Photo By Sgt. Geoffrey Ingersoll | Lt. Col. Sean M. Riordan (left), 37, Emerald Isle, N.C., senior adviser, Quick...... read more read more
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By Cpl. G.P. Ingersoll
Multi-National Force West
COMBAT OUTPOST WARHORSE, Diyala, Iraq – The Corps helped write the book on counterinsurgency, and Iraqi soldiers have been studying.
In the wake of al-Anbar's continued success against al-Qaida insurgents, and the recent advent of Provincial Iraqi Control, some of the top leaders from Marine military transition teams convened here to discuss incremental drawdown of Marine presence in Iraqi army affairs.
"The big thing is figuring out what's next as the [I Marine Expeditionary Force] draws down in size on the MiTTs," said Master Sgt. Daniel R. Masters, assistant operations adviser, Quick Reaction Force 2, 1st Iraqi army Quick Reaction Force. "In the past, we used to do a lot of training, right now our hand in the training is dropping to almost zero as they take control themselves."
De-MiTT is a systematic reallocation of coalition adviser teams to higher echelons in the IA command structure as smaller Iraqi units become proficient enough to operate independently. Marines heading up the teams evaluate operations regularly and calculate a percentage grade, no different than an exam.
"It's a monthly thing," said Masters, 46, a native of Denver, Colo., "we look at them across all the war fighting spectrums; we evaluate from nuts and bolts, to putting full scale [operations] into action."
Despite the many levels of the "warfighting spectrum," the assessment sets out to answer a single question: Are they capable of functioning on their own?
"This brigade was evaluated as almost being capable of operating independently," said Masters, a career grunt. "The Iraqis need less and less from us every week."
Masters said the dwindling Marine presence would have little effect on Anbar's stability. The Iraqis are ready.
"Ninety percent of what they do falls in line with what's needed to maintain their own security," Masters said.
Aside from a few remaining snags in terms of logistics, Marines here said IA counterinsurgency operations mirror Marine Corps doctrine.
"They know small unit tactics," said Sgt. Bradley S. Wind, intelligence chief, 3rd Battalion, QRF 3, 1st IA QRF. "Battalion level operations are nothing to them, they can do them, their jundee (enlisted men) know what they're doing."
The end state of MiTT operations is to develop an Iraqi army capable of effectively replacing coalition units in Iraq. As far as Wind is concerned, the replacement phase is already beginning.
"They're just as good as a Marine rifle company," said Wind, 26, a native of Grandville, Mich.
Sgt. Leonard K. Cestaro, a grunt with two previous combat deployments, supported Wind's assertion.
"They use hand and arm signals, moving like Marines, just like we taught them," said Cestaro, 27, Anchorage, Alaska. "They need little to no correction."
Cestaro said that the Iraqis know what the Corps taught them so well that sometimes IA Soldiers remind Marines of proper techniques. The IA's and Marines' relationship has formed around increased proficiency, which has bolstered the Marines' confidence in their IA counterparts.
"When you're patrolling with (IA Soldiers), and you've got one to your left and one to your right ... with me as a Marine to be comfortable with that and have the state of mind that everything's going to be okay," said Cestano, "that's when I know that they're ready to take the gloves off."
| Date Taken: | 09.20.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 09.20.2008 16:55 |
| Story ID: | 23934 |
| Location: | BAQUBAH, IQ |
| Web Views: | 267 |
| Downloads: | 155 |
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