not ‘rebuilt’ Iraq, helping local Iraqi government officials with leadership skills.
Ironhorse Brigade, City of Austin team up
Sunday, 08 July 2007
By Multi-National Division – Baghdad Public Affairs Office
U.S. Army Col. Mike Bridges (upper left), Lt. Col. Peter Andrysiak (center), and Maj. Steve Espinoza (right), along with other members of the 1st “Ironhorse” Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, listen intently to advice from Austin, Texas, City Manager Toby Hammett Futrell about Austin’s local government model, during a conference call at Camp Taji, Iraq, June 28. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Cupp.
CAMP TAJI — In order to help Iraqi local governments move to self-sufficiency, the 1st “Ironhorse” Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division is using expertise from the Austin, Texas, City Manager’s Office to examine concepts of governance from the standpoint of a real, working local government model that may be applied to reconstruction efforts.
In a partnership that began prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom II, the brigade is taking advantage of a program formed by both the 1st Cavalry Division and the 4th Infantry Division to receive feedback and advice on how local governments operate through examples from the City of Austin.
The 1st BCT holds meetings and shares information with officials from the Austin office of City Manager Toby Hammett Futrell, through video teleconferencing and conference calls. According to Lt. Col. Peter Andrysiak, deputy commanding officer, 1st BCT, 1st Cav. Div., having a real local government model for advice and a reach back capability is a boon to the Ironhorse Brigade’s efforts in helping locally-elected Iraqi officials with governance issues.
“They’re showing us great models that can be applied in teaching, coaching and mentoring local Iraqi governments,” said Andrysiak. “It’s good to have professionals that do this every day, to advise us.”
“We’re focusing solely on policy-making and administrative aspects,” he added. “Toby’s team is showing us ideas that work, giving examples which they have used and saying ‘here’s something that we’ve used before and it works.’”
Andrysiak explained that coalition forces are not trying to push Austin’s structure of government onto local Iraqi governments.
“They (the Iraqis) have their own system and we are working within that system with Austin leveraging their experience and processes. There are things inherent in government concepts that just work,” he said, explaining that there are models in place within the realm of civics that are essential to the running of any government. “They can take the models and mold and adapt them to their own culture, and it doesn’t have to be modeled after the American government.”
Although the brigade has many experts from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development on its Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team, the partnership with Austin helps the brigade to fill in gaps where some of the ePRT experts may not have as much real on the ground experience within the structure of local government as opposed to national government or just dealing with concepts of government.
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12736&Itemid=1
Good to know! Thank you for that. Austin is also a mighty liberal place, you know.