Assessment of the DoD Establishment of the Office of Security Cooperation Iraq
Abstract Our purpose was to determine whether DoD did the following: (1) met requirements to effectively execute the plan for transitioning authority, personnel, and equipment from DoD to Chief of Mission Baghdad; and (2) provided the required support to meet initial operating capability to ensure that the Office of Security Cooperation Iraq (OSC I) at full operating capability would be sufficient to accomplish the mission of supporting Iraqi Security Forces capability development. The establishment of the OSC I was on track and on schedule to meet its full operating capability target date of October 1, 2011, and to operate independently as an element of U.S. Mission to Iraq by January 1, 2012. However, we identified key areas that required management attention. We determined that U.S. Forces Iraq Deputy Commanding General for Advising and Training was managing crucial security cooperation activities with incomplete theater and country level plans and without required planning capability, had not clearly communicated information about the OSC I enduring role regarding security cooperation programs with key Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Interior officials, had not fully engaged and shared essential transition details with key personnel at prospective outlying OSC I sites, and had not established detailed internal standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the OSC I essential to adequately manage its major functions within the framework of the U.S. Mission to Iraq. We recommend that the Commander, U.S. Central Command, promptly issue completed Iraq Country Plan details and that the Chief, OSC I, improve information flow to site personnel, communicate sufficient details about the OSC I role and its operating processes with key Iraqi defense and interior ministry officials, and develop SOPs for OSC I administrative and operational processes and procedures that include interagency operations within the overall framework of U.S. Mission to Iraq authority and responsibility.