Text and Photographs By Dennis Steele Senior Staff Writer

Transcription

1 Text and Photographs By Dennis Steele Senior Staff Writer Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) provide security for a civil affairs assessment team at the Mosul, Iraq, train station, which was severely damaged by a vehicle bomb. The 3rd Infantry Division (3rd ID) headquarters currently is responsible for heading operations in northern Iraq as U.S. Division-North (USD-N) with 3rd ID brigade combat teams (BCTs) augmented with senior officers serving on security transition teams (STTs) for the advise-and-assist mission. It is the 3rd ID s fourth deployment to Iraq. 58 ARMY April 2010

2 ike most missions, it started in the motor park and started early. Just after dawn, a platoon of military police (MPs) the mission s security team milled around their mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles at Camp Marez outside Mosul, Iraq, waiting for the liaison team to arrive and the patrol s start time to tick down. Beefy engines idled throaty and low. The brake system of a massive six-wheeled MRAP heaved like a steam locomotive as the air compressor built up pressure and periodically purged the lines. The vehicle column created a symphonic rumble diesel purr, hydraulic hiss. April 2010 ARMY 59

3 Above, LTC Dave Sanders (foreground), Task Force Shield commander for Iraqi police (IP) STTs assigned to the 2nd BCT, 3rd ID, receives a briefing at the IP headquarters in Mosul. Right, COL Eric von Tersch (left), the Iraqi police STT chief for Mosul, and LTC Sanders listen to concerns expressed by a provincial reconstruction team member. A memorial wall in the Mosul IP headquarters lists the names of hundreds of Mosul policemen killed in the effort to provide security for the city. This patrol was the first time out for two advise-and-assist brigade (AAB) field-grade officer augmentees who had just arrived in Iraq as members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), augmented for the AAB mission the first such augmented BCT to be stationed in the U.S. Division-North (USD-N) area of operations. Maintaining a combat structure like any other BCT that has been deployed in case direct assistance to the Iraqis is needed, the brigade also is modeled to conduct the overall mission planned as the last phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom: the wholesale shift to support, training and mentoring of Iraqi security forces in preparation for steep reductions of U.S. forces this year and the United States full redeployment at the end of 2011 the endgame. LTC Dave Sanders commander of Task Force Shield, the security transition teams (STTs) focusing on Iraqi police (IP) units (including regular IPs, the federal police and border security forces) in the brigade s area of operations and COL Eric von Tersch, the IP provincial team chief, climbed aboard MRAPs and headed downtown for their initial meetings with Iraqi commanders, a day-long series of introductions and talks to start understanding the situation from the Iraqi point of view, learning the political undertones and working to gain the confidence of their Iraqi counterparts. Army and police STTs, directly assigned to the BCT and led by senior Army officers under the AAB model, take over liaison responsibility from military transition team (MiTT) and police transition team (PiTT) units that have been deployed to Iraq for the past several years and which were organizationally separated from the BCT command structure, providing their own administration and support. The STT structure fully integrates teams with the brigade, providing senior U.S. officers as fully dedicated lead advisors who receive from the BCT se- 60 ARMY April 2010

4 SSG Keshon Henry platoon sergeant for the Security Detachment, 3rd Division Special Troops Battalion (3rd DSTB) says goodbye after a site assessment of a U.S.-funded school built at a village near Contingency Operating Base (COB) Speicher, Iraq. Above, a soldier from the 3rd ID s 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment (1-9 FA), checks a truckrepair facility in Mosul while on patrol with Iraqi federal police. Right, SSG Alejandro Flores, 1-9 FA. curity assets and support along with training teams or other enablers tailored to the needs of the Iraqi unit being assisted. LTC Bryan Luke, deputy commander of the 2nd BCT, explained that the brigade was augmented with 36 additional field-grade officers for the advise-and-assist mission, creating 18 STTs. The brigade also has the mission to support the provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) in its area. The PRTs are the second wing of overall U.S. support, providing assistance to the Iraqi civil government structure under the U.S. Department of State while the STTs work with the uniformed security forces. LTC Luke added that the brigade s focus is the adviseand-assist mission, but the 2nd BCT organization set is not completely structured as an advise-and-assist organization because of the remaining possibility that Iraqi forces will need direct military assistance. We re a hybrid because of the security situation [in northern Iraq], he said. Our goal, however, is that when we leave, we can [conduct a relief in place] with Iraqi forces. We want to work ourselves out of a job. For U.S. units in Iraq, working themselves out of a job follows a strict force-reduction time line and continuing mission shifts this year and next to meet goals set by President Barack Obama and the provisions of U.S.-Iraqi security agreements. The job of advising and assisting Iraqi units will shift from being a main effort to being the only effort. To emphasize the changing role for U.S. forces in Iraq, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates recently announced that Operation Iraqi Freedom will be renamed Operation New Dawn on September 1, when current U.S. troop num- 62 ARMY April 2010

