2007 Press Releases
Volunteerism Motivates Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq
December 3, 2007
(PRT's aim is to facilitate development, build self-sufficiency)
By Jim Fisher-Thompson
State Department Special Correspondent
Baghdad -- Volunteerism is the spark animating Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) partnering with communities in Iraq to further democracy, instill self-sufficiency and help rebuild an economy ravaged by years of dictatorship and sectarian strife.
American volunteer professionals in the hundreds are joining PRTs, started here in 2005, that in many ways mirror the Peace Corps; the volunteer agency established by President John F. Kennedy that has sent 150,000 volunteers to teach and work on rural projects in 90 nations over the years.
Jerry Calhoun is one such volunteer who heeded the PRT call. The 53 year-old city manager of Port Richey, Florida recently told the St. Petersburg Times newspaper that he volunteered to spend a year in Iraq teaching community leaders and officials how to budget as well as prioritize community needs while planning for the long-term.
"This is something I've always wanted to do," Calhoun said, noting a major part of his job involves imparting the type of compromise that local communities in America use to match citizens' needs with available resources.
Max Primorac, senior adviser for Transition and Stabilization in the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs who recently returned after serving three years in Iraq told this reporter that volunteers like Calhoun are "the bedrock" of the 25 PRTs spread throughout Iraq.
While in Iraq Primorac oversaw a multi-billion dollar U.S. assistance effort focusing on building government capacity, anti-corruption, civil society and private-sector development.
"Thousands of us [Americans] came to Iraq as strangers," he said; "ignorant of its language and culture but returned to America with knowledge useful for the PRTs' mission of helping Iraqis develop self-sufficiency in governance and economic development.
"This is the pool of talent and enthusiasm that we are tapping to work on the PRTs," the former non-governmental organization (NGO) executive turned State Department official said.
Paul Folmsbee is part of that pool. The Foreign Service officer who volunteered to head up a PRT in Baghdad's troubled Sadr City recently told the Oklahoman newspaper he is the civilian face of the U.S. Government in his sector.
According to the news report, Folmsbee is not working on "macro-strategic issues," but rather "on basic day-to-day concerns, like electricity and water and jobs. His job is micro. His message to Americans is that he and others like him are getting the job done in Iraq."
In his September 13 report to the nation on progress in Iraq, President Bush touched on the importance of PRTs noting with their help "new jobs are being created and local governments are meeting again" in the strife-torn nation.
Funding for the effort, which includes much-needed repair of infrastructure as well as governance and civil society training, is set at $2 billion a year. The plan is to have 30 PRTs staffed by 700 volunteers by the end of 2007. Three of the teams have Korean, Italian and British leaders.
Operations of the PRTs in Iraq’s 18 provinces are coordinated by the Office of Provincial Affairs (OPA), located in the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Robert Perito, a former Foreign Service officer with the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) told a House hearing in October the organization’s “performance under new leadership” was making it easier for the volunteers to perform their jobs.
Foreign Service officer Jim Soriano, a former professional staff member of the House of Representatives, heeded the President's call to service and now heads up one of four PRTs in vast Anbar Province where he is now putting his knowledge of how government works to good use.
Recently interviewed by the Fox News Channel, Soriano said the recent surge of U.S. troops in the province has improved security providing a chance for PRTs to be more effective. "We are presented…with an opportunity now to exploit the [security] situation; that is to help the Iraqi people in Anbar Province put together local government which did not exist six to nine months ago…and to help with economic recovery."
Another foreign service officer volunteer, John Matel, began his assignment heading a PRT in Anbar with the realization that "We just have to invent, innovate and experiment," according to a blog he set up before departing in late September.
Before he left Matel told a State Department press conference he hoped to use agricultural courses he took at the University of Wisconsin before he joined the Foreign Service 24 years ago to good use in Anbar.
Ginger Cruz, inspector general for Iraq reconstruction in the U.S. Department of Defense summed up the effectiveness of PRTs and the volunteers who staff them in testimony she gave to Congress September 5.
"The PRT program is one of the most valuable programs the U.S. runs in Iraq…[and] has come a long way in one year," Cruz told lawmakers.
That success is due, in large part, the official said, "to the sheer effort of key individuals throughout the program."
In Diyala Province, where she recently visited, Cruz said, "The persistence of PRT members" and U.S. military "in showing up day after day, meeting with the Governor and Provincial Council, demonstrated to the people of Diyala that its newly organized government was here to stay."
Persistence is the hallmark of individuals like Andrew Passen, a career diplomat who now heads up a PRT in Baghdad. His daughter Hana was so proud of him she won a recent State Department essay contest in which she touched on the importance of her father's contribution.
"The PRTs do more than just rebuild," she wrote. "They teach the Iraqis how to rebuild themselves. They do not create government for Iraq; they show the Iraqi people how to govern themselves. Their [PRTs] presence shows the world that America is committed….to the reconstruction of the country…and spreading of democracy."