Essential Services LLO

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Essential Services LLO
Activities:	Sewage treatment plants operating; trash collected regularly; potable water available; electrical power restored; transportation network restored; schools and colleges opened; medical clinics and hospitals opened.
End State:	Essential services developed or restored/refurbished.

One of several LLOs, essential services address the life support needs of the HN population. The U.S. military’s primary task is normally to provide a safe and secure environment. HN or interagency organizations can then develop the services or infrastructure needed. In an unstable environment, the military may initially have the leading role. Other agencies may not be present or might not have enough capability or capacity to meet HN needs. Therefore, COIN military planning includes preparing to perform these tasks for an extended period.

IO nested within this LLO manage expectations and ensure that the public understands the problems involved in providing these services, for example, infrastructure sabotage by insurgents.

Examples of essential services categories and objectives:

• Police and Fire: Criminals detained, timely response to property fires.
• Water: Water treatment plants functional/distributing.
• Electricity: Electrical plants open and power lines intact.
• Schools: All schools open, staffed, and supplied.
• Transportation Network: Roadways and bridges open and trafficable.
• Medical: Hospitals and clinics open and staffed.
• Sanitation (Trash and Sewage): Trash collected regularly, sewage system operating.

End states: Infrastructure and private property secured, critical positions staffed, essential services operational, civil order sustained.

Considerations for developing the essential services LLO

• Make this effort a genuine partnership between counterinsurgents and host-nation authorities. Use as much local leadership, talent, and labor as soon as possible.
• Plan for a macro and a micro assessment effort. Acknowledge early what is known and not known - and honestly appraise what needs to be accomplished. The macro assessment concerns national-level needs; it is long term in focus. The micro assessment focuses on the local level; it determines, by region, specific short-term needs.
• Appreciate local preferences. An accurate needs assessment reflects cultural sensitivity; otherwise, great time and expense can be wasted on something the populace considers of little value. Ask, 'How do I know this effort matters to the local populace?' If there is no answer, the effort may not be important. Host-nation authorities are a good place to start with this question. A local perception assessment may also be useful.
• Establish realistic, measurable goals. Establish ways to assess their achievement.
• Form interagency planning teams to discuss design, assessment, and redesign. Recognize and understand other agencies' institutional cultures.
• Meet with representatives from organizations beyond the host-nation government team. Many nongovernmental organizations do not want to appear closely aligned with the counterinsurgency effort. Encourage their participation in planning, even if it means holding meetings in neutral areas. When meeting with these organizations, help them understand mutual interests in achieving local security, stability, and relief objectives.
• Be as transparent as possible with the local populace. Do your best to help people understand what counterinsurgents are doing and why they are doing it.
• Consider the role of women in the society and how this cultural factor may influence these activities.
• Discourage the attitude that counterinsurgents have arrived to "save the day" - or that their arrival will only cause greater problems. Helping the populace understand what is possible avoids frustrations based on unrealized high expectations.
• There are also important logistic considerations for this LLO.

There are also several indicators that can be used to help measure progress for this LLO in the quantitative knowledge portal.

Source: Counterinsurgency Field Manual 3-24