1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs

Courtesy Story

CAMP TAJI, Iraq — An al Anbar-based U.S. Army advise and assist commander attended a Logistics Training and Advisory Team workshop here, hosted by Lt. Col. Harry Kim, the LTAT officer-in-charge for the 96th Sustainment Brigade, Nov. 2-3.

Although combat and police training are frequently headlined as U.S. forces transfer responsibility to Iraqi security forces, logistics training and support are as crucial to Iraq's stability and prosperity. No one knows that better than Capt. Kyle Brown, company commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 307th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist Brigade), and the OIC of the Iraqi Security Forces Logistics Partnership and Training Program.

The 307th BSB has taken the lead in logistics support and training across Al Anbar province since it arrived in Iraq in mid-August 2009. The ultimate goal of partnership operations in the province is to ensure the Iraqi army is capable of self-sustaining operations.

The workshop covered a variety of logistics topics, including the periodic review of all 13 LTATs operating in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

For Brown, it was an important opportunity to share knowledge and experience with other service members, both American and Iraqi, he said.

"The workshop gave me a deeper understanding of the Iraqi army logistics system in order to better facilitate partnership training," Said Brown.

While attending the workshop, Brown toured the Taji Medium Workshop as well as the Iraq Army Taji National Depot, where the Iraq army's fourth line maintenance facility is located.

Iraqi logistical officers at the workshop gave Brown an extensive overview of what the IA considers mission-essential logistical and maintenance tasks. Brown learned how the IA reinforces its main logistical priorities when he observed a practical exercise the IA uses to evaluate its soldiers, he said.

Later in the workshop, he observed how IA priorities in logistics and maintenance come together when Iraqis order and procure repair parts. He used the information to tailor future blocks of partnership training.

During the meeting, Brown networked with leadership from important units such as the Al Asad Medium Workshop, 7th IA Division Motor Transport Regiment, Maintenance Company, and the Joint Repair Parts Command.

In speaking to Iraqi logistics leaders face-to-face, Brown personalized his battalion's partnership mission, demonstrating a willingness to back up words with actions, he said.

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