News Call Change of Command for Operation New Dawn
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News Call Change of Command for Operation New Dawn The September 1 name change from fantry Division, taught a week-long of human terrain teams (HTTs), spe- Operation Iraqi Freedom to Operation EOD refresher course for Iraqi police cially trained groups of American sol- New Dawn, coupled with the transfer officers in Ramadi. Later that month, diers and civilians with expertise in of command of U.S. Forces-Iraq from soldiers of 1st Advise and Assist cultural awareness who interview lo- GEN Raymond T. Odierno to GEN Brigade, 3rd Infantry, helped an ISF-led cal populations in Iraq and pass on in- Lloyd J. Austin III, signified a shift in humanitarian aid mission near Bagh- formation about their culture and way the mission of U.S. forces in Iraq. The dad. The Iraqi forces were in the lead as of life to commanders on the ground. mission now is to advise and assist medical care was administered and That information helps commanders Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) so that they food and school supplies were distrib- make more informed decisions that are prepared to take over when the uted, and they reconnected with the lo- reflect cultural awareness and sensi- U.S. military leaves by the end of cal population and gained credibility. tivity. As of early October, there were 2011. The Army is leading that mis- They also gained experience in plan- about 15 HTTs operating in Iraq. Sim- sion in many ways. ning and resourcing such missions. ulated towns and provinces at the In September, the 731st Explosive Another way U.S. forces in Iraq are U.S. Army National Training Center at Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Company, evolving to effect a responsible trans- Fort Irwin, Calif., provide a training 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd In- fer of power to ISF is the development venue for the teams. U.S. Navy/Spec. Chad J. McNeeley U.S. Army GEN Lloyd J. Austin III (left), commander of U.S. Forces-Iraq (USF-I), accepts the command colors from U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis, commander of U.S. Central Command, as Army GEN Raymond Odierno (right), the outgoing commander of USF-I, looks on during the change-of-command ceremony at the Al Faw Palace in Bagh- dad in September. The ceremony marked the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the start of Operation New Dawn. November 2010 I ARMY 7 The Campaign for Kandahar. In late David H. Petraeus, visited Forward Hood barracks, and to touch base with September, some 8,000 U.S. troops, Operating Base Wilson outside of Kan- soldiers in the rank of sergeant and be- most of them soldiers of the 2nd Bri- dahar City, U.S. troops had pushed low who live off post. He also charged gade Combat Team (BCT), 101st Air- several miles south of the base. GEN them with reviewing the lists of sol- borne Division (Air Assault), out of Petraeus handed out eight medals for diers who have registered privately Fort Campbell, Ky., launched attacks valor and 11 Purple Hearts. “The eyes owned weapons. to reclaim the strategic southern of the world are on you,” he told sol- Some 46,000 to 50,000 active duty province of Kandahar, Afghanistan, in diers of the 2nd BCT, 101st Airborne. officers and soldiers work at the instal- an operation called Dragon Strike. The Kandahar campaign, he said, is lation. Based on the Centers for Dis- The goal is to break the back of the the equal of any fight since 2001, in- ease Control and Prevention estimate insurgency and turn the war around cluding the capture of Baghdad and of of 11.5 suicide deaths per 100,000 peo- by reclaiming the birthplace of the Fallujah, Iraq. ple, this year’s suicide rate at Fort Taliban. Hood is nearly four times the national Operation Dragon Strike is centered Suicides Spike at Fort Hood. Four sol- average. It is indicative of the rate in on the Zhari District of Kandahar diers stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, ap- the Army as a whole. The Army re- Province, the first district west of Kan- parently shot themselves in a single ported 140 active duty suicides in 2008 dahar City, where a mountain pass al- late-September weekend, bringing to and 160 in 2009, when the service’s lows access to the city. U.S. and Cana- six the number of suspected suicides suicide rate exceeded the national av- dian troops have been in the area for under investigation at the Army’s erage for the first time. There were 11 years but have never had the power to largest U.S. base; 14 have been