Text and Photographs By Dennis Steele Senior Staff Writer

Soldiers from the 3rd (Mechanized) provide security for a civil affairs assessment team at the Mosul, , 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 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 I April 2010 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 I ARMY 59 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 sta- tioned in the U.S. Division-North (USD-N) area of operations. Maintain- ing 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 sup- Above, LTC Dave port, training and mentoring of Iraqi Sanders (fore- security forces in preparation for ground), steep reductions of U.S. forces this Shield commander year and the ’ full rede- for Iraqi police (IP) ployment at the end of 2011—the STTs assigned to endgame. the 2nd BCT, 3rd ID, LTC Dave Sanders—commander of receives a briefing at the IP headquarters Task Force Shield, the security transi- in Mosul. Right, COL tion teams (STTs) focusing on Iraqi Eric von Tersch (left), police (IP) units (including regular the Iraqi police STT IPs, the federal police and border se- chief for Mosul, and curity forces) in the brigade’s area of LTC Sanders listen operations—and COL Eric von Tersch, to concerns ex- the IP provincial team chief, climbed pressed by a provin- cial reconstruction aboard MRAPs and headed down- team member. town for their initial meetings with Iraqi commanders, a day-long series of introductions and talks to start un- derstanding the situation from the Iraqi point of view, learning the politi- cal undertones and working to gain the confidence of their Iraqi counter- parts.

rmy and police STTs, directly Aassigned to the BCT and led by senior Army officers under the AAB model, take over liaison respon- sibility 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 sepa- rated from the BCT command struc- ture, providing their own administra- tion and support. The STT structure fully integrates teams with the brigade, providing se- A memorial wall in the Mosul IP headquarters lists the names of hundreds nior U.S. officers as fully dedicated lead of Mosul policemen killed in the effort to provide security for the city. advisors who receive from the BCT se-

60 ARMY I April 2010 SSG Keshon Henry—platoon sergeant for the Security Detach- ment, 3rd Division Special Troops (3rd DSTB)—says goodbye after a site assessment of a U.S.-funded school built at a village near Contingency Operat- ing Base (COB) Speicher, Iraq.

Above, a soldier from the 3rd ID’s 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment (1-9 FA), checks a truck- repair 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, ex- need direct military assistance. plained that the brigade was augmented with 36 addi- “We’re a hybrid because of the security situation [in tional field-grade officers for the advise-and-assist mission, northern Iraq],” he said. “Our goal, however, is that when creating 18 STTs. we leave, we can [conduct a relief in place] with Iraqi forces. We want to work ourselves out of a job.” he brigade also has the mission to support the For U.S. units in Iraq, working themselves out of a job fol- T provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) in its area. lows a strict force-reduction time line and continuing mis- The PRTs are the second wing of overall U.S. sup- sion shifts this year and next to meet goals set by President port, providing assistance to the Iraqi civil government Barack Obama and the provisions of U.S.-Iraqi security structure under the U.S. Department of State while the agreements. The job of advising and assisting Iraqi units STTs work with the uniformed security forces. will shift from being a main effort to being the only effort. LTC Luke added that the brigade’s focus is the advise- To emphasize the changing role for U.S. forces in Iraq, and-assist mission, but the 2nd BCT organization set is not Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates recently announced completely structured as an advise-and-assist organization that Operation Iraqi Freedom will be renamed Operation because of the remaining possibility that Iraqi forces will New Dawn on September 1, when current U.S. troop num-

62 ARMY I April 2010 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.

rity forces have the ability to defend the country from internal and external threats. The U.S. commitment to a success- ful conclusion in Iraq remains high. The Army continues to deploy first- line units to Iraq. The 3rd Infantry Di- vision headquarters, for example, cur- rently has responsibility as the USD-N headquarters through the force-reduc- tion period, with three of its maneu- bers are scheduled to be cut by half to between 50,000 and ver deployed in northern Iraq. It is the fourth Iraq 55,000, tracking toward a complete withdrawal by the end deployment for the 3rd Infantry Division, which led the of 2011. western wing during the invasion phase of Operation Iraqi For the AAB brigades and STTs, the mission is to set the Freedom in 2003, and it is fitting that the 3rd Infantry Divi- conditions for the political end of the U.S. presence in Iraq sion, having been the first into Iraq, is one of the units that by putting maximum effort into ensuring that Iraqi secu- will conclude the mission.

