Success Stories
Jonathan Gandomi: 2008 PMF
I entered State's Office of the Coordinator for
Reconstruction and Stabilization (S/CRS) during
a critical period when the bureau was standing up the USG's
new Civilian Response Corps (CRC), an elite group of post-conflict
and stabilization experts drawn from 8 government
agencies who could be rapidly deployable to failed or fragile
states. In addition to joining the Standby Component of the
CRC, I worked within a ten person interagency team to define
and propose reconstruction and stabilization "best practices" for
future training and operations. This included designing new
structures and processes for USG teams at the
country-level in the post-crisis period, as well as
establishing a system to extract lessons learned from USG personnel
concluding their tours in Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
In October 2009, I deployed to Afghanistan as a
member of the Standby Component to serve as one of three
USG advisors working within the Ministry of Finance to support
the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS).
Following President Karzai's re-election, the Government began a
revitalized effort to better define and prioritize their
national development plans. This included working
closely with the Minister of Finance and his
top advisors, as well as a number of other ministries to
prepare a consolidated strategic development plan, delivered
at the foreign minister-level Kabul Conference in July
2010.
My second rotation took me to Bangkok, Thailand, to
work in the Asia regional bureau of the United Nations World Food
Programme (WFP). I joined a team of experts in humanitarian
emergencies and disaster response who deliver training exercises
for UN country offices in the region, specifically how the office
would operate during a major crisis, such as a flood,
earthquake, or typhoon. In just two months of the rotation,
I've helped facilitate exercises in the Philippines, Indonesia, and
Singapore, and am supporting their efforts to further define
civilian-military practices in emergencies with a complex peace and
security dimension.