Table TYPICAL PEACE CORPS TRAINING, which reveals a heavy emphasis on a Volunteers’ personal responsibility for their own safety.<br />The volunteer handbook, although it is not mentioned in the Peace Corps Wiki, is a major training topic, and all volunteers receive an entire day of training on it. Trainees sign for receiving the book, and can be referred to it often throughout training when they ask administrative questions. <br />Administrative separation, a term used by Peace Corps, is analogous to “termination for cause”, and is used for Trainees/Volunteers who demonstrate an unwillingness to learn language skills, attend classes, take responsibility for their safety, or exhibit a possible substance abuse problem. Medical separation is possible for Trainees/Volunteers who develop a medical condition while training, or for whom emotional or psychological problems cannot be controlled reliably with medication. More information about administrative separation can be found in the Peace Corps Volunteer Manual.<br />Department of State’s Provincial Reconstruction Teams<br />Program Requirements<br />Organizational Needs<br />PRTs are civilian-military, interagency organizations that were formed to promote economic and political stability in areas disrupted by recent armed conflict. PRTs act as liaisons between the US Government (USG) and provincial leaders in Afghanistan and Iraq. PRTs and Provincial Leaders ideal collaborate on what the most effective techniques for reconstruction will be.<br />The teams range from 60 to 100 people. The makeup of PRTs in Afghanistan and Iraq is very different. The Afghanistan teams were developed in 2002 as a joint effort between Operation Enduring Freedom and Coalition Forces. Of the 26 PRTs in Afghanistan, as of April 2008, 12 were lead by the U.S. These teams should ideal “consist of 50-100 personnel, of which only 3 or 4 members are USG civilians or contractors.” The three of four civilians usual consist of one member from the State Department (DOS), one from US Agency for International Development (USAID), and one from US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The other members of the team are military personal. The teams are lead by an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel or Navy Commander. The other military personal are composed of two Army civil affairs team, a military police unit, a psychological operations unit, an explosive ordinance/demining unit, an intelligence team, medics, a force protection unit, and administrative and support personnel. <br />The Structure of teams in Iraq is very different. First of all, there are only US PRTs working in Iraq, currently 24. Of these 11 are traditional PRTs (similar in size to those in Afghanistan) and 13 are embedded PRTs (ePRTs) that consist of 4-12 civilian and military personnel embedded in a combat brigade. The Iraq PRTs are lead by a State Department senior Foreign Service Officer (FSO). The deputy team leader is an Army Lieutenant Colonel and Staff. The Iraq PRTs, unlike those in Afghanistan, are ideal meant to have a throng of USG civilians including: a rule of law coordinator from the Department of Justice (DOJ), a provincial action officer from DOS, a public diplomacy officer from DOS, an agricultural advisor from USDA, a development officer from USAID, a governance team from RTI International, Inc. (a USAID contractor), and a bilingual cultural advisor (usually an Iraqi foreign national or a civilian contractor). In addition to this much larger collection of civilian PRT members, there are several military members including: a multinational force Iraq liaison officer (a U.S. military officer), an engineer from the Gulf Region Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a U.S. Army Reconstruction Team made up of Army civil affairs soldiers, and a military movement team or protective security detail made up of U.S. military or contract security force. <br />The makeup of the ePRT is very different from the PRTs in Iraq and Afghanistan. The embedded PRTs live and work with Regiments or Brigade Combat Teams. The core team is made up of 4-12 people including: a DOS leader (usually Senior FSO), a USAID deputy leader, an Army civil affairs officer, and an Iraqi bilingual, bicultural advisor (similar to a political Foreign Service national). The team could also include specialists in governance, business, budgeting, rule of law, and agriculture.<br />Pre-Training Activities<br />The interagency approach and size of PRTs makes the recruitment and formulation of teams difficult. The military component of the PRTs is made up a combination of Air Force, Navy, and Army personnel. These people serve a one year tour on PRTs. <br />Members of the military are asked to volunteer for PRT service. If they do not volunteer, they are “forced” to join. The military skill set found to be the most useful on a PRT is a civil affairs (CA) background, but trained CA personnel are not always easy to find. Because of the coercive powers of the military, finding enough military personnel to staff the PRTs has not been as much of an issue as civilian staffing.