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    XVIII Airborne Corps passes torch to America's Corps

    XVIII Airborne Corps passes torch to America's Corps

    Photo By Sgt. Christopher Gaylord | Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, commanding general, XVIII Airborne Corps, comments on...... read more read more

    BAGHDAD – Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin, commanding general, XVIII Airborne Corps, officially transferred authority of Multi-National Corps – Iraq to Lt. Gen. Charles H. Jacoby, commanding general, I Corps, at Al Faw Palace, April 4, signifying the end of a successful 14 months in Iraq for the Fort Bragg-based Corps.

    While helping Iraq make great strides toward sovereignty, XVIII Airborne Corps' 14-month presence in Iraq also saw monumental challenges in many regions of the country. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commanding general, Multi-National Force – Iraq, presided over the ceremony and touched on the most brutal of these challenges.

    Odierno pointed out that when assuming command of MNC-I, Austin and his team faced the threat of Shia' extremists in the south, a still capable al-Qaida in the north and violence levels at nearly four times the average seen today. Simultaneously, the Corps led the effort to help send many coalition force partners and the Army's five surge brigades home.

    "In short, they knew they would have to do more with less," Odierno said. "But, like any good paratroopers, they relished the challenges in front of them and they met them head on."

    Just one month into its term, the Corps was faced with perhaps its most significant test, providing combat enablers in support of the largest deployment of Iraqi security force personnel in the history of the new force's existence, during Operation Charge of the Knights in the southern city of Basra. The Corps assisted Iraqi forces in smothering a heavy extremist and criminal presence during the first-ever Iraqi planned and executed operation.

    After handing off the command and control of tactical operations throughout Iraq, Austin recalled the Basra operation, citing it as a major turning point for the success and security gains achieved by the Corps.

    "Overnight, nation-wide attack levels doubled. If the coalition had only observed and not assisted, all the gains of the previous year could have been lost," Austin said. "We seized the opportunity to begin partnering with the Iraqi Security Forces in a meaningful way."

    Austin explained that these efforts ultimately led to a degradation of enemy networks responsible for increased levels of violence among the population and the smuggling of lethal accelerants into the country.

    The Corps also initiated the transfer of the country's Sons of Iraq security program to its government and successfully implemented a new security agreement between the U.S. and Iraq; an agreement that will influence the mission of the incoming I Corps over the next year.

    "It is our hope that we will spend much less time on large-scale operations and more time partnering with the Iraqi security forces, and moving in a direction the both of our countries want us to go," Jacoby said.

    Odierno reflected on the day he and III Corps of Fort Hood, Texas handed the reins to Austin and his team, noting that his anticipation of Austin's capabilities has proven correct over the past 14 months.

    "Here we stand fourteen months later, and Lloyd Austin and the XVIII Airborne Corps have proven it every day that they were worthy to continue this mission and take it forward," Odierno said.

    The consensus among the three commanders was nothing but confidence in the abilities of America's Corps to fill the shoes of the XVIII Airborne Corps, and Jacoby said that an extensive coordination between the two Corps over the past year will make for a smooth and successful handoff. "We liken it to the passing of a baton in an Olympic relay race as opposed to the changing of the guard someplace," Jacoby said.

    "They [I Corps troops] are some very capable people, and I'm very optimistic about what we can expect to see in the future," Austin said. "I think you'll find that the new Corps headquarters has the same capability that we have."

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 04.04.2009
    Date Posted: 04.04.2009 11:42
    Story ID: 32016
    Location: BAGHDAD, IQ

    Web Views: 590
    Downloads: 545

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