What We Did
This report addresses the adequacy of Department of Defense support for executing security cooperation programs in Iraq and whether the Office of Security Cooperation–Iraq (OSC-I) is organized, equipped, and prepared to successfully accomplish its mission. We:
- determined whether Department of Defense goals, objectives, plans, and guidance for executing security cooperation programs in Iraq through the OSC-I performing under U.S. Department of State/Chief of Mission authority are issued and sufficiently operative;
- determined whether the OSC-I is adequately structured and resourced to accomplish its security assistance/security cooperation mission;
- identified impediments to OSC-I mission accomplishment and provided suggested recommendations; and
- assisted the Department of State Office of the Inspector General in assessing the process used to determine short- and long-term OSC-I staffing requirements.
What We Found
Over a year after the OSC-I was established, we identified areas requiring management attention. Specifically, we determined that:
- the Departments of State and Defense disagreed on the OSC-I mission;
- the process used to direct OSC-I personnel reductions did not fully consider its mission priorities;
- the OSC-I was not fully integrated into the U.S. Mission, to include insufficient standard operating procedures; and
- the OSC-I did not have sufficiently trained, nor the required capability to transition sites;
- joint doctrine insufficiently supported the post-contingency inter-departmental transition of responsibilities in Iraq.
What We Recommend
Among other things, we recommend that the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy designate a Senior Defense Official in Iraq; the Chief, Office of Security Cooperation–Iraq issue standard operating procedures to facilitate working within the U.S. Mission; and Commander, U.S. Central Command:
- issue an updated Iraq Country Plan;
- accelerate integrating the OSC-I within the U.S. Mission Iraq; and
- communicate sufficient details about OSC-I capabilities, activities, and objectives to the U.S. Country Team to enable their support, guidance, and oversight.
Management Comments and Our Response
We received the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy comments to the draft report too late to include them in the final report.
This report is a result of Project No. D2012-D00SPO-0205.000.