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Question for Americans: How can we as a nation even consider using our military for another "surge" in Afghanistan when the "surge" in Iraq has left little more imprint on the sands of Mesopotamia than the receding tide? This, to clarify, is not the antiwar Left writing. I am writing from a pro-military, anti-jihad point of view that has long seen futility in the U.S. nation-building strategy in Iraq, and now sees futility in the rerun in Afghanistan. Problem is, the same blind spot afflicts both strategies: the failure to understand that an infidel nation cannot fight for the soul...

Iraqi citizens unload bottled water provided by provincial security forces and coalition forces during a joint civil affairs operation in Ramadi, Iraq, July 1. Provincial security forces brought water, as well as food, soccer balls and other useful items to give to local residents. Photo by Staff Sgt. David Stankus. AL ANBAR PROVINCE — Iraqi Security Forces visited various locations within eastern Anbar province and conducted repairs at different schools and clinics during a larger security force operation that recently concluded in early July 2009.These missions were made possible by the in-depth coordination between Iraqi Police, provincial security forces, Iraqi...

A Soldier with the 1st Cavalry Division speaks to an Iraqi child during Operation Warhorse Scimitar in west Mosul, recently. The child was running up and down this alley way giving high-fives to Soldiers. Photo by Jared Sollars, 1st Cavalry Division. MOSUL — Insurgents thought they'd found a haven in Old Town, this city's oldest neighborhood on the west side.  That was until the Mosul Iraqi National Police Brigade and 1st Cavalry Division Soldiers joined forces recently for an operation designed to conduct an accurate census and deny insurgents and criminals the use of the land. "Operation Warhorse Scimitar was...

Army Spc. Adam Feldon talks with an Iraqi boy May 4, 2009, as a patrol of Pennsylvania Army National Guard Soldiers and Iraqi Police officers moves through Taji Market, north of Baghdad. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Doug Roles. TAJI — Iraqi Security Forces and U.S. Soldiers have been hitting the streets, working together to maintain security in Taji Market, one of the busiest sectors of the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team’s area of operations north of Baghdad. The market is a lynchpin in the security effort because it’s where the lives of locals intertwine. “Being the main market area, that’s...

Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers, along with an Iraqi Soldier and policeman, ready themselves during a rehearsal in front of division headquarters on Camp Liberty Feb. 8. Photo by Sgt. Whitney Houston. CAMP LIBERTY — Honor guards, comprised of Soldiers chosen for their professionalism and attention to detail, are symbols of history and pride, manifesting the best military’s offer with their pinpoint movements and traditions. Soldiers serving with 1st Cavalry Division and 4th Infantry Division teamed with members of the Iraqi Army and Iraqi National Police to form a premiere honor guard for the Multi-National Division - Baghdad’s transfer of...

Election posters line a wall in the Doura area of the Rashid District of Baghdad, Jan. 29. The provincial elections are scheduled for Jan. 31. Citizens have more than 4,000 candidates to choose from to fill the 440 seats. Photo by Sgt. DaleAnne Maxwell, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — Thousands of Iraqi citizens will have the opportunity to select their new provincial leaders Jan. 31 by casting their vote at one of the many polling sites throughout the city. It’s the job of the Iraq Security Forces to provide the security for these voters. The ISF cast their...

A truckload of Iraqi Policemen head to a local voting station in Baghdad's Adhamiyah district, Jan. 28, 2009, to cast their vote in the country's second election since the fall of Saddam Hussein. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jerry Saslav. CAMP VICTORY — During the 2005 provincial Iraqi elections, voters had their fingers stained with election ink to prevent them from voting twice. Some held their fingers up in pride as they took part in democracy; others hid their faces from cameras, afraid of becoming victims of sectarian violence. This year, ink or not, Iraqi Security Forces will make their...

