Staff meetings bring results, cohesion

Photo By Sgt. Robert M. England | Lt. Col. John Steele, an adviser to 17th Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, and a member of the Stability Transition Team, 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, informs local tribesmen on ways the U.S. forces plan to assist the IA during a staff to staff meeting Dec. 21 at Forward Operating Base Atruz in the Salah ad Din province of northern Iraq. Senior IA officers meet weekly with sheiks and tribesmen from the village of Hamayyid to share information and plan future operations. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Robert England)  

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE WARHORSE, IRAQ

01.01.2011

Story by Pfc. Robert M. England 

2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division

FORWARD OPERATING BASE WARHORSE, Iraq – Four Iraqi Army officers sat at a table facing tribesmen from a local Iraqi village. A man in the audience standing to address one of the IA officers exchanged words for a few minutes before quietly sitting down.

Senior officers from 17th Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, met with sheiks and tribesmen from the village of Hamayyid at Forward Operating Base Atruz in the southern Salah ad Din province Dec. 21.

Lt. Col. John Steele, a member of the Stability Transition Team, 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, and an advisor to the 17th IA Bde., described this meeting as a path toward cohesion.

“These meetings are to formulate synergy,” he said. “At these sync meetings, the staff officers in the 17th IA Bde. share intelligence aimed at establishing a more peaceful environment.”

Steele, a Dover, N.H.-native, explained the intent of the IA officers as well as the increasingly limited role U.S. forces play in these staff to staff meetings.

“The key point of all this is for the battalion intelligence officers in the 17th IA Bde. to bring all the (intelligence) together to establish appropriate courses of action,” he said. “For us, it’s a chance to bring our knowledge and experience to help them get better establishing those plans.”

Capt. Ian Fleischmann, intelligence officer of Task Force 2nd Battalion, 11th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd AAB, 25th Inf. Div., said the IA staff officers have met every Tuesday for more than a month, but this particular meeting differed from the rest.

The Hamayyid tribesmen attended the meeting to discuss solutions for bringing an end to indirect fire originating from their village aimed at Joint Base Balad, explained Fleischmann, who hails from Grand Rapids, Mich.

Steele said the meeting concluded with a pledge signed by the 31 tribal leaders stating they will work with the IA officers to stop the indirect fire coming from Hamayyid and that they will report any suspicious activity to the 17th Bde., 4th IA Div.

• Date Taken: 01.01.2011
• Date Posted: 01.01.2011 15:23
• Story ID: 62871
• Location: CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE WARHORSE, IQ