April 2010 I ARMY 63 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.

throughout the Army and funneled into deploying brigades during the final training phases before deployment. “We had guys coming from Alaska, Korea, and all over the States,” said LTC Brian Bricker, who com- mands 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 Na- tional Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif. LTC Bricker said that integration of STTs and the advise- and-assist mission fully within BCTs reduces frictions that were perceived in the MiTT and PiTT organizational struc- ture, making those teams largely autonomous from the brigade structure. Along with the deployment of top combat units struc- tured as advise-and-assist formations to see the Iraq mis- he STT seeks to integrate the objectives that the U.S. sion through, the Army is sending some of its best officers T brigade commander wants to achieve with the sup- to lead the STTs during the final phases. port that Iraqi commanders want to receive. Success LTC Sanders described the STTs as “liaison on steroids,” pivots on furthering American goals under Iraqi terms, composed of experienced senior officers. The Army has as- however, because the Iraqis are in the lead, requiring STT signed command selectees to the job, putting the assign- officers to see things from the Iraqi point of view and tem- ment on par with battalion or brigade command and indi- per assistance to fit their goals. cating the Army’s commitment to and emphasis on the LTC Bricker said that U.S. support must avoid trying to advise-and-assist mission. impress American systems and methods onto the Iraqi The first BCTs to be beefed up for the advise-and-assist ways of doing things. mission were rapidly augmented in the months leading up “We have great systems,” he explained. “But we have to to their deployment. STT members were selected from 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 Soldiers from STTs also must grasp the greater polit- the 3rd ID patrol ical environment in Iraq. the streets of “We have to understand the whole Mosul. picture—the politics at play within the Iraqi government and how decisions made by the government of Iraq will affect this province—to effectively as- sist progress of the Iraqi security forces. We have to understand the dri-

64 ARMY I April 2010 “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 ex- plosive 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 recon- naissance assets, which “will help buy some more time for the Iraqis to get their legs under them.”

oncerning the overall goals for the 3rd Infantry Divi- PFC Jonathan Csion’s year-long deployment, MG Cucolo said, “I’m Pollock, assigned shooting for an Iraqi population in northern Iraq to the Security that is confident in their security forces. I’m shooting for a Detachment, 3rd near-incident-free departure of U.S. forces and leaving and DSTB. transferring an absolutely solid relationship between the U.S. military and the Iraqi military and police—a solid re- lationship 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 Right, MG Anthony College and the like—relationships that also lead to friend- (Tony) Cucolo, ships that break down cultural barriers and myths and commanding gen- misperceptions. I hope that we can contribute to the United eral of USD-N and States and Iraq being strategic partners in this region.” 3rd ID. Concerning the 3rd Infantry Division’s current deploy- vers of instability to reduce the causes and effects,” LTC ment, MG Cucolo said, “The fact that we’re back a fourth Sanders noted. time is a point of extreme pride, [and] I think what makes “It’s important and vital to have a strategic partnership it most meaningful is the mission we have: We’re the with Iraq well into the future,” he added. “And the rela- closers for northern Iraq. Combat operations end with us. tionship and partnership we start at this level will last well For the soldiers in 3rd ID who kicked in the door and took into the future. The goal is to build enduring capacity in down Saddam’s regime in 2003 to come back and be the the Iraqi security forces.” closers makes it much more meaningful, and we feel a re- Enduring capacity—as it relates to the long-term goals of sponsibility to finish it with honor and success.” ( American military assistance—goes beyond hardware, weapons and oper- ational competence. It addresses em- bracing organizational values such as serving under elected-civilian political control. “We have a responsibility to mentor the armed services of Iraq to serve un- der 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.

Soldiers line up to receive their combat patches in front of the division mascot “Rocky” statue at COB Speicher.

66 ARMY I April 2010