War News
Military Transition Team(s)
Tuesday, April 24, 2007 12:24 PM
As part of Operation Fard al-Qanun – Arabic for “enforcement of the law” – these 11-15 man teams that advise, coach, teach and mentor Iraqi security forces are not only living and working with their Iraqi counterparts, but they are doing so in the very neighborhoods they are securing.
“Fard al-Qanun is the security plan for the city of Baghdad,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Moore, Iraq Assistance Group Command Sergeant Major. “It is really a key and essential piece of the Iraqi security forces with the U.S. coalition forces in the security and establishment of Baghdad.”
“They wanted to create an operation to secure the city of Baghdad that was fully integrated across the spectrum,” said Col. Stuart Pollock. “What we had before was coalition forces working on one side and Iraqi forces working on the other – a lot of times in the same battle space and not very well integrated.
“You had operations that had been ongoing for a while that had become kind of stale. We found out we weren’t really progressing. What we wanted to do was to create another offensive type operation, a surge of operations to break through and enhance the security of the city of Baghdad. And that’s what it’s all about is the continued effort to secure Baghdad,” Pollock said.
“In terms of the surge, we now have over half of the troops’ plus-up in place,” said Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, Multinational Corps – Iraq (MNC-I) Commander. “An additional three Iraqi brigade headquarters and 11 additional battalions have moved into Baghdad in support of the operation.”
And as those Iraqi security forces relocate to Baghdad, their transition team advisers are moving, as well – coaching and supporting their counterparts every step of the way.
“Recently, we were operating out of the Victory Base Complex, which is where we were originally stationed with our division headquarters,” said Sgt. 1st Class Alex Belknap, 6th Iraqi Army Division Military Transition Team (MiTT) intelligence adviser.
“As the operation to secure Baghdad started to take form, they decided to have a combined headquarters. And when our Iraqi division commander was designated as one of the deputies, he was ordered to relocate to be part of the joint command headquarters here, and he took certain members of his staff with him. Part of the G-2 section for the 6th IA Division came here, so I came with as an adviser,” Belknap said.
Primarily a Multinational Division (MND) Baghdad mission, the Iraq Assistance Group supports Fard al-Qanun by providing transition teams to assist Iraqi Security Forces – whether they’re National Police or Iraqi Army – and their ability to grow, develop and take the lead in their battle space, said Moore.
Each embedded transition team brings a mix of combat and support specialties to include operations, intelligence, logistics, communications, engineering and security. Team members work one-on-one with their Iraqi counterparts, familiarizing them with each specialty and offering advice on how to streamline operations.
“My job as an adviser is to ensure that the force we bring to the fight is capable and is coordinating with the coalition forces to ensure they have what they need, advise-wise,” said Pollock. “We also help with many of the military enablers. For example, if they need air support, the MiTT teams are the guys they generally go to.”
A 6th Iraqi Army Division intelligence captain, who asked not to use his name for reasons of force protection, commented
on how cooperative the transition team advisers have been in all departments.
“They’re always helping us and always guiding us,” he said. “They keep us informed of things that will help us, and I want to thank them for that. God willing, we will meet again under better circumstances.
This is the capacity the transition teams have been serving in since 2005. But now, with the launch of Fard al-Qanun, the teams have left their forward operating bases to join their Iraqi counterparts in security stations within Baghdad.
“What makes it so unique this time is MND Baghdad and MNC-I have set up joint security stations throughout all the small communities inside Baghdad,” said Moore.
“And in those joint security stations, we’ve embedded U.S. forces, Iraqi Security Forces and Iraqi Police to work together under the umbrella of a single Iraqi command to secure communities, kind of like a community policing effort.”
Importantly, Iraqi and coalition forces will not just clear neighborhoods, they will also hold them to facilitate the build phase of the operation.
“One of the biggest differences is that previously, whenever operations were conducted, they would go in, secure the neighborhood, arrest or chase away all the bad guys, and then move on to the next neighborhood,” said “And often, as you would move several neighborhoods away, the bad guys came in behind you. And the people didn’t say anything about it because the bad guys came in and provided electricity, heating fuel, and fuel for their vehicles.
“Now, once they have cleared the area and made it safe, and the main force moves on to conduct other clearing operations, a security element is staying behind. And then contractors are coming in and starting to improve infrastructure, electricity, water, sewage, etc. They’re even going through and cleaning up all the roads. So it’s not only safer, it looks nicer and gives the people a sense of neighborhood back again,” Belknap said.
“They’re also seeing where all the major military forces within Iraq are all working together in trying to provide a better security environment,” said Belknap. “This shows that they’re all together, and they all have the same objective, which is a secure Iraq.”
The effects of Operation Fard al-Qanun will not be seen in days or weeks, but over the course of months. While plans are in place to improve security, and the early actions are being taken to carry out those plans, success will not come overnight.
“In Baghdad, steady progress is being made, and Fard al-Qanun is showing some early results. But real success is based on sustaining progress over the long term, with eventually Iraqis alone providing security to their people,” Odierno said.
The 6th Iraqi Army intelligence captain, who asked not to use his name for reasons of force protection, said he’s noticed changes in terrorist movements in Baghdad as a result of the current operation.
“As the counterterrorism operations that we do increase, the terrorist movements decrease,” he said. “So there’s a fluctuation between how much we do and how much they respond.”
Moore said all ten divisions of the Iraqi army are now able to competently fight at various levels – company level through battalion level – within the battle space.
“That is a direct reflection of the work of the transition teams,” Moore added. “It’s the coalition partners working with and helping the Iraqis improve. That is a huge change in what happened in Iraq.
“Now, over time, they will be able to sustain the fight totally in Iraq. But until then, we’re going to have to continue to coach, teach, and mentor them until they’re at that level”
Photo: U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Scott Siembab, national police transition team advisor for 2nd Battalion, 7th Brigade, 2nd National Police, advises an Iraqi national policeman how to conduct a personnel search at Numaniyah, Iraq, April 20, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Shannon Crane
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