BASRA — Iraqi Security Forces recently uncovered hundreds of historical artifacts during two raids in northern Basra. The 228 ancient artifacts included Sumerian and Babylonian sculpture, gold jewelry and other items from ancient Mesopotamia.“This is my favorite item,� said Iraqi Col. Ali Sabah, commander of the Basra Emergency Battalion that led the operation, holding a piece of gold jewelry. “It’s gold from the Babylon ages and about 6,000 years old. It doesn’t have a price.�“I’m very happy because this is my civilization’s heritage,� he said.The Basra Emergency Battalion led raid operated from tips that smugglers intended to remove the...

Iraqi Soldiers from the 4th Battalion, 54th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, prepare to conduct an operation with Coalition forces from Multi-National Division – Baghdad in the Ameriyah District of northwest Baghdad Dec. 20. The operation netted a number of illegal weapons and displayed the abilities of the Iraqi Security Forces to plan and execute a combat operation. Photo by 1st Infantry Division Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — Iraqi Security Forces, with the assistance of Coalition forces, conducted Operation ‘Foul Dagger’ Dec. 20 in the Ghazaliyah and Ameriyah Districts of northwest Baghdad. The purpose of the mission was to deter a...

The Long Knife Brigade command staff meets with Iraqi security officials from southern Iraq to discuss boarder enforcement during the Maysan Security Conference held near Amarah, Iraq, Nov. 15. Photo by Staff Sgt. Brendan Stephens. FORWARD OPERATING BASE GARRY OWEN — For the first time in the Maysan province, leaders from the Iraqi Army, Police and border patrol met with coalition leaders near the provincial capital of Amarah Nov. 15. The 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division leaders worked behind the scenes for weeks to bring together commanders from the 11th Border Enforcement, the 38th and 41st Iraqi Army...

Babil and Wasit are next on the list for Provincial Iraqi Control. The Air Force may be getting F-16s while the Army trains more forces for air assault missions.

The September 2008 updates to the Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle are now available at the ISF OOB homepage. The significant changes to the Order of Battle that occurred in August are summarized below.

The August 2008 updates to the Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle are now available at the ISF OOB homepage. The significant changes to the Order of Battle that occurred in July are summarized below. There are major changes to the order of battle pages and map due to new formations, re-subordinations, and reorganizations.

CAMP VICTORY — Coalition forces once named the predominantly Sunni area in central Iraq, consisting of the cities of Yusuifiyah, Mahmudiyah, Iskandariyah and Latifiyah, the “Triangle of Death.” The troop surge initiated in 2007 neutralized much of the area enabling Iraqi Security Forces to take a leading role in the securing the region. An uprising there in March raised concerns and directed attention to the Iraqi Security Forces operating in that area; Coalition forces feared the ISF would struggle to maintain rule of law in the communities. “We got word that special group members were going to be coming down...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON — As the security situation across Baghdad continues to show signs of significant improvement, Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment “Regulars,” 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, are reaping the benefits from more than three months of concentrated efforts to create a lasting security in the Aamel community, located in the Rashid District of southern Baghdad. In the first three months since assuming its mission in early April, the Soldiers from the 22nd Inf. Regt. have detained 56 criminals and terrorists, to include 17 of Baghdad’s most wanted individuals,...

Yesterday I had an interesting conference call with Royal Navy Captain Paul Abraham. He is the Director of Maritime Strategic Transition Team in Iraq. The call focused on the development of the Iraqi Navy (no, it's not a joke. They DO have a Navy); specifically: " his experiences working with Iraqi partners in building and developing the Iraqi Navy, which led to their recent operational success in seizing control of their own territorial port of Umm Qasr, protecting 90 percent of all of Iraq's imports and exports." Currently, the Iraqi Navy consists of about a dozen hard-used small patrol boats...

Iraqi security forces are massing more than 30,000 soldiers and police for an upcoming operation against al Qaeda and the Mahdi Army in the eastern province of Diyala, according to police and military officials. The operation, which was expected to be launched this week, has been scheduled to kick off on August 1, an anonymous senior Iraqi military officer told AFP. "The operation is aimed at cleansing the region of insurgents, al Qaeda and militias who are still there," the officer said. Like other offensives against al Qaeda and the Mahdi Army, the Diyala operation will be planned and led...

