Planning Division
OMA's Planning Division (DCHA/OMA/PD) serves as the overall coordination unit for managing the day-to-day aspects of the USAID-military relationship, and for planning and developing effective operations. This includes developing a joint information network; prioritizing requests for participation in events, exchanges and exercises; and overseeing program planning and development for priority regions and countries. The Division coordinates USAID civilian-military planning and analysis with the Pentagon, the State Department Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization, and other USG departments and agencies. DCHA/OMA/PD manages training programs for selected military and civilian audiences; develops guidance on USAID and NGOs for use in the civilian-military context; and develops and manages staff, budgets, contracts, grants and other mechanisms required to perform Division duties, including program development, planning, training and exercises. Finally, the Division serves as the base for Agency personnel trained in the war colleges or other DOD institutes.
Planning Division officers are assigned to cover both regional and sectoral topics, and to provide advice and liaison across the whole range of Agency activities. The Planning Division does the following:
- Coordinate and monitor USAID participation in military and interagency exercises
- Provide a central coordination point-of-contact for pre- through post-conflict planning and operations between USAID, DoD and the Department of State
- Provide coordination with non-U.S. Military organizations (foreign national, UN, NATO etc.), where appropriate
- Provide pre-deployment training to U.S. Military who will operate with USAID in conflict zones, and to USAID personnel to be deployed to insecure environments
- Provide on-going policy dialogue and education and training to the U.S. Military and USAID Bureaus and Missions about the role of USAID in the National Security Strategy
- Facilitate joint DoD-USAID Theater Security Cooperation Planning and Communications generally with the various COCOMs through an exchange of Liaison Officers (LNOs) and Senior Development Advisors (SDAs)
- Facilitate interagency operations
- Provide USAID planning support to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD/Planning) on implementation of DoD Directive 3000.05
- Educate civilian and military personnel on the development-defense nexus
- Develop a cadre of USAID leaders able to manage the interface between the two organizations in an emergency environment
- Serve as coordinator and Point-of-Contact (POC) between NGO, USAID and the Military at the operational/implementation level
- Liaise with the office of Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict (OSD/SO/LIC) and S/CRS on early-warning and "Phase 0" planning efforts
- Maintain "lessons learned" and evaluations from past emergencies, conflicts and transitions
- Serve as the base for USAID personnel trained at the military war colleges.
- Support the Civilian-Military APCC and related structures.
Current activities aim to broaden interagency cooperation. At Secretary Gates's invitation, USAID is participating in the development of the next iteration of the Guidance for Employment of the Force (GEF), the highest-level strategic planning document used by Combatant Commands (COCOMs) to develop and execute their plans for peacetime activities and crisis response. The COCOMs have also asked USAID to engage in their regional Theater Campaign planning process. In addition, USAID is participating in the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), a legislatively-mandated review of DoD strategy and priorities. USAID's input will focus on operational collaboration with DoD and the interagency, for example, the implementation of the Security Sector Reform (SSR) guidelines drafted by the "Three Ds" (Defense, Diplomacy and Development, or State, USAID and DoD). USAID also supports Security Sector Reform by implementing programs in governance, conflict mitigation and response, reintegration and reconciliation, and rule of law.
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