Handover of PRT Projects

Abstract

The focus of this research are the ‘governance’ projects of the Dutch PRT in Uruzgan, Afghanistan. Because these projects are more than the classic CIMIC projects and are intended to have a sustainable result the following research question was posed: What problems could arise during or after a handover of PRT projects? The projects that are the subject of this research are on the crossroads of the military and civil environment. For that reason it was decided to see whether it was possible to apply development literature on military projects. A model was derived from the primary model by Strachan: a model based on the handover of an operational development project to community management. The model was than consolidated with additional development literature. To ascertain that the model could also be applied to military projects, a literature study was conducted into military literature on handover. The factors for handover that are additional to the factors from the development model were than added to the model. This approach was necessary because few academic studies are done into develpment or military project handover. Subsequently the model was used to study the handover of military projects from the Dutch PRT in Uruzgan. ‘Governance’ projects were chosen, because these are implemented by the military and are not CIMIC nor SSR. The case study consisted of data collection by means of interviews and a study of written sources, mainly military documents as far as they were available. The topics from the model served as an interview guide with members from PRT 6 and PRT 7. The study shows that the model is indeed applicable to military projects and that the difference between the military projects and development projects that is so often emphasized is not as large as may seem. The nature of the projects allows for evaluation of the handover of military projects according to the same model as development projects.