WASHINGTON, July 9, 2008 – Iraqi soldiers and police are demonstrating increased capability, yet more work needs to be done in view of the continued terrorist threat in Iraq, a senior U.S. military officer said at a Capitol Hill hearing today. Iraq’s security forces acquitted themselves well during recent Iraqi-initiated anti-terrorist operations in Baghdad’s Sadr City section, Basra, Mosul and Amarah, Army Lt. Gen. James M. Dubik, the former commander of Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq and the NATO training mission in Iraq, said in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. Army Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick took over command...

BAGHDAD, July 9, 2008 – If you asked Army Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin in April which cities in Iraq were the hot spots and would be the focus of his forces’ efforts, he would have replied quickly: Basra, Mosul, Diyala and Baghdad’s Sadr City district. But when reporters asked the commander of Multinational Corps Iraq about those same cities today during a media roundtable at Al Faw Palace here, his reply was quite different. Today, the Iraqi government is “firmly in control of Baghdad, Basra and Mosul,” Austin said. “We’ve made some significant gains here in terms of security,...

Iraqi security forces continue to target the Sadrist movement and the Mahdi Army in the southern provinces of Maysan, Dhi Qhar, and Wasit over the weekend. More than 113 Mahdi Army fighters and Sadrists were detained since Friday, including a senior Sadrist leader in the city of Al Kut. The arrests come as a major operation was launched in the former Mahdi Army stronghold in Maysan province. On Saturday, Iraqi forces detained Sayyid Tahseen, a senior member of Muqtada al Sadr's political movement, in Al Kut in Wasit province. Iraqi police described Tahseen as "one of the most important individual...

This Edition features Iraqi Security Forces who are committed to protecting Citizens, Army Nurses in Baghdad and Soldiers in search of Weapons.

The Iraqi security forces have detained five senior Sadrist leaders and a department director in Maysan province during Operation Promise of Peace. The Mahdi Army, the armed wing of the Sadrist movement, has not put up any opposition to the government’s efforts to secure Maysan, a Sadrist stronghold on the Iranian border. Iraqi forces are conducting a series of raids in Amarah and throughout the southern province, "capturing key targets including government officials wanted by the authorities in a number of cases," said Brigadier General Abdul Karim Khalaf, a spokesman for Iraq's Ministry of the Interior. "Five officials from the...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON — Upon arriving in Baghdad, the 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery Regiment, began its 15-month deployment in central Baghdad detached from its organic brigade, the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division from Fort Hood, Texas. Now attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, the “Straight Arrows” Battalion conducts the same mission of providing a safe and secure environment for the Iraqi citizens but in a different operating environment. “Every Soldier in the Battalion has embraced their mission here in Baghdad with a lot of courage, dedication and motivation,”...

KIRKUK, Iraq – Kirkuk Provincial Rule of Law judges and lawyers met with their key provincial and city police leadership during the inaugural Criminal Justice Conference at Forward Operating Base Warrior in Kirkuk May 29.“The security gains of the region are evident -- over a 70 percent decrease in violent attacks against ISF, Kirkuk citizens and the Coalition forces. As a result, we can now begin our transition from a form of martial law to rule of law,” said Lt. Col. Kevin Brown, 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division deputy commander.The agenda of the meeting included recent case studies that focused...

MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) — Iraqi security forces shot dead at least 11 suspected Al-Qaeda operatives who were hiding in a sheep truck near the northern city of Tikrit on Friday, the defence ministry said. The men were killed in fighting at a checkpoint between ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit and Baiji, ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari said. "Members of the Iraqi special forces intercepted a truck transporting animals, but there were 11 Al-Qaeda fighters hiding in it," Askari told AFP, adding that one of the men was a foreigner from an unidentified Arab nation. Askari said the...