con- confirmed Fort Hood suicides in 2009; clear and hold territory. With the addi- firmed there since January 1. All four in 2008 there were 14, the highest tional U.S. troops that were part of apparent suicides were decorated vet- number on recent record. President Obama’s “surge,” plus thou- erans of combat tours in Iraq or Af- Last year Fort Hood opened its Re- sands of Afghan forces that trained ghanistan. All were men; they ranged siliency Campus, a multifaceted facil- with U.S. units, the soldiers pushed in age from 24 to 39. Two were fathers, ity dedicated to physical and mental into territory long controlled by the and two had been in counseling. well-being and offering diverse pro- Taliban in an attempt to limit access In response to the apparently unre- grams designed to support soldiers and movement along the Arghandab lated deaths, Fort Hood senior com- and their families. MG Grimsley spoke River, which runs north and west of mander MG William F. Grimsley di- to members of the media from the Fort Kandahar City and serves as a major rected all brigade-level commanders Hood campus in the week following traffic route for insurgents. and their command sergeants major to the suicides. “It’s personally and pro- Violence has escalated in Kandahar, search for at-risk soldiers from com- fessionally frustrating for anyone as a but by early October, when the top pany to brigade levels, to conduct leader,” he said. “Every one of these is U.S. commander in Afghanistan, GEN health and welfare checks in all Fort tragic.” A U.S. Army soldier from 1st Battalion, 102nd Infantry Regiment, 86th Brigade Combat Team, prepares to treat an injured Afghan man in Afghanistan in late September. U.S. Army/ SPC David A. Jackson Army/ SPC David U.S. 8 ARMY I November 2010 GENERAL COMMAND SERGEANTS MAJOR CHANGES* OFFICER CHANGES* GEN C.F. Ham LTG F.J. Grass, *Assignments to general officer slots an- from CG, US- ARNG, from Dir. of nounced by the General Officer Manage- AREUR and Sev- Ops., J-3, US- ment Office, Department of the Army. Some enth Army, Ger- NORTHCOM, Pe- officers are listed at the grade to which they many, to Cmdr., terson AFB, Colo., CSM R.P. Black- CSM D.R. Felt are nominated, promotable or eligible to be USAFRICOM. to Dep. Cmdr., US- wood from from USAG, Fort frocked. The reporting dates for some offi- NORTHCOM/Vice Headquarters, V Hood, Texas, to cers may not yet be determined. Cmdr., U.S. Army Corps, Campbell IMCOM-West Element, NORAD, Barracks, Ger- Region, San An- Peterson AFB. many, to USCY- tonio, Texas. BERCOM, Fort Belvoir, Va. I IMCOM—Installation Management Com- mand; USAG—U.S. Army Garrison; US- CYBERCOM—U.S. Cyber Command. *Command sergeants major positions as- signed to general officer commands. LTG J.D. Johnson LTG C.M. MG A.M. Bartell MG R.B. Brown from Dep. CG, I Scaparrotti from from CG, USACC, from CoS, US- Corps and Fort CG, 82nd Airborne Fort Monroe, Va., AREUR and Sev- Lewis, Fort Lewis, Division, Fort to Dir., J-3, USF-I, enth Army to CG, New Health Command. The U.S. Army Wash., to CG, Eighth Bragg, N.C., to OND, Iraq. MCoE and Fort Public Health Command (USAPHC) U.S. Army/CoS, CG, I Corps and Benning, Fort UNC/CFC/USF-K. Fort Lewis. Benning, Ga. (Provisional), formed by integrating the U.S. Army Center for Health Pro- motion and Preventive Medicine with U.S. Army Veterinary Command (VET- COM), attained initial operating ca- pacity in October and is slated to reach full operational capability in Oc- MG S.F. Cambria MG D.B. Lacque- MG J.M. McDon- MG R.J. Sherlock tober 2011. from Dep. Dir., Cen- ment from Dep. ald from Dir., J-3, Jr., USAR, from Combining the capabilities and ter for Spec. Ops., Dir., SIGINT Direc- USF-I, OND, to Dir. for Plans and USSOCOM, Mac- torate, NSA, Fort CG, USACC, Fort Programs, US- knowledge of the two old commands Dill AFB, Fla., to Dir. Meade, Md., to Monroe. AFRICOM, Ger- into the new public health command for Ops. and Logis- Dir. of Ops., J-3, many, to CoS, tics, USAFRICOM, USCYBERCOM, USAFRICOM. will broaden its experience and yield Germany. Fort Meade. improved services to consumers. Brigadier Generals: P.M. Churn Sr., USAR, from Dir., Afghanistan Detention and Correction Advisory The transition to USAPHC should Team, CJITF-435, Kabul, Afghanistan, to Dep. Cmdr., (TPU), 200th MP Cmd., Fort Meade; G.B. Davis cause few problems in service. While Jr. from Dep. CoS for Ops. and Intel., G-3/G-2, ARRC, Germany, to Chief, C/J-5, IJC, OEF, Afghanistan; J.A. Davis from Dep. Cmdr., JTF-GNO, DISA, Arlington, Va., to Dir., Current Ops., J-33, USCYBER- the command is provisional, its cus- COM, Fort Meade; D.J.