Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq

In January 2007, President Bush announced that the U.S. would double the number of Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) in Iraq as part of his plan for a "New Way Forward." The new PRTs would be embedded with the Brigade Combat Teams that would be part of the "surge" of U.S. forces in Baghdad, Anbar and Erbil. The new PRTs began to deploy in March 2007, staffed primarily by members of the U.S. National Guard and Army Reserve. A year on, civilian contractors are replacing the military reservists just as the Brigade Combat Teams that took part in the surge are about to return to the U.S.

How have these new PRTs performed? What is their future given the pending drawdown of U.S. forces? A panel of returned PRT veterans will address these and other issues.

Archived Audio

To listen to audio or to view video, please click on the links provided below. You also can right click on the links and choose "Save Target As" or "Download Linked File." This will save the file to your computer and then allow you to play it in your media player directly. More Audio Help.