BALAD, Iraq, May 27, 2008 – Iraqi security forces are taking “shooting” to a new level as they learn to use cameras in their quest to bring security and stability to their country. Iraqi special operations forces practice clearing a building during their combat camera course in March. Seven members of the ISOF graduated the first Iraqi instructed combat camera course May 6, 2008. The 10-day course teaches the soldiers the basics of the camera and how to successfully document activities and missions within their brigades. The first week of the instruction led the soldiers through the inner working...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers seized multiple munitions caches in southern Baghdad May 23. Soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, discovered a munitions cache at approximately 3:30 a.m. May 23 in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. The Soldiers seized 107 mm rockets, plastic explosives and fuses inside an abandoned house in the Bayaa community. Iraqi National Policemen from the 1st Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd NP Division, located a weapons cache May 23 at approximately 2 p.m. while conducting a patrol in the...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraqi Army and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers discovered multiple weapons caches and killed five criminals May 23 in Baghdad. Iraqi Security Forces from 43rd Brigade, 11th IA Division, discovered a weapons cache in the Bayaa area of Rashid consisting of four explosively formed projectiles, four claymore mines, 10 rocket-propelled-grenade rockets, an AK-47 and 600 AK-47 rounds, 50 pounds of homemade explosives, a 152 mm Yugoslavian projectile, a detonation cord, and firing wire and caps for improvised explosive devices. Northwest of Baghdad, MND-B Soldiers acted on a tip from a local citizen and found a weapons cache,...

WASHINGTON, May 23, 2008 – Iraq’s security forces should be manned to near capacity by the end of the year, a senior coalition official said yesterday. “Force generation has been the focus of our efforts and still really remains the focus of our efforts up to now,” British army Brigadier Johnny Torrens-Spence, deputy commander of Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq, said in a teleconference with online journalists and bloggers. Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq’s job is to generate and sustain Iraqi security forces, not to be directly involved in combat operations, Torrens-Spence said. “Our job is to help the Iraqis...

Iraqi security forces, back by US forces, are pressing the offensive against al Qaeda in Iraq and allied insurgent groups in Mosul and Ninewa province. The operation, which initially was called Lion’s Roar but has morphed into Operation Mother of Two Springs, has netted more than 1,100 al Qaeda and insurgent operatives. Today, the Iraqi Army reported it captured the “Prince of Ninewa” during a raid. The Iraqi is planning an amnesty and may be forming an Awakening in Mosul proper, a source toldThe Long War Journal. The “Prince of Ninewa” captured? The Iraqi Ministry of the Interior reported on...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Multi-National Division – Baghdad soldiers rescued a kidnapped Iraqi citizen May 8 near Ibrahim Bin Ali, northwest of Baghdad. Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment “Gimlets,” 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team “Warrior,” 25th Infantry Division, acted on tips from Iraqi Army soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division, in addition to tips provided by Iraqi Police and Sons of Iraq (Abna al-Iraq) members. The suspected kidnappers were detained and are being held for further questioning. “U.S. soldiers, in full partnership with Iraqi Security Forces, are aggressively pursuing criminals and terrorists,...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Two years ago, al-Qaeda destroyed the Chalabi village in the Sayafiyah region. A Shia tribe in a predominately Sunni area, the Chalabis fled to Mahmudiyah, Baghdad and other surrounding areas. About four months ago, Coalition forces entered the area and set up Sons of Iraq security and Iraqi Army checkpoints. Soon after, Soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), discovered residents had returned to the area. “These families had heard from word of mouth that the area was now secure so now they are...

BAGHDAD – Iraqi Security Forces detained three insurgents wanted by the Government of Iraq in Baghdad May 7. An Iraqi Emergency Response Unit served warrants and detained the three suspects in the Adhamiyah area of Baghdad. The group is suspected of murdering and displacing Iraqi citizens. One of the suspects also provides support to terrorist elements conducting attacks against Iraqi Security Forces.

The new schedule for provincial control has been announced; the Iraqi military is forming quick reaction forces; the Iraqi Army is incoporating new equipment; and Kurdish Peshmerga forces will be integrated into the Army.

CAMP VICTORY — The citizens of Tarmiyah have seen a substantial reduction in violence over the past four months, which can readily be seen throughout the vibrant market places midday as consumers packed the markets to purchase needed goods from vendors. “Things have been very quiet in Tarmiyah over the past four months,� said Staff Sgt. Mikey Fernandez, who is attached to Troop A, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team “Warrior,� 25th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad.“You would not see the markets the way they are now four months ago. The people of Tarmiyah...

