Photo By Whitney Katz | The Joint Enabling Capabilities Command Joint Planning Support Element members,...... read more read more
NORFOLK, Va. – As a member of the Joint Enabling Capabilities Command’s (JECC) Joint Planning Support Element (JPSE) which provides joint command and control capabilities to every geographic combatant command; it is likely that you could be deployed to various locations around the world. For the JECC’s Reserve component members, this is an opportunity to participate in operations and missions they would not get to experience in their civilian careers.
The opposite is true for U.S. Army Maj. Louisa Bargeron, who recently returned from a deployment with the JECC to the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), in Djibouti, Africa. Bargeron and a team of three JPSE members assisted with planning efforts and provided expertise in the Joint Operation Planning Process. Within a matter of weeks, Bargeron will return to the same area of operations to support a mission team in Yemen with her civilian position at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
A 17-year Army veteran, Bargeron has worked for USAID’s Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs for just over three years supporting public engagement and outreach. According to Bargeron, the nature of a position at USAID includes serving overseas field locations, especially recipient aid countries. In June, Bargeron will depart for a one-year tour to Yemen, her first choice of available USAID field missions.
“These are exciting times for Yemen,” Bargeron explained when asked why she volunteered for the mission. “The country is undergoing a political transition, the national dialogue is underway and represents the first time in Yemen’s history that a diverse group has come together to discuss the country’s future.”
She will join a team already in place and serve as the Mission’s democracy officer.
“I will help tailor USAID’s assistance to each phase of Yemen’s political transition so we can support the priorities and requests of the Yemenis participating in the dialogue process,” Bargeron said. “This includes capacity building programs that support increased government-to-citizen engagement and understanding of processes related to Yemen’s transition.”
Bargeron will be posted in Sana’a, Yemen, just across the Gulf of Aden from the CJTF-HOA headquarters in Djibouti, where she was deployed with the JECC. Although her mission with USAID is mostly unrelated to her recent deployment, there are some similar challenges that will overlap including issues with drought, famine, security, piracy and trafficking.
“My short time at CJTF-HOA brought to light these issues and is helping me to think through how I can use my civilian-military status to positively affect outcomes,” she explained.
Correspondingly, Bargeron is hoping to apply some of the skills she acquired during her time at the JECC to this new position.
“The benefit of coming from the JECC is the experience working in a joint environment and adapting that to an inter-agency environment,” Bargeron said. “I’ve learned a great deal from the staff as a result of their experiences, in particular best practices in consensus building, strategy formation and planning.”
Bargeron is eager to join the USAID team in Yemen and has already set some significant goals, especially related to programs that support Yemeni women and children.
“Yemeni youth play an important role in sustaining a legitimate Yemeni government. I hope to expand on programs that improve the capacity of youth civil society organizations to effectively advocate their demands to the government,” she said. “I also hope to expand on programs that address Yemen’s gender gap by building on work that empowers women throughout the political system.”
Bargeron hopes to ultimately achieve the core work of USAID, but on a more personal level, she says she’s hoping to learn a little Arabic.
| Date Taken: | 06.10.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 06.10.2013 10:01 |
| Story ID: | 108392 |
| Location: | NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 262 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, JECC Reservist redeploys from Horn of Africa to Yemen as USAID member, by Whitney Katz, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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