The Fate of the Civilian Surge in a Changing Environment | Page 11

required a greater contribution from civilian agencies.
The directive built upon an earlier action, taken in
2004 by then Secretary of State Colin Powell, to create
the Office for the Coordinator for Reconstruction and
Stabilization (S/CRS) within the DOS.7 The new structure reported directly to Secretary Powell, bypassing
the normal DOS chain of command. NSPD-44 tasked
S/CRS to lead the USG’s implementation of R&S
policy and to organize the “development of a strong
civilian response capability including necessary surge
capabilities.”8 The White House directive reflected the
perceived need for cabinet-level oversight; as overall
coordinator of U.S. foreign policy, the secretary of
state would presumably ensure that civilian agencies,
including the DOS itself, followed the lead of S/CRS.
The decision also reflected the DOS mandate to ensure
proper security for civilian diplomatic and development officials conducting operations overseas.
Across the Potomac River, senior DOD officials endorsed NSPD-44’s aims, hoping to shift some of the
R&S burden to civilian agencies. On 28 November
2005, just days before the White House released its directive, the Office of the Secretary of Defense issued
DOD Instruction (DODI) 3000.05, giving stability operations a “priority comparable to combat operations.”
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The instruction stated that “integrated civilian and
military efforts are key to successful stability operations”10 and pledged the DOD “to lead and support the
development of military-civilian teams… as a critical
U.S. Government stability operations tool.”11 The DOD
also worked alongside the DOS and the White House
to negotiate authorities to transfer $100 million of its
own funds to the DOS, via Section 1207 of the Fiscal
Year 2006 National Defense Authorization Act,12 with
the intent of jump-starting S/CRS operations. Subse-

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