This is the twenty third installment of the Government Accountability Office interview transcripts that were prepared pursuant to the July 2005 GAO report "Rebuilding Iraq: Actions Needed To Improve Use of Private Security Providers."
Other than the fact that this was done with someone from the U.S. military I do not know who the interviewee is. But he makes it clear that his unit's deployment in Iraq would have benefited from more pre-deployment training on how to deal with private security and other contractors. Any training would have been better than what was available five years ago, which was nothing, i.e., "in his experience he did not believe there was any pre-deployment training which dealt specifically with the presence of PSCs or NGOs in the battlespace."
Standard disclaimer: I have put in ( _____ ) to reflect those words of phrases which have been blacked out in the transcript. I have also put in the underlining as it appeared in the original transcript. As in the transcript, I have left out letters from various words, even when it seems obvious what the word is.
Prepared by: Mattias FentonIndex:
Date Prepared: May 19, 2005DOC Number: 1330571
Reviewed by: Carole CoffeyDOC Library: Type library name here
Job Code: 350544
Record of Interview
TitleTelephone interview w ____________
____________ ____________ ____________ ____________
____________ ____________ ____________ ____________
PurposeTo determine to what degree the ____________
received guidance on what to expect/how to deal with private security contractors in the battlespace prior to deployment to Iraq.
To provide answers to questions listed below.
Contact MethodTeleconference
Contact PlaceAlso contact ____________ ____________
____________
Contact DateMay 11, 2005
Participants____________ ____________
Carole Coffey, GAO, DCM
Mattias Fenton, GAO, DCM
Comments/Remarks:Duration of this phone call was roughly 10 minutes.
Q1: What, if any guidance has the ____________ received about working/coordinating with private to security contractors (PSCs) in Iraq?
____________stated that the ____________ not received any such specific guidance regarding either working and coordinating with or regarding its responsibilities towards PSCs.
He referred to an MNF-I directive dated approx. late March 2005 from ____________ which specified that all units in Iraq implement a system of badging, which would help identify Coalition units as well as contractors and other non-combatants.____________ promised to forward a link to the text of this directive per SIPRNet.
According to ____________d limited contact with PSCs while in country. In the first deployment to Iraq their battlespace included all of northern Iraq up to Mosul and the only time they dealt with PSCs was when PSC details were accompanying senior CPA officials.
Q2: Does the pre-deployment syllabus include any instruction on dealing with PSCs or otter contractors working in Iraq?
Page 1Record of Interview
____________ stated that in his experience he did not believe there was any pre-deployment training which dealt specifically with the presence of PSCs or NGOs in the battlespace.
Th ____________ onducted a pre-deployment training exercise in which a NGO employee was kidnapped; the mission of this particular exercise is to stage a rescue operation.
While there are four simulated vehicle entry points at ____________ the training which takes place there are primarily simulated searches for VBIEDs -- there is no drill relating to checkpoint or convoy procedures specific to PSCs.
Q3: Is there any discussion of the Reconstruction Operations Center (ROC) or the Project and Contracting Office (PCO) in pre-deploy vent training?
No. See above.
Page 2Record of Interview