WASHINGTON, April 20, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed or captured dozens of terrorists and criminal militia members during multiple engagements in Iraq yesterday, military officials said. In Suq Ash Shuyukh, southeast of Nasiriyah, Iraq, a combined force of more than 300 Iraqi Army, Iraqi Police and Iraqi Special Weapons and Tactics personnel, advised by U.S. Special Operations Forces, killed 40 criminal militia members and arrested an additional 40 after the Iraqi forces were attacked by the militia members. Using assault rifles and automatic weapons, the criminal militia attacked Iraqi Security Forces in the morning. Regional police and Army...

BALAD, Iraq – A combined force of more than 300 Iraqi Army, Iraqi Police and Iraqi Special Weapons and Tactics personnel, advised by U.S. Special Operations Forces, arrested 40 criminal militia members after coming under attack in Suq Ash Shuyukh, southeast of Nasiriyah, Iraq, April 19. Forty criminal militia members were killed during the armed confrontation with ISF, including the group’s top two leaders. Twelve ISF members were reported wounded. Using assault rifles and automatic weapons, the criminal militia attacked Iraqi Security Forces on the morning of April 19. Regional police and Army forces on alert in the area responded...

BAGHDAD (AFP) - US and Iraqi forces are building a concrete wall through the Baghdad Shiite militia bastion of Sadr City in a bid to stop militiamen firing rockets as fresh clashes in the district killed 13 people on Saturday. The wall of varying height is being constructed along the main road dividing the southern side of Sadr City from the north of the sprawling district of some two million people. The barrier of cement blocks, some up to three metres (12 feet) high, "will enclose the neighbourhood (the southern section) in order to control access in and out of...

WITH Gen. David Petraeus returning to Capitol Hill tomorrow, I asked a senior Coalition officer in Baghdad late last week what key trends he sees in Iraq. I suspect my friend's views resemble those of the general, so I'll let him speak for himself: "Overall, civilian deaths remain substantially below those at the height of the sectarian violence. Security incidents were [down to] levels not seen since early 2005. Thanks to help from local civilians [in] former al-Qaeda-in-Iraq safe havens, we've found more arms caches so far this year than were found in all of 2006." My old comrade went...

BALAD, Iraq – Iraqi Security Forces, advised by U.S. Special Forces, detained two suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq improvised explosive device cell members and one insurgent cell leader in separate operations April 8 and 9.In Ramadi, the Anbar Counterterrorism Directorate conducted an operation to capture members of an AQI IED cell operating out of the Albu Faraj area of Ramadi.The cell is accused of multiple attacks against Iraqi and Coalition forces including an IED attack March 25.The group also owned an IED cache found by the Albu Faraj Iraqi Police March 30. Two cell members were detained during the operation.In Mosul,...

IRAN'S BUSTED IRAQ BID By AMIR TAHERI April 10, 2008 -- A GAMBLE that proved too costly. That's how analysts in Tehran describe events last month in Basra. Iran's state-run media have de facto confirmed that this was no spontaneous "uprising." Rather, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) tried to seize control of Iraq's second-largest city using local Shiite militias as a Trojan horse. Tehran's decision to make the gamble was based on three assumptions: * Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki wouldn't have the courage to defend Basra at the risk of burning his bridges with the Islamic Republic in...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq – A local tip led Iraqi Security Forces to the largest explosively-formed penetrator cache found to date in Multi-National Division – Center’s area of operation, April 2. The munitions were discovered in a 6-ton truck in a garage in al Qasim, Iraq. The cache contained more than 1000 EFP components, more than 3000 pounds of explosives and multiple 107 mm rockets and stands. The cache also included more than 200 C-4 demolition charges, more than 10,000 feet of detonation cord, more than 2,000 projectile boosters, 10 devices used to detonate improvised explosive devices, 250 PKC...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr Thursday offered to help purge Iraqi security forces of militia members. But he also criticized the Iraqi government for denying it sent envoys to him to discuss last week's government offensive in Basra. The Basra offensive sparked fighting between security forces in other Shiite cities and in Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad. The clashes subsided after al-Sadr called for his followers to stand down, a pronouncement made Sunday after meetings with Iranian officials and Iraqi Shiite lawmakers in Iran. "I advise everyone to end the sedition, to stop the bloodshed and arrests immediately,"...