<br />The ideal candidates to man the civilian portion of PRTs are senior level FSOs and USAID field officers. DOS, USAID, and USDA have had trouble recruiting enough seasoned personnel to go into a dangerous combat zone. Most of the civilian personnel are taken from DOD or in some cases are civilian contractors. The skill set sought after for PRTs seems to be based on specialized experience in certain needs areas (such as budget analysts, industrial advisors, city management advisors, etc.). The ideal civilian candidate seems to be personnel with experience in stabilization and development and people who have worked in Iraq or Afghanistan. <br />There is no available information at this time on the hiring process beyond the initial job announcement. It may be inferred, however, that the hiring process is more relaxed since the PRTs are having trouble finding enough civilian staff. To try to mitigate this problem in the future, DOS has developed the Civilian Response Corps. The mission statement of this new program is:<br />“To lead, coordinate and institutionalize U.S. Government civilian capacity to prevent or prepare for post-conflict situations, and to help stabilize and reconstruct societies in transition from conflict or civil strife, so they can reach a sustainable path toward peace, democracy and a market economy.”<br />This corps will be equivalent to an Army Reserve for civilians with the necessary skills and acquired training to aid in reconstruction efforts. The ability to have a quicker reaction time to post conflict stabilization should help, in the future, to staff PRTs and other civilian stabilization projects. <br />Training<br />Afghanistan <br />Training for PRTs “evolved in an ad hoc manner over time.” As it stands now, there are two very distinct training programs. One for US PRTs headed to Afghanistan and one for PRTs headed to Iraq. As stated in the introduction, the Afghan PRT training is probably the most regimented and operationally relevant. This can probably be attributed to the fact that around 95% of the PRTs sent to Afghanistan are military personnel. The military members of Afghan PRTs receive training at Fort Bragg. This training consists of three weeks of PRT mission specific classroom training for senior team members. Then, the rest of the military members arrive for more general pre-deployment training (a combination of classroom and field training). The field training exercises is similar to pre-deployment field training for all military personnel. The 1st Army Division East runs a training simulation in Fort Bragg. This simulation consists of a “real” Afghan village, where deploying PRT members have to focus on economic development and stability as well as traditional military tactics. PRTs are not written into the exercises at the National Training Center (NTC) or the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC). Most of the military leaders of the Afghan PRTs, in addition to training at Fort Bragg, participate in ICT and site surveys with the commanders they will be replacing.<br />Iraq<br />In stark contrast to the mission specific training the Afghan PRTs receive, as of April 2008 there was no PRT-specific training for military personnel going to Iraq. DOS has developed PRT-related classroom training that is conducted at the Foreign Service Institute. This classroom training is available to USG employees, but is not a requirement for serving on a PRT. There is no military pre-deployment training for PRT civilians going to Iraq. They do receive some ICT on force protection. Military personnel and DOD civilians and contractors do receive non-PRT specific, pre-deployment training at the Combat Readiness Center in Fort Benning. The military personnel also receive force protection training in Kuwait or Iraq.<br />Analysis<br />This section will focus on the lessons from PRT training that HTS can potential use to help shape their own training program in the future. In analyzing the PRT training for the purpose of applying lessons learned to HTT training, it is import to note the differences between PRTs and HTTs. While it is obvious that the makeup of most PRTs is very different from HTTs, the other important difference is the difference in mission. The stated mission of the HTTs is “to provide commanders in the field with relevant socio-cultural understanding necessary to meet their operational requirements.” The stated mission of PRTs is “to improve stability in a given area by helping build the host nation’s legitimacy and effectiveness in providing security to its citizens and delivering essential government services.” These important differences in mission shape the training and structure of HTTs and PRTs. Despite these differences, there are some lessons to be learned from PRT. The applicability of PRT training to HTS will be discussed in the following section. <br />Pre-training Activities<br />A full analysis of the pre-training activities is difficult to make given the lack of complete information available in open source materials. The hiring of several civilian contractors