Reconstructing Afganistan

Big idea: building a nation

The goal of building a sustainable – and peaceful – future for the people of Afghanistan had reached a critical stage. On the ground, forces and civil aid agencies of several different nations were operating with varying levels of autonomy. Most were doing excellent work, but there was a real risk that they would negate the effect if they pulled in different directions.

The situation wasn’t helped by significant cultural differences and the wide range of stakeholders, all with very different viewpoints, and of course, the ever present threat of an escalation in violence or civil unrest.

Building capability

“It was not a usual situation in which to be applying programme management,” said Lieutenant Colonel Martin Sturgeon.

Handing the lead in the fight against the insurgency to the Afghans could not be achieved without first building capable Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). That is what Lieutenant Colonel Martin Sturgeon worked to do as programme manager on The Regional Command (South West) Afghan National Security Forces Transformation Program.

Introduced in October 2010, the programme has delivered change to one of the world’s most hostile environments by bringing together all the elements involved in developing and supporting ANSF under one central command and readying the Afghan people for the full transition of security responsibilities across the country by the end of 2014.

The programme has already seen success as the first phase of security transition took place in July 2011 when ANSF took on responsibility for seven locations, including Lashkar Gah urban centre.

“Programme management has wider applicability than people think, and in this situation we found it a very effective way to organise a wide range of activities and to bring stakeholders together to achieve a common purpose,” explained Martin.

“There were two big successes for us. Involving Afghans in shaping their own future and demonstrating the wider applicability of programme management in a situation where perhaps it hasn’t been considered before.

“It was a novel application of programme management. We needed to solve a big problem and find an approach that would be effective. Programme management proved to be that approach.”

Martin was appointed as programme manager as he had experience of largescale programmes. He developed the programme approach after recognising that there was no existing system for joint working in place.

Smooth transition

He said: “My tasks were to define, launch and manage the programme. The benefits to the organisation were clear. The critical contribution to achieving the strategic objective, transition, was unmistakable.”

But co-ordinating the many international agencies responsible for recruiting and training members of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan National Police (ANP) was just one part of the programme. The Lieutenant Colonel has also overseen over 200 infrastructure projects which amounted to an estimated value in excess of $500 million.

“The aim of the programme was to develop the ANA and ANP into an effective force to whom we could transition control of the SW of the country in due course,” Martin said.

“It encompassed a wide range of different aspects; it sought to deliver a coherent mix of training, infrastructure, logistics and equipment in order to allow the Afghans to operate effectively.”

Changing a nation

It was decided that a programme approach based on the OGC ‘Managing Successful Programmes’ (MSP) methodology would be the best way to tackle the issues facing the transition team.

“I used this methodology to define the ANSF Transformation Programme. An intense ‘Initiation Phase’ followed, during which much consultation and sensitivity to the many cultural differences between the varied stakeholders were key to success,” explained Martin.

Establishing the right programme structure was vital. The programme consisted of five project teams, a programme board and a senior sponsoring group. To meet the ANSF’s particular needs, there were two distinct types of project team, led at full colonel level.

Martin said: “The Afghans were clearly key stakeholders in the programme. We sought to involve them at every level to help achieve genuine ANSF transformation. We did this by allowing specifically nominated ‘Transformation Agents’, supported by coalition mentors, to have a three-fold role.

“They provided constructive criticism back to the programme, ensured that the ANSF truly embraced the capability that the programme delivered, and provided feedback to the programme on its effectiveness so that expectations could be adjusted as required.”

This established a dialogue between the various stakeholders involved in the programme which still exists today. Senior representatives of all parties engaged in ANSF development within the region now meet on a regular basis, with a developing vision of what they seek to achieve, and a willing imperative to pull together to achieve it.

The programme gave a sense of purpose and direction. In the past, task forces had no broader context within which to plan their ANSF development activities; now there is a model on which to base their work.

In forming the Sponsoring Group, the programme established a means of addressing national issues affecting the area. Thereby it is shaping the national planning for ANSF development and transformation going forward.

Martin concluded: “The ANSF Transformation Programme is the first time programme management has been used in this context. What is clear is that nation building and post conflict reconstruction are essentially transformational change and therefore lend themselves very well to the programme approach. With so many stakeholders involved, programme management is an excellent way to bring them all together to achieve a common purpose.”

What the future holds…

The experiences and lessons learned as a result of the programme will provide the basis for military campaigns of the future.

“It was only really by introducing programme management techniques that we could provide the stepping stones, the handrails, the objectives and the clarity that everybody needed in order to get it from A to B in a coherent manner,” said Major General George Norton CBE.

Lieutenant Colonel Martin Sturgeon said: “Looking to the future, the adoption of a programme management approach at the national level is the next logical and critically important step. And for the UK, this encouraging example suggests that the approach may prove an extremely valuable concept and discipline in formalising the approach to nation building in the years ahead.”