Cpl. Eric S. Lewis, a team leader with the 511th Military Police Company, loads a box of Halal meals on an Iraqi Police vehicle at Forward Operating Base Delta March 28. The IPs received a total of 2,400 meals and 1,440 bottles of water from the 214th Fires Brigade. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Carlos J. Lazo. AL KUT — Coalition forces provided more than 2,000 meals and 1,000 bottles of water to al Kut Iraqi policemen March 28-29.Because of the security situation and an imposed curfew, grocery stores and other food outlets were closed, said Sgt. 1st Class...

Six days after the Iraqi government launched Operation Knights’ Charge in Basrah against the Mahdi Army and other Iranian-backed Shia terror groups, Muqtada al Sadr, the Leader of the Mahdi Army, has called for his fighters to lay down their weapons and cooperate with Iraqi security forces. Sadr’s call for an end to the fighting comes as his Mahdi Army has taken serious losses since the operation began. "Sadr has sent a message to his loyalists urging them to end all armed activities," the Al Iraqiya television channel reported. Sadr "disowned anyone attacking the state institutions or parties' offices and...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Multi-National Division – Baghdad soldiers killed 26 terrorists during operations March 27 in Baghdad.  While patrolling in Adhamiyah, soldiers from 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment were attacked by small arms fire. The soldiers returned fire in self-defense, killing five terrorists and wounding an additional five terrorists. The wounded were treated and detained by Iraqi National Police. Later, soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, reported receiving indirect fire at a combat outpost in New Baghdad, and immediately following the initial attack, soldiers were attacked with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. Coalition forces returned fire and killed...

BAGHDAD – Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers killed 24 terrorists March 26 in Baghdad.Soldiers combined with their Iraqi counterparts to conduct precision, intelligence-based operations in the capital. These terrorists and militant elements were increasing their attacks against civilians, the Government of Iraq, and Iraqi and U.S. security forces.Soldiers from 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, killed a terrorist during rocket-propelled grenade and small-arms fire attacks on a checkpoint in eastern Baghdad at approximately noon.Abna al-Iraq, or Sons of Iraq, killed a terrorist approximately 4:30 p.m.The SOI apprehended the man northwest of Baghdad. The terrorist had...

BAGHDAD — The Coalition Command Sgts. Maj. and senior enlisted advisors along with the Command Sgt. Maj. of the Iraqi Army and Iraqi National Police met together during the first Noncommissioned Officer Education System conference to discuss the way ahead for the standardization of training and doctrine for the Iraqi Security Forces' noncommissioned officers Mar. 20. "The focus of this conference was to give those senior enlisted leaders within theater a good lay down of what it is that we provide here at Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq, in the way of training, especially noncommissioned officers," said Multi-National Security...

FOB HAMMER — Coalition leaders from the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team (HBCT) met with leaders of the Iraqi security forces (ISF) in the Mada’in Qada, March 5, at Forward Operating Base Hammer. Col. Wayne W. Grigsby, Jr., commander of the 3rd HBCT, hosted the meeting to discuss security in the qada, the brigade’s area of operation, and to welcome Maj. Gen. Kassim, commander of the 9th Iraqi Army (IA) Division. “From this day on, you are part of this family,” said Grigsby, from Prince George’s County, Md. “We are all working together to support the mayor and the good...

WASHINGTON, March 4, 2008 – Iraq’s security forces have taken advantage of security gains to grow their force both in size and quality, the senior U.S. commander in charge of helping the Iraqis develop their forces said today. Video “They have made significant progress in size, quantity and in quality, and some of the things that were on the table, in terms of difficulties, are now off the table,” said Army Lt. Gen. James Dubik, commander of Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq. The command is responsible for helping the Iraqi government in developing, organizing, training, equipping and sustaining the...