and DOD employees to fill the slots that would ideally be filled by senior FSOs and USAID field officers leads to an assumption that the PRT program is having trouble recruiting enough qualified personal. As the HTS has found, finding these experienced personnel who are will to go on one year tours in Iraq or Afghanistan is very difficult, and the holes in hiring are being filled with civilian contractors. <br />The infancy of the Civilian Response Corps (CRC) makes it difficult to analyze the effect this program has had on recruitment, but the concept of having in reserve a robust corps of trained men and women who can rapidly respond to a crisis situation does seem like a move in the right direction. A future evaluation will be needed to test if this program has decreased the use of civilian contractors and unqualified personnel. If the CRC is successful, this may be the only lesson that HTS can learn from PRT pre-training activities. Several preliminary reports show that the PRT recruitment has been as difficult as the initial HTS recruiting was, but having a corps of civilians pre-trained in reconstruction and stabilization may be the answer to solving both the hiring problems of the PRT as well as HTTs.<br />While filling the military positions on PRTs has been easier (since military personnel can be forced to serve on PRTs), the rate of volunteerism has not been high. This is due to several factors which may also dissuade military personnel from volunteering to be on HTTs. The first, and seemingly most important, is that serving on a PRT is not viewed as an advantage or even on the same level as conventional military service. This means that PRTs are not given the same priorities for promotions as other military personnel. The second is that the tour for Air Force PRTs, one year, is longer than the standard tour for conventional Air Force personnel, seven months. This increase in tour length does not incentivize people to volunteer for service. Finally, military personnel who serve once on a PRT are more likely to be “asked” to serve again because they have acquired experience in stabilization and reconstruction activities. For many military personnel, this may increase the overall time they are required to serve in a combat zone. To mitigate these problems with recruitment, PRTs as well as HTS should establish an agreement with DOD or DOS, whereby special privileges or incentives are given to personnel who serve on PRTs or HTTs. <br />Training<br />The training for US PRTs headed to Afghanistan seems to be the most advanced and organized training for PRTs. This is especially true for military PRTs, who receive mission specific classroom and field training. Despite the disorganized nature of the FSI training, there may be some specific training programs that HTS can adopt and incorporate into their own training. The specific classes being taught at the FSI are very close to those needed by HTS. These training classes include: COIN, Iraq area studies, Islam in Iraq, and interagency cooperation. The only information available online for this training are the FSI schedule of courses and a brief description of the interagency PRT training from IDS International. Due to the overlap in training, contacting FSI and IDS and inquiring about more in depth material on their training programs may be beneficial to HTS curriculum development.<br />Evaluation<br />There is no formal evaluation material published for PRTs. According to an article published by American Forces Press Service, the PRTs training to go to Afghanistan are “evaluated not only by military training cadre, but also by members of the State Department and other government organizations,” throughout their training at Fort Bragg. This evaluation is not systematized, and it is difficult to determine if this evaluation is punitive or merely intended to improve performance during the training. There is also no information on if or how PRTs are evaluated in the field (at the individual or team level). Individual PRT members have lamented the fact that they were not given specific objectives or clear metrics for if their objectives were achieved. While some may feel measuring the success of stability or reconstruction operations is difficult, there seems to be a consensus that it is possible. There is also no publically available information on the administrative, medical, and psychological support provided to PRTs during training or in the field. <br />The problems encountered by PRTs in program and individual evaluation are similar to the problems encountered by HTS. Because the PRT program is so much larger, however, there is more objective oversight being performed. While it is not evident that this oversight has lead to any institutional changes in the PRT program, there is hope that the continued publicity of the problems occurring will lead to some changes. Unfortunately, the PRT program is working from the same disadvantage as the HTS program. Both were begun after the war had started, and making changes to programs during war times seems to be very difficult to accomplish. <br />