5 CPT Calvin Fisher, a 3rd ID project purchasing officer, surveys construction progress at a village community center. Above, SGT Ronald Railing, 1-9 FA, on patrol in Mosul. Left, SFC Zsolt Szabo is a quality control NCO serving with the 209th Aviation Support Battalion, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, which is supporting the 3rd ID in Iraq. Left, SSG Flores checks a Mosul neighborhood flooded by sewage as a survey team makes an assessment to help the Iraqis fix the problem. bers are scheduled to be cut by half to between 50,000 and 55,000, tracking toward a complete withdrawal by the end of For the AAB brigades and STTs, the mission is to set the conditions for the political end of the U.S. presence in Iraq by putting maximum effort into ensuring that Iraqi security forces have the ability to defend the country from internal and external threats. The U.S. commitment to a successful conclusion in Iraq remains high. The Army continues to deploy firstline units to Iraq. The 3rd Infantry Division headquarters, for example, currently has responsibility as the USD-N headquarters through the force-reduction period, with three of its maneuver brigades deployed in northern Iraq. It is the fourth Iraq deployment for the 3rd Infantry Division, which led the western wing during the invasion phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, and it is fitting that the 3rd Infantry Division, having been the first into Iraq, is one of the units that will conclude the mission. April 2010 ARMY 63

6 Right, Iraqi children gather around a 3rd ID soldier providing perimeter security. Below, CPT David Bright, commander of the Security Detachment, 3rd DSTB, talks with an Iraqi police chief. Along with the deployment of top combat units structured as advise-and-assist formations to see the Iraq mission through, the Army is sending some of its best officers to lead the STTs during the final phases. LTC Sanders described the STTs as liaison on steroids, composed of experienced senior officers. The Army has assigned command selectees to the job, putting the assignment on par with battalion or brigade command and indicating the Army s commitment to and emphasis on the advise-and-assist mission. The first BCTs to be beefed up for the advise-and-assist mission were rapidly augmented in the months leading up to their deployment. STT members were selected from Soldiers from the 3rd ID patrol the streets of Mosul. throughout the Army and funneled into deploying brigades during the final training phases before deployment. We had guys coming from Alaska, Korea, Germany and all over the States, said LTC Brian Bricker, who commands the 2nd BCT s Task Force Sword, the STTs working with the Iraqi army. Some had 60-day notice; some less. Five of the 2nd BCT s teams were established within the brigade in time for its mission rehearsal exercise at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif. LTC Bricker said that integration of STTs and the adviseand-assist mission fully within BCTs reduces frictions that were perceived in the MiTT and PiTT organizational structure, making those teams largely autonomous from the brigade structure. The STT seeks to integrate the objectives that the U.S. brigade commander wants to achieve with the support that Iraqi commanders want to receive. Success pivots on furthering American goals under Iraqi terms, however, because the Iraqis are in the lead, requiring STT officers to see things from the Iraqi point of view and temper assistance to fit their goals. LTC Bricker said that U.S. support must avoid trying to impress American systems and methods onto the Iraqi ways of doing things. We have great systems, he explained. But we have to understand that they have systems, too, and assistance doesn t mean making them in our image. In addition to understanding the American and Iraqi security goals and environment, officers serving with STTs also must grasp the greater political environment in Iraq. We have to understand the whole picture the politics at play within the Iraqi government and how decisions made by the government of Iraq will affect this province to effectively assist progress of the Iraqi security forces. We have to understand the dri- 64 ARMY April 2010

7 As we are partnering, the general continued, we want to build their capacity to do things themselves, and gradually wean them from us. Some of the key things we have to work on are the niche capabilities that the U.S. has been doing like route clearance, [counter improvised explosive device measures, intelligence operations fusion], and assembling and executing a quick-response force, which is moderately new to them. That s agile command and control. That s empowerment of subordinates, and they re just learning that now. MG Cucolo said U.S. forces will continue to provide some enablers such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets, which will help buy some more time for the Iraqis to get their legs under them. PFC Jonathan Pollock, assigned to the Security Detachment, 3rd DSTB. Right, MG Anthony (Tony) Cucolo, commanding general of USD-N and 3rd ID. vers of instability to reduce the causes and effects, LTC Sanders noted. It s important and vital to have a strategic partnership with Iraq well into the future, he added. And the relationship and partnership we start at this level will last well into the future. The goal is to build enduring capacity in the Iraqi security forces. Enduring capacity as it relates to the long-term goals of American military assistance goes beyond hardware, weapons and operational competence. It addresses embracing organizational values such as serving under elected-civilian political control. We have a responsibility to mentor the armed services of Iraq to serve under rule of law, to be the armed force that is obedient to civilian authority and defends a body of ideals as we do, said MG Anthony (Tony) Cucolo, commanding general of USD-N/3rd Infantry Division. Concerning the overall goals for the 3rd Infantry Division s year-long deployment, MG Cucolo said, I m shooting for an Iraqi population in northern Iraq that is confident in their security forces. I m shooting for a near-incident-free departure of U.S. forces and leaving and transferring an absolutely solid relationship between the U.S. military and the Iraqi military and police a solid relationship that will grow into the kind of relationships we have with other nations with Iraqi officers going to the War College, going to the Command and General Staff College and the like relationships that also lead to friendships that break down cultural barriers and myths and misperceptions. I hope that we can contribute to the United States and Iraq being strategic partners in this region. Concerning the 3rd Infantry Division s current deployment, MG Cucolo said, The fact that we re back a fourth time is a point of extreme pride, [and] I think what makes it most meaningful is the mission we have: We re the closers for northern Iraq. Combat operations end with us. For the soldiers in 3rd ID who kicked in the door and took down Saddam s regime in 2003 to come back and be the closers makes it much more meaningful, and we feel a responsibility to finish it with honor and success. Soldiers line up to receive their combat patches in front of the division mascot Rocky statue at COB Speicher. 66 ARMY April 2010